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Greetings!

Well, I'm back in the darkroom again!  Last year I had a large and many-faceted project for Ravenswood Winery in Sonoma, California, that required something of a crash course in digital printing.  It was fascinating and rewarding, and, yes, one can do things in the "digital darkroom" one can't apply to silver with an original negative.  With the crunch of that work now behind me, I am now back to mixing trays of developer, stop and fix, and sometimes tripping over the dogs under the safe lights.  Bottom line:  ink is just not silver.  It's like coming home to a loved one after being away for a long time.

I'm off to Athens, Greece (my first trip there) in a week and a half.  I'll be doing a lecture on Ansel Adams and his work in connection with an exhibit opening at the Benaki Museum. I've got the 4x5 out and ready to go.  Then on to Munich for a few days of teaching.  I won't have a lot of time for camera work on the trip - but a great image might not even need a half-second!

If anyone is going to be in the southern Arizona area mid March, I will be presenting my talk on Ansel Adams at the Phoenix Art Museum on March 17th.

Cheers,
Sig on clear
alan@rossimages.net
www.alanrossphotography.com

 
Workshop Updates.

Tuscany:
  Although there are encouraging signs that the economy is beginning to perk up, it wasn't soon enough to save the Tuscany trip and we've regrettably conceded that it is time to put the trip to rest for 2010.  It is a well-designed program and Tuscany is indeed a magical place - we just needed a few more sign-ups.  2011 anyone?  We'd like to put it back in the hopper, so let me hear your thoughts.

Death Valley - April 26-30:  The Ansel Adams Gallery has brought back the ever popular "Alabama Hills and Death Valley" field workshop for 2010.  It's scheduled for the end of April and we'll have a full moon on the dunes!  There might even be snow and ice at the nearly 9000' Whitney Portal, and you probably won't need a jacket at 282' below sea level in Badwater, Death Valley!  We now have a LINK!

Road Trip - September 20-25:  A "let's see where it takes us" field workshop of the Southwest's Four Corners region.  I've moved it out of main-stream summer to the fall so we should have fewer crowds to bump into and maybe even some fall color.  Northern New Mexico, Southern Colorado and, who knows, maybe some Utah and Arizona.  Check out the DETAILS!

In-between all the above:  Calendar and other commitments allowing, I am available for 1-on-1 sessions and small groups - my place or yours.  Check out the Schedule and Openings page.

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Darkroom Stuff:  A few upcoming additions to the Store page on the site:

Selective Masking Carrier Adapter for 4x5 Omega D-5 series.  A router-shaped plexi replacement for the standard Omega carrier top plate.  Since the lower plate  defines the format shape, this adapter will adapt any carrier you already have.

Coming Soon!  An almost completely rewritten A to Z (or is that alpha to Omega?!) guide to selective masking, with in-depth treatment of digital techniques for the traditional darkroom.




Tech Miscellany:

Notes on the new Adox MCC 110 fiber-base paper. 

 

When I "test" a new paper, or one I haven't tried in a long time, the first thing I like to do is see how it "feels" compared to a paper I'm used to. 

 

When I got my first sample of the Adox paper, I had just finished producing a batch of Ansel Adams' Moon and Half Dome prints for The Ansel Adams Gallery.  Since the negative (made on 120 Adox R17 12/28/1960) was still in my Omega D5500 enlarger, I had a perfect opportunity to see exactly how the paper would perform with a high quality image I had printed many many times.

 

The first result:  an absolutely lovely image.  It required no change in the "no filter" setting I usually use with this negative on Ilford Multigrade FB - so "normal" contrast seemed to be right on.  It had a beautiful gradation of tonality from blacks to clean whites. MORE...




Always remember, the "Oh! Zone" must be preserved!

Alan

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