A Photograph....Start to Finish...What do you do?

[DanK]

Curiosity....

When creating an Image....Start to Finish....What do you do?

I personally only shoot one or two images per day, typically afternoon or evening....usually one image per holder with duplicate exposure....and develop same afternoon....

Next morning, I test print, analyze (stare) at the image an hour or so....dodge, burn, contrast....analyze again...then if happy with image, print half dozen copies....wash....tone...wash....dry....and dry mount two or three....box the remaining....

You?

Thanks,
Dan

[Noah A]

This is an interesting question. Hopefully others will chime in...

My projects fall into two categories--travel and local.

Either way, my work always starts with research. I do documentary projects and sometimes I spend weeks, months or even years thinking about a potential project, reading as much as I can find about the topic and the locations involved. When it gets closer to shooting time, I may do some scouting if it's local, or some talking to local fixer/guides for advice on foreign locations. As travel time is expensive and limited, I occasionally will hire a local fixer or journalist to scout locations for me ahead of my trip. I also may use google satellite photos to check out locations.

I haven't traveled since I switched to 4x5, but I imagine I'll shoot 20-40 sheets a day. (I was shooting about 10-15 rolls of 120 per day.) Locally I may shoot anywhere from 4-10 sheets. I always duplicate my shots on either side of each holder.

I also shoot a frame of each photo on a digital P&S. Not so much as a digital polaroid, but so that I can keep track of the order in which I shot the photos. I need accurate and detailed captions for my work and this would be harder if I couldn't remember the exact order of the photos. This is especially valuable on longer trips.

At home (or in a hotel bathroom/changing tent) I split the film and the backup shots into two separate boxes. I then send it, one box at a time, to my lab in LA.

For local work where I don't shoot as much, I do minimal editing, mostly I scan every photo unless one is a dog or technically flawed, so I just have to pick between the duplicates. For travel I may shoot more and do a preliminary edit by looking at the negs.

If I can't decide between photos I do preview scans on my flatbed. I then do high-res 4000spi scans of all of the selected photos on my Howtek 8000 drum scanner. The files are around 1.6GB. All of the original scans are captioned and archived on a raid and three external hard drives, two of which are stored offsite.

I then use the 'contact sheet' feature in photoshop to make 6-up contact sheets on 16x20 which I print on roll paper on my Epson printer.

I cut them up into individual frames and stick them up on my wall for editing. If it's an ongoing project I'll leave them up and see what else I need to shoot. If it's done I'll do a final edit.

Once I have chosen the final photos I'll spot them, do the final tonal adjustments and I save those as my final files. I then batch-resize them to give me smaller 50MB files for my agency and FTP them to my editor.

I'll use the final files for portfolio prints, my website and exhibition prints.

I tend to work on more than one project at once. Right now I'm doing two local projects, one international project and I'm about to start a project in the Western US.

[BetterSense]

First, I tell myself I should go out shooting.

1/10th of the time, I listen to myself and actually go out shooting.

About 3/4 of the time I do go out shooting, I either don't take any shots or I take some stupid shot that is destined for the trash can, just to hear the camera click.

When I actually do come home with negatives, I usually develop them the same day. Typically they 'turn out' for the most part.

When the negatives are dry the next day I look at them on a light box and throw at least half of them away. The rest I stick in a plastic bag or negative sleeve and tell myself to print them. About 1/10th of the time, I listen to myself and contact print them or make 8x10s. This leads to more thrown out negatives.

The surviving negatives go in a big binder. Months or years later, I will be looking through the binder and see a negative and either thing "wow, I am never going to print this" and throw it away, or say "I really should print that some day".

Some day, I actually do get around to printing it. If I work up a good print, I might knock out half a dozen. Then I put the prints in a box and tell myself to mount/frame them.

Months/years later, I'm going through the box and either think "Wow, I'm never going to frame this" and throw it away, or think "I should mount/frame this". Sometimes I do. The end.

[ic-racer]

I try to shoot whenever I have some free time. The film is stored until there is enough for a worthwhile processor run.

The processed negatives are filed in clear hanging pages after drying over night.

Printing sessions are based on available time. Usually, suitable negatives are choosen from the hanging pages during the printing session . Most printing is done on negatives that are less then the year from when they were processed. However, if I have time I like to go back through the negative archive and look for at least one 'undiscovered' image from the past.

1 to 5 different fiber based prints are produced in a typical printing session. After drying and flattening, the prints are placed in archival boxes for storage and sorting.

[Heroique]

As travel time is expensive and limited, I occasionally will hire a local fixer or journalist to scout locations for me ahead of my trip.

What a unique idea – and if I understand it correctly, I’d enjoy hearing more ... either from you, or others who have tried this. For example, what instructions does your scout receive before heading out – and what do you hope to hear when he or she returns? Has a scout’s report ever led you to a scene where your reaction is wildly different? Astonishingly similar? When they’re out scouting, do they take pictures of scenes that might inspire you to return w/ your own equipment?

[jp]

Curiosity....

When creating an Image....Start to Finish....What do you do?

