September 2021 and October Meetings

What we’ve been chatting about this month:

August Sander Mini Conferance

Pinstacamera

NGS The Worlds Edge – on until January 2022

Old Photographic Lenses

Gardener or Brady?

Celebrating 5 years of LoFi participating in Worldwide Cyanotype day! See the instagram gallery for images made by the group.

Brittonie Fletcher and S2 JGHS students Scotland Pandemic Wall Cyanotype
Brittonie Fletcher and S2 JGHS students Scotland Pandemic Wall – Cyanotype on recycled Amazon packaging

Cyanotype Toning book – Out on the 30th including work by Brittonie Fletcher .

solarised bridges
Solarised Forth Bridges – Silver Gelatin Print

Summer Sunday at South Queensferry – beautiful weather for our last summer photowalk of the year. Vintage cameras and ice cream!

Our upcoming October meetings :

  • 1st – 120 film is 120 years old – online.
  • 11th – Winter Exhibition – submission delivery deadline.
  • 12th – 2nd Tuesday – online from 6:30pm (BST)
  • 27th – Last Wednesday – Printmakers Cafe from 10:30am(BST)

April 2021

This month we have been discussing :

Pinhole Snowdrops by Ali Millar

Pinhole Day 2021 (Snowdrops by Ali Millar)

UV lamps for Cyanotypes and other alternative processes.

Possible dates for the next Collodion Club at Darkbox Images when restrictions permit.

Tilt Shift attachments for 35mm (just in case your View Camera isn’t handy!) and other lens adaptors.

Adapting modern film to 127 cameras.

Historical processes – Lithophane and Woodbury type – and modern practitioners.

Radioactive lenses.

How to get the most out of Hahnemuehle Platinum Rag.

Lunchtime talk Tokens of Affection online via the John Rylands Research Institute and Library.

And HOW MUCH?!?

Our next online meetings are Tuesday May 11th from 6:30pm and Wedneday May 26th from 10:30am. Send us an email or DM on Social Media to get added to our virtual world.

March 2021

This month we have been discussing :

The Hexham Photography Group have Doug Chinnery giving an online talk this month.

Stereo camera conversations continue – the Sputnik and two hacked Lubitels on trial. Reminiscing over old Stereo Realist cameras and Viewmaster reels.

Sputnik Stereo Camera

110 cameras with some lovely examples on Chris Osborne’s site https://cjo.info/classic-cameras/pentax-auto-110/

Some surreal moments on flash bulbs!

1890’s spy camera and early street photography article.

Cyanotyping on maps and speed formulas for in camera cyanotype processes.

How minature can collodion plates go?

Chromatography.

chemical hand photogram - Ali Miller
LoFi Members Resource Directory now set up

Our next online meetings are April 13th from 6:30pm, April 25th for pinhole day activities (10am virtual coffee, 11am socially distanced sakura photowalk and 6pm virtual wrap up and competition results) and April 28th from 10:30am. Send us an email or DM on Social Media to get added to our virtual world.

Cameraless

June’s online exhibition features Cameraless prints including photograms, lumens, chemigrams and alternative processes.

Pansies – Lumen by Olive Dean

Cameraless Gallery (Click to enter)

Strips – Photogram by Elaine Robson

New work will be added over the month so please check back to see how the gallery evolves.

Lockdown Lumens

We are not sure where the phrase Lockdown Lumens started but there are plenty being made at the moment given everyones confinement and nice sunny weather here in Scotland.

Lumen Basics

B&W photographic paper is exposed to UV or artificial light, masked with objects or a negative until the paper turns a pleasing colour. The print is then scanned or fixed to retain the image. No developer is used.

Lumen from paper negative. From the Lower City series, E Robson.

The Art Bit

As with photograms the composition is probably more important than the chemistry! Inventive uses for household objects can take these beyond the everyday and into the narrative or abstract. Saying that, plant matter produces delicate and beautiful results and negatives of all sizes work well too.

Lumen preparation, E Robson
Tulips and tea, sprayed with hand sanitiser under glass on Illford MGIV paper for a 1 hour sunny exposure. E Robson.

The Science Bit

How do you get colour from black and white paper?

As more intense light is allowed to fall on the paper, over a prolonged exposure period, coloured areas form. This is caused by silver atoms clumping on the silver halide particles and reflecting different wavelengths. As more free silver is liberated by the light energy reaction the ‘print out’ on the paper becomes coloured. First appearing yellow, pink, then sepia, then red-­brown and finally as a purple slate ­gray shade as the clump particle size increases.

What factors Affect how the lumen will appear?

  • Density of objects placed on the paper -how much light reaches the paper surface. Objects in contact with the paper will be crisper so use a sheet of glass to hold everything in place. (Check the glass does not have a UV coating!)
  • Intensity of light – bright sunlight, overcast, LEDs, fluorescent light will all give different effects.
  • Colour of light – black and white paper is designed to be used in darkroom conditions so red light has little effect on it.
  • Time of exposure – a long exposure usually leads to more darker prints. Lumens can be left for seconds to days!
  • Humidity – damper usually means faster reaction time (Refer to John Beaver!)
  • Temperature – warmer will usually result in darker more colourful images.
  • Paper type – Ilford warmtone will give a different colour range to Kodak bromide or Fomaspeed Variant. Old out of date or fogged papers are perfect for producing lumens.
  • PH- acids make the print pinker, alkalis make the print more grey or brown.
Pink (dipped in vinegar) and brown (dipped in bicarbonate of soda solution) orchids. E Robson

How do you preserve the lumen?

The lumen will be fugitive after exposure. Many people scan the lumen to preserve the fresh colours. The lumen can be fixed using an alkaline fixer (such as 10g sodium thiosulphate / 1g sodium carbonate/ 100ml distilled water) but this will cause some bleaching of the colours.

At a previous LoFi meet we discussed “Loomens” – that is using a very long water wash to remove as much of the reactive chemicals as possible. The only dark tank with changing water we could think of was the toilet cistern – pop the print in the back, out of the way of the flush mechanism, and leave it for a month!

Tea and Tulip Lumen, E Robson
Ready for the long wash. E Robson.

What next?

Try Anthrotypes if you enjoy the UV aspect and make your own photosensitive materials. Liquid light can allow for lumens on all sorts of surfaces. Try coating the B&W paper with cyanotype fluid first to make cyanolumens!

Trying this out?

Email in your results or tag us on social media for repost – we would love to see the results.

Check out work by Olive Dean and Mandy Kerr – they have lots of example works available through the links in their galleries.

Cyanolumen, Olive Dean.

Dundee and Tentsmuir

Wonderful weather for our final Summer Sunday photography outing of 2018.

We started under the Tay Bridge –

Tay BridgeBefore crossing to see the new V&A and having our usual modest lunch in Dundee city center!

 Victoria and Albert Museum Dundee

We rounded off the day by visiting Tentsmuir Forest and Beach for some seawater cyanotypes and exploration.

Tentsmuir beachShell CyanotypeRazor shell and seaweed cyanotype detailClam shell and seaweed cyanotype detail

 

Our next regular 2nd Tuesday monthly meeting  is on the 9th of October, everyone welcome. Bring your Russian Cameras and prints as it it Red October all month.