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, […]
Read more "Unpleasant selfie"Last week I was given some bits and bobs from a scientific darkroom that shut down at the university once the researchers had converted to a fully digital workflow. One of the items was a box of Kodak Electron Microscopy film (SO-163, if anyone is interested). The film comes in the unusual size of 3¼×4″, which […]
Read more "High-tech meets low-tech"I had a brainwave about a better way of using my 1890s Lancaster Instantograph. It has no shutter so only very slow films can be used. Until now, I’ve been using paper negatives which are very slow, but can’t be enlarged – only contact-printed. I remembered I had a box of Kodalith 5×4″ lith film […]
Read more "Victorian selfie"Earlier this week in a charity shop in central Bristol, I discovered a parish magazine from my church, St Mary’s, Fishponds, dating from October 1947. I decided to scan it in and reproduce it here for anyone who is interested – look at the images below or download the PDF version. I think it’s fascinating – partly […]
Read more "St Mary’s Church, Fishponds"I’m usually the photographer, and rarely the model. It’s not that I dislike posing for pictures, mostly that I don’t often get asked. But recently I offered to take part in Drew’s “1/52” project – each week, he takes a picture of a man wearing a hat. It was fun – I was relaxed in […]
Read more "The wrong side of the camera"It’s been a while since Christmas, when my father-in-law-to-be gave me a Victorian camera. I’ve played with it a few times since then but because I’ve been so busy I haven’t got around to scanning any of the pictures in. Until today. These pictures were taken between Christmas and New Year when I’d only had […]
Read more "Family portraits"Released 1887 The Instantograph is a quarter-plate view camera, first introduced in 1887 and produced until 1910, although it underwent several evolutions in that time. I think my example dates from about 1897. It takes glass plates in the quarter plate format, although you can use sheet film or photographic paper too. I’ve written some […]
Read more "Lancaster Instantograph"Yesterday I posted excitedly about my newest (and oldest) camera, the Instantograph. I discussed three options for getting film into it: cutting down glass plates, cutting down film, or cutting down printing paper. I don’t currently have large enough film to cut down, and I found that the glass plates I had hoped to use […]
Read more "First picture from the Instantograph"