Was there ANYTHING AA didn't use at one time or another? I think I remember him talking up Tri-X when I took his workshop decades ago - but I might be wrong. I definitely remember that he was really enthusiastic about Polaroid at the time.
Was there ANYTHING AA didn't use at one time or another? I think I remember him talking up Tri-X when I took his workshop decades ago - but I might be wrong. I definitely remember that he was really enthusiastic about Polaroid at the time.
Was there anything that St. Ansel DIDN'T use? I remember him being really high on Polaroid at one time.
I guess it's just like having one of your favorite tools stolen from your tool bag.
I've seen more than enough outstanding prints from HP-5+ and FP-4+ to have every bit as much confidence in Ilford emulsions as I have had in Kodak film.
I do miss the cheerful yellow boxes though!
"I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority"---EB White
There's always yellow spray paint, John! Or just save up those ole yeller boxes and
repack the new film in them. I too have made many wonderful prints with Ilford films,
esp FP4 and HP5, but also the smaller stuff like PanF. The high country and deserts are always the biggest problem, where the shadows drop really hard, esp if there is
a red filter in use. That where a straighter toe section really helps if you don't want
to overexp and push the highlights onto the shoulder. Maybe you get more wiggle room
contact printing, but I found myself having to sometimes resort to unsharp masking
with Ilford films, and still didn't get exactly what I wanted. Bergger 200 was a dream
come true, but the grain was a bit much when shooting 4x5 vs the 810. TMY seems to
allow me to have my cake and eat it too. If it disappears some day, I'll just adapt like
I always have. I'm not too worried about the fate of decent b&w sheet films. It's color
that problematic in the long run. But I'll fade away too.
Calumet no longer lists 8x10 Tri-X, but others list it as temporarily out of stock. I telephoned Kodak and talked to someone who told me that they still make it, and it's not a special order item. (I'd feel better if I got the guy's name, though!)
Clarification... I just looked at Sal's original post with the Kodak announcement.
I think the bozo I talked to at Kodak just looked at the catalog and saw 8x10 Tri-X was there.
The document Sal posted said discontinued stuff will stay in the catalog until the present inventory is deleted.
So it makes sense he saw 8x10 Tri-X there and concluded it was still being manufactured.
I just spoke with Keith Canham yesterday. We had a good long chat about Kodak and what we wish we could do to help keep costs down. It may just be that Kodak has done things one way so long they just cant wrap their heads around doing something differently. He did mention that they have done quite a few special orders.
Keith mentioned that Tri-X is now a special order.
Here is his Facebook page where he posts updates on what is happening with special orders.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/K-B-Ca...31324393576850
I seem to remember that he had someone from Polaroid with him at one of the Yosemite workshops I attended. Would have been 1971 0r 1972. Brett Weston showed up as well (still have a few of his prints) and Ansel was delighted to tell us that he was getting $50 or $100 more for his prints than Weston was for his. It seemed that more than the money itself it was the sense of winning some kind of competition that had him positively beaming.
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