You?

Thanks,
Dan

I go for a walk or local hike once in a while when the weather matches my shooting interest and family & parenthood obligations don't prevent it, and when work doesn't prevent it or work allows me to play hookey.

I'll shoot perhaps 6 4x5 images if I take my LF camera. Depending on what it is, I might go with a TLR or a DSLR. I can develop that much at once with my combiplan or mod_photographic tank.

Other times, if it's a big trip or big event, I'll have more holders, but a simple walk or hike only gets 2-6 exposures.

I'll put the holders on a "used" stack in my darkroom so it doesn't get mixed up with "new" or "empty" film holders in their own stacks. I know about flipping the darkslide, but there is no position for "empty".

I don't usually develop the same day. Some evening after the kids are in bed and my wife is watching oprah or grays anatomy, and I'm not worn out, I'll go into the darkroom and process the film, allowing them to dry overnight. I'll do upto 6 sheets of LF or maybe double up and do two tanks at once for 12 sheets, or do some 120 film at the same time as the LF. While my hands are clean, I'll reload the film holders if I have 3 or more holders to reload, then I bag the full film holders in antistatic bags for storage and transportation. Then it's bed time.

I don't print everything (beyond a quick contact print page that goes with the negative) and I don't scan everything. The extent of me analyzing/staring at photos is only to make sure I didn't print it backwards and that it meets my technical expectations such as sharp where I want it sharp, black where I want it black, white where I want it white, contrast as I expected, etc... I really don't have the luxury of time to spend analyzing anything else. My post volume doesn't make that clear, but I post from lots of places and check the board 5 minutes at a time between tasks at work, while waiting for the grille to heat up at home, etc...

Another late evening or early morning, I'll print or scan. For printing, I'll make some contact prints of everything that's processed, hang them up, look them over, and print a few of the better negatives.

For scanning, I'll clean the epson's glass, scan them in, put the negatives away, then spot/dodge/burn if needed. I mostly scan for the purpose of sharing an image, including making a reduced size jpg for the web.

[John Kasaian]

Generally I have an idea. Where it comes from is anybody's guess---a book, a memory, an old story passed around a campfire or over a cup of coffee. A newspaper or magazine artcle.

Then research. Where exactly is it? Is it a better Winter or Summer shoot? Do I need permission to access it? How much time will the "sortie" take? A few hours? A few days?

I need to set aside the time, save up some $$ if I need to. Load holders if I don't have any already loaded with an appropriate emulsion.

Do the shoot. The number of exposures "depends" on the terrain. On rough ground I might carry only 2 or 3 holders. If I can shoot "out of the trunk" I might go through all 20 of my 8x10 holders.

Set the exposed holders aside until I have enough to warrant a souping session.

Develop and wash negatives---vacume & wax empty holders and store in zip-locs to await the next loading session.

Loupe the negatives on my light box(thanks Merg, for suggesting to invest in one!)

Print some test prints and figure out if and how to proceed from there.

Sandwich the "for reals" prints and run them through the dry press to flatten and shrink for dry mounting if the end result calls for that.

[walter23]

I've been a pretty piss-poor (as in, awful) photographer lately.

Go for a walk with a big heavy bag and a tripod. Carry big bag and tripod around for a couple of hours to a day, and probably not shoot anything. If I'm feeling frustrated because I haven't been out for awhile, or haven't found anything worth shooting, I'll set up and shoot some boring awful things that I'll never enjoy looking at, anyway, just because I feel the obligation. Or if I get lucky, I'll see something really interesting and feel like spending some time setting up and shooting.

Then I'll leave the film in the holders for a couple of months (or transfer the sheets to a box) before realizing I should go through and develop everything in a marathon session lasting until 3 or 4 in the morning.. followed by scanning on my flatbed, resizing, and posting on my website to disappear into oblivion ;)

I have a lot of projects in mind at the moment but I've been seriously undermotivated to finish them. Sigh.

[Noah A]

What a unique idea – and if I understand it correctly, I’d enjoy hearing more ... either from you, or others who have tried this. For example, what instructions does your scout receive before heading out – and what do you hope to hear when he or she returns? Has a scout’s report ever led you to a scene where your reaction is wildly different? Astonishingly similar? When they’re out scouting, do they take pictures of scenes that might inspire you to return w/ your own equipment?

It's pretty standard for photojournalists to use a fixer or guide when working in unfamiliar territory. Sometimes they're professionals and sometimes not. In Iraq my driver was a former taxi driver and my translator was his cousin. They weren't professional journalists but they knew their way around and were extremely trustworthy. In Nigeria I worked with a Jesuit priest. On other trips I've worked with local journalists, professional translators, other photographers, former boxers, video producers, etc.

The most important thing, especially if you're in a conflict zone or rough corner of the world, is that you find the person through a trusted reference so you know they will not sell you out or intentionally put you in harm's way.

Even now that my work has largely shifted away from covering breaking news, I still find that working with a good fixer is invaluable. The major project I'm working on is about squatter communities and informal growth in the worlds major cities. Many of these settlements are actually quite organized and safe to shoot in but only if you have permission from the neighborhood leaders.

