FU64 is a group of young fine art photographers working in large format traditional process, I'm sure I'll post about it when one of us or the group shows.
As far as the ilford warmtone developer I just picked up a bottle from adorama and am planning on using it in the next couple weeks with Oriental, Forte Polygrade and hopefull some adox. I'll post my thoughts on it and maybe an example at what I could pull off.
SKphoto, I feel your pain. MC111 dev'd in Ansco 130 is/was my favorite combo for many subjects. Awesome color and richness without any toning. Perfect.
Actually, Freestyle still has the paper in stock in several sizes. If you're finishing up a project or something, you should be able to pick up enough to finish it. But when it's gone, it's GONE <sniff!>
My new favorite combo is Forte Fortezo in Ansco 130. It's warmer than MC111 straight out of the developer, but this paper is incredibly flexible. A wide range of tones is available with different developers and toners. A quick splash in very dilute KRST (1+30 or greater) will remove any green cast and cool the image slightly, bringing it very close to untoned MC111 as it looks out of Ansco 130. Alternatively, a cold tone developer such as Burki & Jenny can bring it VERY close to the look of MC111 without toning by tweaking the amount of benzo in the developer.
It is a graded paper, but I can't imagine a negative that I couldn't pull an acceptable print from using either Gr 2 or 3 (so you only need to stock two grades). The tonal range is amazing, especially the Gr 2. The only paper that comes close in tonal range in my opinion is/was Gr 2 Azo.
Another surpising paper I've found similar to the slightly warm, rich look of MC111 is Arista Classic. Another graded paper, and I believe also discontinued although still available in some sizes from Freestyle. I'd always heard that this paper was repackaged Gallerie, but it seems a tad warmer than the current Gallerie to my eye. The base is very slightly cream colored (as is MC111 if compared to something like Ilford MGIV or Gallerie) but not objectionably so. It also works wonderfully in Ansco 130.
Scott
Yeah I was attempting to get some from JandC the other day and no luck, I may just scratch that and give your forte combo a try, thanks for the input Scott
Neat. Looking forward to seeing FU64's work. I'm 1/6th of the Vancouver 6.
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