Semester over... meaning the Independent Study is done (turned out very well, thanks for asking) and the Brassicaceae Project is going to be underway with gusto soon. In the meantime, with Miss Sadie out of town this week for College-Related Business, I'm working in the bathroom to make some contact prints.
Why?
Sure, I don't have space for my enlarger at the moment, but that's not so much a reason. This summer, I want to crank my photographic time machine back a few notches, and start doing more paper negatives and salt prints. With the Autographic 4x5 nearing completion, that will be easier (since contact printing requires a negative as big as the print). Contact prints are small, intimate, the perfect size to share with one other person or to put into a book... they invite the viewer in, without the need for space the way a large print can. I printed about 5 tonight, with exposures of between 5 and 6 seconds (depending on the density of the negative), my exposing unit being a safelight with the filter removed, tied through my enlarging timer. At the moment, though, developer is precious (or else I might consider 8x10) and though I haven't opened it yet, I'm beginning to wonder if 4 liters of Dektol will be enough for the summer.
((I'll probably actually cut it in half, making 8L).
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