So, for example, on my recent trip to Peru I had a local photographer make some contacts for me ahead of time and check out the various locations. She did take some photos, though just basic documentation to show me what the places looked like. It was a big help and the advance work allowed me to get a lot done in a short 7-day trip.

I still got to explore the areas and it didn't at all take away the fun of experiencing the city. In fact the best place we found was by chance and it wasn't a place we had set up in advance. But having a few sure-fire locations to shoot sure was a big help.

Now that I'm shooting 4x5, it's also nice to have someone to help carry the tripod and film holders:D .

[reyno bundit]

would what i see or want to see in a photo be suitable for a carbon ,vdb,cyanotype,gum, gum over,alb,salt,lith,fibre etc.

when i figure this out i will then take the picture with this process in mind and of course develop and expose accordingly, i dont bracket or shoot more than one shot per subject.

usually i get what i saw on the ground glass, good or bad.

once developed i will get into the darkroom and print it asap, sometimes i will need to switch my alt process due to contrast issues

once printed and satisfied with the result i wil mount into a homemade book ,usually into sets of 10 - 20 per book

all my books are then weighed down to maintain flatness

[Heroique]

In fact the best place we found was by chance, and it wasn't a place we had set up in advance.

This almost always happens to me when I hike to pre-scouted landscape shots.

On the way there, I’ll notice a different scene whose lighting is perfect at that moment. So I’ll stop, set-up & shoot what might disappear forever, deferring my original plans for another day...

Thanks for your insights about delegating photo-scouting tasks – worth its own thread.

[jnantz]

i have been working on a new developer thing so for me sometimes it isn't really going out
on a expedition or specifically out on a project other than to expose film and process it.
but once in a while it is more of an outing...

i load film into holders, and maybe wander around my yard ( can't go far sometimes )
or put stuff on the kitchen table at 9am, or midnight, or go down the street or through the woods to the cove and
i just photograph what catches my eye.
then i put the film in a pile on the darkroom table.
if it isn't a weekend, i process film between 1145 and 2pm when i have the time to do it.

i usually use store bought rot gut instant coffee for my developer,
but these days i roast sumatran robusta coffee on the back porch, grind it, brew it, and use it for the film.
so that means, if i don't have any coffee ground, or roasted
or brewed, i have to do that instead of process the film. if it needs to be roasted &C
i plug in the hot plate and blacken some beans. i wait a day or two for them to finish
"outgassing" grind them and brew the coffee in a 12cup perk. it gets dumped into a
big tupperware sort of tub when it is cool, and is enough for 2 runs of film.

at that point, i put the film in a FR tank, and mix up some developer and pour it in.
i leave the room for about 25mins, then wash/fix/ &C.
if i can scan the film to see if it still made sense, i will, but lately my film is too dense
to scan so i contact print it. eventually i get a chance to look at it and
if it still makes sense, i jot down a few words that the image reminds me of
and think about someday compiling them all into something hand made or blurby ..
but right now it is just a stack ...

[hmf]

My confession:

I have a couple of themed projects in the works. I do careful research and arrange for trips, usually to places that are reasonably close to home. I pack my large format equipment, get to my destination and discover something totally different than I had planned for. Or make photographs that might disappoint once developed and printed. Either that, get hung up on an interesting scene on the way there, and never reach my destination.

Happily, I almost always carry a Holga, with which I have been doing my best work of late. When I encounter an engaging scene or beautiful light, I pop out of my car, or climb off my bike, or step to the side of the curb/trail, and make a few carefully considered compositions (but totally spontaneous exposures), then go along my way. When I've got a few rolls of film, I develop them all simultaneously and in the same way every time. Blessedly, there is no plus or minus development. There is almost always an interesting frame or two on each roll, some of which I don't even remember taking. I spend one or two seconds berating myself for NEVER, EVER making contact sheets, then stick a promising negative in the enlarger.

All of my Holga prints are made on the same paper, developed in the same chemistry and printed with the enlarger at the same height, showing the full frame plus a bit of the film edge. No cropping or changing print size, and very, very little dodging or burning. I've done the whole process often enough over the last couple of years that I can usually make a very nice print with 3 or 4 pieces of paper. I had a well received show of work made in this manner last year, and even sold a 1/2 dozen prints or so - a first for me.

I still do large format work, but this whole process is so liberating that I could weep with joy.

[William McEwen]

Happily, I almost always carry a Holga, with which I have been doing my best work of late.

Hmf, I used a Holga many years ago for five or 10 rolls just to see what the excitement was about.

The viewfinder was unreliable, and I was never able to predict where the frame was. I figure eventually I would have been able to predict.

Not to turn this into a Holga thread, but how good are you at making precise compositions with the thing?

[seabird]

Start to finish, what do I do?

Invariably I witness my high hopes get reduced to disappointing mediocrity.

All too rarely those same high hopes get close to being realised.

The latter experiences keep me going.

:)