COBBLER'S
PAGE
“I have
thousands of pounds worth of equipment which includes an
Hasselblad lenses and darkroom accessories that give me
superb results, all equipment I can handle with no
hassle. Why should I change my way of working and go all
DI at great expense to produce inferior results and have
to learn a host of new skills to do so?” This was
overheard at a demonstration of Epson copiers while I was
waiting to have a demo print done from a Kodak CD of one
of my snaps (which was very good) There is no answer to
such a statement. On a less professional scale than
Hasselblad I suspect this question could be posed by many
of us in the Colour Reversal Club.
LIBRARY
The CRC library has a wide range of information available
to members in the form of A4 sheets of formulas, DIY and
manufacturers information sheets on specific films and
papers.
As well as copies of The Darkroom User and Darkroom
Techniques magazines going back many years covering any
darkroom topic you can think of. I have listed these in
past Newsletters but anyone wanting a list just drop me a
line or phone. You will have to pay photocopy costs, 5p a
sheet, and postage.
We have a few soft back books for lending out which are
very good and were expensive. I have been asked to review
some of them THE KODAK BOOK OF COPYING AND DUPLICATING is
top of my list. As usual with Kodak and their books it is
expensive at £20 and as you would expect it is also
selling Kodak products, all references to films used are
Kodak. But this makes no difference to the techniques
used they can be applied to other films. To do copies and
duplicates and get good results ie. as near to the
original as possible is not as straightforward as might
be expected. The high contrast original and inherent
colour shortcomings of different films can be a barrier
to getting good results. The table of contents give some
idea of the range covered in this book;
Overview of Procedures Duplicating Copyright and
Restrictions Data Sheets Equipment One-step Duplicating
B&W Copying Techniques Two-step Duplicating Colour
Copying Techniques.
All aspects are covered in depth. The equipment
demonstrated goes from simple to the sophisticated set-up
used by the professional .One of the strongest features
of the book are the illustrations. The pictures are of
excellent quality, showing problems encountered by Before
and After examples. The use of internegatives is fully
explained. Exposure techniques are fully covered. Lighting, as you would
expect, is a central theme.
It even covers the production of title slides for your
AV.
Copying paintings is another technique examined in
detail. It is written in an easy to read style and has a
good appendix. The list of seventeen Kodak films with
fifty-two pages devoted to their use is as comprehensive
as you will find anywhere. Perhaps the section on copying
and restoring old photographs is no longer relevant,
particularly to anyone owning a computer. I can recommend
this book as essential reading to anyone who has copying
or duplicating to do.
My second choice may interest the few of you who still do
darkroom photography. From the KODAK WORKSHOP SERIES in
the library we have DARKROOM EXPRESSIONS
Contents listed are:
Find Your Way In The Darkroom. Your Controls. Making High
Contrast Derivations. Adding Colour. Posterization,
Sabattler Effect. Texture, Paper Negs. Printing without
Negatives. Switch Processing. Now anyone with a computer
and the relevant programme can do a lot of the above
easily but not as quickly.
Each subject in the book is well illustrated with
examples of techniques and results, the text is minimal.
It lacks a trouble-shooting section but some of the more
bizarre results come from mistakes!
Most materials and chemicals used are easily obtainable,
results are guaranteed, and the rest is up to you and
your imagination not some programme. This is a book for
the experimenter.
Both books are softback and cost about £3.00 to post one
way.
For those of you still practising photography in its
fullest sense these are books you should have on your own
bookshelf. Keep an eye on the second-hand market perhaps
all the converts to Digital Imaging will be dumping their
books as well. I have sometimes seen these types of Kodak
Workshop books in places like York, Canterbury and
Hay-on-Wye. Worth looking out for and well worth having.
Next time I will look at MULTIGRADE 111, PHOTO COLOUR
PRINTING MADE EASY, and PIRO (THE BOOK OF).
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