Now I have some film that will fit my Instantograph, I’ve been using it quite a lot recently. A few weeks ago I took a selfie using a mirror. Yesterday I wanted to try a more close-up self-portrait.
It’s dark outside in the evenings now, and with all the lights in my living room turned on, the base exposure for a close-up portrait was going to be about 30 seconds. But as it was a close-up, the bellows were extended quite a lot, meaning I had to add another stop-and-a-bit of exposure. And due to reciprocity failure, I had to add another two stops. Eventually, the exposure was going to be several minutes and I can’t sit still for that long.
I dug a 500W halogen lamp out of the garage and did some exposure tests. With the lamp about one metre from my face, the total exposure was more like 8 seconds. Much more reasonable duration, although the light was too hot and bright in my eyes. That’s why I have entitled this piece unpleasant selfie.
Jonathan Gazeley 