Ford Focus Interior

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Ian-Barber

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This is a photograph I made of the interior of my car in 2016. I like to make photographs of mundane things, especially things which I can look back on in years to come and think... Ahhh yes... I remember that.

This is the 2nd print which has made it to 8x10 paper from the dark room.

Mamiya-645-Ford-Focus.jpg
 
I like the hat. It transforms it from Any Car into My Car. ...and it's a useful compositional element, too.
 
The mundane things are the things we lose and need capturing.

Ian
 
first of all the tonality of the print looks good I think you got it!

Mundane things are so often lost and forgotten so it's a thing to do even it's nowadays not that exciting.

Please tell us more about the photograph, which film, camera and how was it to print.
 
martin-f5 said:
first of all the tonality of the print looks good I think you got it!
Mundane things are so often lost and forgotten so it's a thing to do even it's nowadays not that exciting.
Please tell us more about the photograph, which film, camera and how was it to print.
Click to expand...

Camera and Film:
I used a Mamiya 645 with an 80mm lens and the film was Fuji Acros 100

Development and Print:
The film was developed in HC-110 1+32
For the print I used ILFORD Pearl RC paper. I made a test strip using a number 2 1/2 filter in 2 second increments. At 6 seconds, I had what I deemed to be maximum black but the lighter tones were too dark so I decided to try using two filters, a Grade 0 and Grade 5.

The Grade 0 test trip showed me that 4 seconds looked about right for the lighter tones, the Grade 5 test strip showed me that 5 seconds was a little weak in the blacks an 6 seconds a little dark. 5 1/2 seconds would have been nice but at the moment, I do not have a timer for the enlarger so I am counting out loud, so I chose the 6 seconds.

Exposed a full sheet at 4 seconds (Grade 0) and 6 seconds (Grade 5) f/11 on enlarger lens.

Final thoughts
After the image has dried, in proper light, it looks a little on the dark side but overall, I am pretty pleased with it. Good detail in the dark areas, nice texture in the light areas, just a little dark overall.
 
You are observing the irritating phenomenon of dry-down. It's a consistent nuisance and the only solution is experience. In effect, you have to make a print that looks a little bit worse than your best, so that when it's dried, it will be right. Fred Picker sold a timer which was supposed to compensate, but I've no experience of using it. Others may know more. If you use different papers, the dry-down may be different for each one. There's no end to the little problems that wet printing can sneak into the workflow...
It's analogous to having the screen set too bright and being baffled by the dull prints that result. This is only an approximate truth.
 
and FB paper darkens up to 10%, but a ILFOR MG V paper does nearly the same job :)

Good to see you have been successful, congratulation, the journey starts now !
 
martin-f5 said:
and FB paper darkens up to 10%, but a ILFOR MG V paper does nearly the same job :)

Good to see you have been successful, congratulation, the journey starts now !
Click to expand...

Thanks Martin. I am enjoying the journey so far. I think I need to look for a second hand enlarger timer though as counting in my head is not going to be consistent.
 
haven't you seen the link to the Hauck Trialux? They can easily used in UK with a adapter.
 
martin-f5 said:
haven't you seen the link to the Hauck Trialux? They can easily used in UK with a adapter.
Click to expand...

I saw that but I was thinking that a timer which would turn off the enlarger after the exposure would be better rather than counting out aloud
 
I use those timers, 3 of them, since uncountable years. You see the time running on the display and you can meter the exposure time which makes it so much easier. But well there are so many timers available.
 
Nice shot Ian...

What about a teasing / meaningful caption? Put extra meaning into the image with words? :eek: :rolleyes: o_O

Robert
 
But won't most of the photographs be made out of (the) Focus?

Leaving the hat in is what lifts this from a brochure illustration. Someone uses this vehicle; did they forget the hat; it's probably a guy (or maybe a younger woman, fashion being what it is)...
 
Robert,
A teasing, meaningful caption might be a good idea, but only if it is meaningful and teasing. Mere cuteness would be irritating. Not all photographers can write. How do we react to a series of interior detail abstracts called In Focus?
 
David M said:
Robert,
A teasing, meaningful caption might be a good idea, but only if it is meaningful and teasing. Mere cuteness would be irritating. Not all photographers can write. How do we react to a series of interior detail abstracts called In Focus?
Click to expand...

Hi,

I agree that a bad caption is bad and but would suggest that the deeper meaning added or "direction to look" passed to the viewer in a caption can move an image from beautiful to meaningful.

On another note, Ian, I can't see clearly but think the view through the car side window is your lovely home, which would be another link to the personalisation from a mass produced car to Ian's car. Maybe a caption would help prompt the viewer to add their stories and imaginings about the photographer and / or the context of why the image is created?

Robert
 
If we exclude the simply bad there seem to be two kinds of text we can attach to images. There's straightforward information – The Mayor of Toytown cuts the ribbon to open the Blyton Image Research Facility. A parallel example might be Symphony No 6 in F major.
Anyone might make a photograph called My kids in the woods, but call it A Walk to the Paradise Garden and we begin to think of other things – things that are not present in the image and not stated in the text.
Things are not so simple. Take another Eugene Smith image: Tomoko Uemura in her Bath. What can you add? What else could anybody possibly say?
 
Hi David M,

Yes, interesting...

Maybe what we do is art photography rather than functional, press, illustrative, magazine etc work?

Our captions would be part of the work, not separate from it.

Robert
 
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