Pig Sty Avenue

It's amazing what you learn when you buy an old camera which happens to have film in it.  eBay University, forsooth.  The old Verichrome is a type of safety film, (as in it won't catch fire easily), and is orthochromatic, which means it's not sensitive to red light, you can dev it with a safe light, and any reds will show up as very dark.  None of which, so far as I've learned, will effect the developing chemistry.   A likely problem will be fogging, regarding which Ansell Adams, says  "The fog level that comes from age, heat, and so on, can often be reduced by adding Potassium bromide or Benzotriazole to the developer."   I quoted that in DIY B&W on Flickr , which as usual was of variable quality so far as advice goes.  What this Kitsaplorax  had to say in that thread about Glycin is interesting, and I'll look at replacing Metol with it in the future, perhaps, but I can't find any to buy, online, this morning, so I'll go with Potassium bro...

The nice people at Flickr's B&W DIY group have suggested Kodak HC-110, but that was patented after Verichrome was discontinued, and, strangely, I can't find a on online supplier anywhere in the UK. (Only $12 on amazon.com, but another $60 for p&p. I should bloody cocoa). The ingredients are secret. Rodinal is also being suggested, but I don't have all the ingredients for that . So my best guess at the moment is Beutler A + B .

Kodak Verichrome Exposed , originally uploaded by Pig Sty Avenue . The F's still away getting its CLA, and I've come over all rudimentary again, and got a Baby Brownie off eBay for a couple of quid. Blimey, what a gorgeous wee thing of beauty it is. I'm waiting for some 127 film to arrive. Meanwhile, it had this roll of Verichrome in it. The developing will be a work of art in itself: research what they used back in the day for orthochromatic films, but probably something like diafine or beutler, and fixing in straight sodium thiosulphate (aka "hypo"); and then factoring in that it's been left in a small cheap plastic camera in someone's cupboard-under-the stairs for at least 50-odd years... So, plenty of time - at least 20 mins, and quite cool chemicals, so that the emulsion doesn't come off, less than 20C, anyhoo. Getting it off the spool and onto the reel, omg. And I've got to do all of the above with all my fingers crossed. What la...

I keep thinking about this photo: You'd have difficulty reproducing those splendid wee coats nowadays, of course, but the quality of the photo should be do-able. I'm looking again at a Brownie Reflex on eBay. And of course I've got the Ilford Sporti 4, which should do a similar job. I've ordered a few rolls of EFKE R100 127. I got them for a fiver a pop from photo supplies uk , but I've since rediscovered this rather bewildering place where, if I've read it correctly, you can get a roll for 3 Euros if you order in sufficient quantity. They, helpfully, if you look hard enough, also give you an R100 dev chart . Which is jolly decent of them. Ignoring the sprocket holes, the photo below is getting near the sort of quality I'm looking for. That was Ilford Delta, and I suspect developed in ID11. The same camera, (or maybe a Brownie Reflex), with Efke R100, perhaps developed in Beutler A+B, would be getting near. The composition could be something l...

Second-hand +3 eyepiece for £10,from Gray's of Westminster , on the advice of my optician, who said, "It must be a professional camera, to take that sort of fitting?" As a direct result of this remark, I decided to believe what he'd been saying earlier about Specsavers selling dodgy glasses, and shelled out a bit extra to get my new specs from him. Anyways, if you're into old Nikon gear I recommend Gray's. Very posh, but very helpful. The eyepiece thread has remained the same, as Ergo and I kind of worked out , on high end Nikons from the F to this day. I read somewhere a real classic camera wants an overhaul every twenty years, and my one feels like it's well overdue for that. The mirror's dusty, the meter's dodgy, and the lens is fungus-y. So, the camera, meter and lens are booked in for what I'm learning to call a CLA at Newton Ellis in Liverpool (buy a Nikon F and get a virtual tour of England). They go in the post tomorrow. Thi...

Billy No Mates in San Francisco , originally uploaded by Pig Sty Avenue . Billy No Mates in San Francisco

anchor steam , originally uploaded by Pig Sty Avenue . anchor steam

I gave the midi keyboard to Boy in Shanghai.  The Bairn was a bit miffed, and I'm starting to get itchy fingers, too.  I spoke to Boy just now, and he suggested something like this .  You could plug it into the laptop and do all kinds of midi-magic, but it will also be playable free-standing, so it's not a production to spend ten minutes practicing...

Pools of water surrounded by trees on an overcast late winter afternoon: reflections of the trees, dark, contrast in the reflection from the water with the light grey q luminous sky.  You'd want the contrast nice and sharp.  Subject on the far side of the water, cut off at waist but full reflection. Could maybe pull it off at dawn, any time of year. First, find your pond.