Back on it!

  I don't know what's more shocking - the fact that a) I am actually writing a blog post, or b) that I shot 3 rolls of film whilst away on holiday last week.  I'm lazy, i've come to accept that now but it's not really good enough is it.  I don't shoot a tremendous amount of film because i'm not one of those people who can go out and fill up a roll of film faster than a teenager can go bankrupt in Primark.  I do, however, like to shoot as much as possible when the location and/or composition permits it.  Hence, last week whilst away celebrating my 3 year wedding anniversary I shot 3 rolls along the eastern coast of England in the Whitby/Scarborough/Staithes area (yay for me).  I have hardly shot anything lately due to a potent mix of lack of inspiration and general laziness.  It's all change now though as i have got at least 6 good shots which i want to print (and we all know how I love to print).  Surprisingly most of the shots are even well exposed which is pretty much a first for me, i'm terrible at metering. 

  Even better Jess (my loving wife in case she's reading) got me some Ilford FB Warmtone paper and something I have been coveting for some time - Ethol LPD!  For those who don't know, LPD is a paper developer available in liquid or powdered form with the unique (as far as I am aware) property of being able to change tonality through dilution, i.e. a ratio of 1:1 will give a cool tone to the paper and a ratio of 1:4 warmer tones This obviously depends on the paper being used - you won't get warm tones from a cooltone paper, but you can imagine the possibilities now open to me!  Thus far i have only used neutral developer on all my papers so I am looking forward to playing around with some dilutions and see how toning is affected.  Needless to say I am eager to print (but then again the Lord of the Rings extended edition bluray boxset is keeping me pretty much glued to the TV this week).

  As for this blog, well, i'm determined to update it more often.  I have a few DIY projects in mind including making my own print washer so no doubt I will put that in a tutorial for you all to read and maybe try out for yourselves (if it's successful that is).  Sorry i haven't written much lately but rest assured, i'm back on it with renewed vigour.  In the meantime keep printing (or scanning if that's how you like to live your life) and watch out for some Yorkshire prints coming up on here soon.