What’s new Tim?

I’ve been shooting portraits now for a couple of weeks so it’s time to give an update on progress and my latest thinking for the project.

Shooting Progress

So far we have taken the portraits of most of the Drift residents, the 5 houses around the Old School and the 5 around the church. The next series of of shots will be those on Main Street which accounts for a further 7 houses.

To date, 1 resident has been photographed again which is due to technical error – the image was way over exposed and makes me believe that I didn’t shut down the aperture prior between set up and taking the shot.

I’m also thinking of repeating another 2 – one due to movement during exposure which has made the eyes blurry and another because I’m not happy with the composition of the image.

Film Developing

Film drying after development

All exposed film has now been developed. There have been a few mishaps resulting in a couple of sheets being unusable but as I only process 1 sheet from each sitting in every batch I’ve been able to use the spare shot.

After drying, each sheet of film is placed into it’s own negative sleeve for protection and until I’m ready to scan

A hefty stack of negatives waiting to be scanned

I have ordered more film developer as I’ve almost exhausted my current stocks and expecting the fresh chemicals imminently. My ‘dealer’ has recently restarted business and has had to restock his raw chemicals before brewing up my order.

Film Scanning

Approximately 1/4 of all the developed film has been scanned. They all still need post-processing which means contrast adjustment, dust spotting, cropping where appropriate and sharpening.

Printing

Not a single image has been printed.

I am currently considering my options and I’m leaning towards printing on a matte photo rag. With the right image tones – the result can look spectacular. Alas, I have no such paper in my stocks so will need to make an order. Given the cost, I’m thinking that I might try a sample pack of papers before committing.

Mounting

As I’ve nothing yet to mount please move along, nothing to see here, for now.

Display

So, this is a big one. We’ve been thinking ahead to how I best present the final portfolio once it’s complete. My preference is to reveal the prints in an exhibition somewhere in the village. Everybody will see their portrait for the first time at this exhibition and not before.

There are a number of pro’s and con’s to this approach which I’ll need to think through before committing. Above all other considerations right now is how to stage an exhibition if we are still in some form of lockdown. This can of course be managed but I’d very much prefer to make the exhibition an occasion for a social affair with the entire village present.

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