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Photography Beyond The Moment

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Film Photography

Victor

28th June 2021 By Mike Barrett

My father brought me this photo the last time he came up to visit. It is a photograph of his father Victor, my grandad, (left). The young lad with the pipe (right) is Alan, my grandma’s brother and Victor’s best friend. As you can see the image is quite damaged and rather small, measuring only 85mm / 60mm. There is also a small tear across the image from left to right.

 

My dad has numerous photos of my grandad, most of which are post second world war. My grandad was a Royal Marine Commando and served with 45 Commando, part of Lord Lovat’s Special Services Brigade who landed early on Sword Beach, D Day, and raced to relieve the soldiers who had captured ‘Pegasus Bridge’ in the early hours of June 6th 1944. Here he is in uniform. 

My dad recently came across this photo of his father as a boy. He found it while searching through items that were left to him after my Grandma passed away. We think it must have been taken when Victor was around 15 or 16 years old?

My grandad was born in October 1922, so this image must have been taken around 1937-8 just prior to the start of the second world war.

It’s a special image in many ways, not least of which because it is the only one my father has of his dad pre war time. Certainly the only one he has of Grandad as a young boy.

My dad asked if I could repair the image and restore it to its former glory. I said that I would be delighted to do so.

I first took a large scan of the image at 1200dpi after which I converted the image to 300dpi which changed the physical image size to 338mm / 237mm. So around A4 size at 300dpi. This gave me a good image size to work with.

It took quite a few hours to fix the photo using existing image data to heal the damaged areas.

The process was undertaken in Photoshop using the Spot Healing Tool, the Healing Tool and the Clone Tool. There was a little bit of jiggery pokery to sort out the image tone and slight colour modifications, just to bring everything together. I wanted to get as close to the original image as possible regarding tonal values and over all hue.

I was very happy with the finished image. A special image. An important photograph to me and especially to my father.

It was then sent off to be printed on Hahnemühle 308gsm photo rag paper as a Giclee fine art print, using archival pigment inks. After which it was posted to my father as a surprise present.

He phoned me to say that he had received it and was more than a little emotional. I was so pleased that he loved the finished image. 

See the before and after gif below. 

Film Photography – Ilford HP5 400 Black and White Film

7th November 2019 By Mike Barrett

I have been messing around with my old Canon A-1 SLR camera recently with a 50mm 1.8 portrait lens. I chucked a roll of Ilford HP5 400 film in it and have been taking it around with me on my travels. These five shots below are all from the first roll of film that I have reeled off for many a year. I absolutely love the grain in these images. Indicative of the film I was using. It’s been a while since I have shot black and white film. I’ve loved using this old camera again. It’s such a different process from digital in so many ways, while all the principles of photography remain the same. I have currently got a roll of Kodak ColorPlus 200 in the camera now. I am looking forward to seeing what’s on it when I take the film to be developed. That’s part of the fun for me. Finding out what have I taken?!

© Mike Barrett Photography 2019 – All Rights Reserved

Images from the Ilford HP5 400 Black and White Film

This Sycamore Gap Tree shot was taken last year while I was up in Northumberland. It was hand held. I had my main kit set up on a tripod next to me in order to capture the shot digitally. I had my Canon A-1 with me also, so I got this snap. I love it.

 

I grabbed this shot of my daughter looking all thoughtful and concerned while on holiday last summer.

 

This is a portrait of my buddy Graham. I took it while we were out on a photo shoot together.

 

A similar shot to the other one but this time in landscape. Very slightly different mood. I like the subtle difference in her expression.

 

This is a portrait of my friends lad, James.

 

The truth is, if you’re a keen photographer with a love for the process, going back to the old way of doing things and starting to play around with some of the lost art of developing and processing can be a rewarding and somewhat cathartic journey. I say lost art, but I have been made aware that there are still many photographers involved with film photography and indeed there are many dark rooms across the country that are still in full swing. It’s good to know.

 

Foundation Course Photography Project from 1994-95

Looking through my archives I came across a project I did way back when I was on my Foundation Course in 1994-95. With some rudimentary guidance, we were all given a roll of Ilford HP5 Plus 35mm Black and White film and the use of an SLR camera. At the time I had recently acquired my Canon A-1 SLR and opted to use that instead of the clunky looking thing that had been offered to us on the course. We were taken through the basics of film development and darkroom use and told to go away and deliver a project. I chose to do mine based on ‘The Reading of Books’.
I then embarked on a journey of exploration that I was absolutely fascinated with. A love of photography was certainly instilled in me that never went away.

 

My Canon A-1 SLR camera. An absolutely wonderful bit of kit.

 

Contact sheets and prints from the photography project I did back on my Foundation course in 1994-95.

 

The final project artwork ended up being some screen print piece that had been derived from the imagery that I had made with the camera. Alas, the artwork is long gone, but I have always kept the negatives and the prints that I made during that project.

We had to develop the film ourselves using a Universal Developing Tank and we went on to make our own prints from the negatives that we had created. I was in awe of the whole process of making imagery from negatives. So much so that I went on to do a lot of experimentation like part solarising the images by momentarily switching on the light in the darkroom while the print is sat in the developer, warming of part of the prints to encourage smokey effects, dodging and burning etc. Yep, dodging and burning are real terms of real processes, not just useful tools in Photoshop. I ended up with some lovely prints that have stayed with me throughout the years. Having dug them out, I think I am going to make a couple of large prints from my favourite shots. Why not eh?!

Below are some of the images from the project. They are scans from prints, not from the negatives. This first image is one of my favourites. It’s of Simon, a very good friend of mine who kindly agreed to be a model for me at the time.

 

PROJECT SHOT ONE

 

PROJECT SHOT TWO

PROJECT SHOT THREE

 

PROJECT SHOT FOUR

 

This chap is Malcolm Revill, a fellow student on my Foundation course. I remember him making the most insane armchair out of teasel heads. Nice chap.

 

Same shot but solorised, which is the technique of re-exposing the photographic paper during the development process. As the main image starts to emerge while it’s sat in the developer solution, you switch on a white light momentarily in the dark room which exposes the rest of the paper. This then starts to develop and darkening the light areas in the image sending them silvery grey.

Contact sheet from one of the films that I shot and developed during the project. I think I may have to scan these again and make some prints.

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