Tag Archives: Ilford

Steven Lederman – August 2016

by Steven Lederman

MISSINGLINK“THE MISSING LINK” –  I decided to submit this after being inspired by a negative image of Dorothy Mladenka’s in an earlier Folio loop, or in a different folio (MF3D II?).  I actually shot this during work hours.  I was hired to shoot an industrial video and decided to bring my TL-120-1 with me.  After Principal Photography for the industrial video was completed,  I wandered around the factory pretending to take production stills.   I originally planned to get this roll developed by dr5 – but for some forgotten reason that didn’t occur.  Captured with the aforementioned TL-120-1 on some type of Ilford black and white film.  I believe I used a Vivitar 283 fill flash.

STRUNGOUT“STRUNG OUT” –  one of the plusses of the TL-120-1 is its ability to capture greatly-detailed close-up portraits.  This image was captured  during a jam session of “The Ass Moles” on December 20, 2008.  Despite the fact that we never released a commercially-available recording, we did commission Cal Schenkel (of Frank Zappa record cover art fame) to create a piece of Ass Moles-inspired art for us.  TL-120-1 using Fuji Film (Provia?) with a Vivitar 283 flash.

BARNTOBEWILD“BARN TO BE WILD” –  In 2014 I learned a slew of farms were slated for demolition so that condos could be erected on their land.   This is one of the images from the resulting photo excursion that documented some of the doomed farm buildings.  This image was captured with a TL-120-55 modified with Sam Smith’s machined lens board, using Scala film and processed in dr5’s DEV 2 (sepia).

ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS FOR LIFE“ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS FOR LIFE” – No need for an explanation.  Captured with a TL-120-1 on Fuji 220 film using a modified winding sequence (with the red window gaffer taped shut).  Processed with a CPP-2 Jobo unit in my basement bathroom.

Fiery Depths

by John Thurston

Fiery Depths

Looking down into the pits of hell, are those the screams of your political opponents you hear? Maybe it’s only last night’s burritos talking.

Regardless, I don’t want to be pitched over the edge.

TL120-55, Ilford HP5, DR5 processing (Yes, I typo’d the title on the mount, but given the scarcity of mounts I didn’t feel the need to remount in a clean one.)

Standing Proud

by John Thurston
Standing Proud

Standing Proud

This image has been a while in the making. After reviewing my  attempts at winter landscapes, I went out to try to do some things differently. I loaded a pack, took the first sunny day off work, and headed out to Cowee Creek where I knew I’d have moderate snow, free-standing trees, and a dramatic backdrop lit by the low afternoon sun. The film was exposed in February of 2014, processed by DR5 in May, and mounted in February of 2015.

To try to force the back of foreground tree trunk out of the shadows, I used a couple of Vivitar 285 flashes. One weak one firing forward (and slightly right) from just below the camera, and a stronger one coming from the far left.

While I think my concepts were correct, I fell short in the execution. This was the last roll of the day. It is a tested characteristic of my camera that the shutter timings start to drift at low voltages. By the time this roll was exposed, the batteries in the TL120 were failing in the cold and the right side was under exposed.

All in one place

by John Thurston

Today, we’re going back to the ice but we’re not going to move much once we get there. All of the images here were made within 50-feet of each other. The subject is a fairly stable ice cave. I say fairly because it was created by an active creek so there is water flowing into it. The ground is mud, silt, ice, and gravel and is sliding into the cave and under the glacier. The ceiling is made of ice and is full of mud, silt, and gravel and is falling onto the floor. While I was working, some nice ladies stopped in to visit the cave. I used my Fuji to get a set-the-scene snapshot.

Deep V

In The Groove

Just inside the cave, the layers of the ice are obvious. The younger ice is above, the older ice is denser and is funneling the melt water out to the edge. The running water has carved a Deep V in the ancient ice. The mud and sand is trapped between the layers of ice and is being washed down and dropped on the floor. When working under the ice, the water running down your back is really mud (of various dilutions).

A little to the right, and closer to the ice, In the Groove better shows the layers in the ice and the sand and silt trapped between them. We can also see melt water pouring in to join the creek farther inside the cave.

Farther in the cave but looking a little up, we can see Below the Surface(BW). There is sand and silt embedded inside the ice, and the layers are evident from the back just as well as the front. (Now’s a good time to wish we had carried a helmet with us. The roof is melting, remember?) Finally, we can move a little farther in and get in close. That sand in there has been trapped in the ice for a couple hundred years. It’s just itching to get out so it can slide down into my camera.


Below the Surface (BW)
Below the Surface

All images were created with a tripod mounted TL120-1. I don’t record exposure times but the fastest time used was 1 second. They were shot on Provia 100F, Provia 400X, or Ilford HP5.

Jim Harp Self Portrait

by Jim Harp

Shot with a Sputnik  Ilford Pan-F processed by DR-5  Dublin 2006
This was a three to four minute exposure.   You have to look for my face in here, it’s floating in space just to the left of the base of the statue.   I opened the shutter with a locking cable release, walked up to the statue and held a Vivitar 285H pointed at my face at arm’s length and fired it.