and now for something much more labor intensive. . .

In an earlier post, I talked about how the urge to take images with the Polaroid comes upon me sometimes. Well, I've definitely been in an infrared mood of late. Actually, ever since I found the main entrance to Patapsco Valley State Park (read: the side with plenty of parking), I've been eager to go back there with my tripod and a camera (or two) loaded with infrared film. The recent Holga hang-up has delayed my plans with this. And, to be fair, the heat too has been a contributing factor--it's been soooo hot here for the past couple week. The thought of tromping around the park with all that gear, well, not particularly inviting.

Still, having done a lot of fast work lately (i.e., digital, point and shoot, polaroids), I was kinda in the mood to do some images that require more prep time, exposure time and/or patience. To my mind, infrared requires the most time and patience--at least in terms of metering, focusing, setting up the shot, making sure the i/r filter is back in place, etc. Second to that--taking images with the pinhole.

Since writing wasn't going all that swimmingly yesterday, I decided to stop that before I got too frustrated. I loaded the zero image 4x5 with ilford delta 3200 speed film and headed to the basement. (I'm seriously worried that someone will be taking the crutches so I want to make sure I get as many images as I can in the meantime.) I'm still basically winging it with this camera. I decided to use the 6x9 frame this time and I metered each shot at 1600, doubling the length of each exposure with a mind toward reciprocity error/correction. We'll see. I took 5 interior shots yesterday which leaves me with 3 frames for today. I definitely wanted to get one (or two) of the basement door in the morning light (at this point in the season, the light is best between 8-9 am). I've still not mixed a new batch of Diafine. Being so close to the move date, well, it just doesn't make sense to mix anything I'll have to move. I'm not sure then if I'll do a Rodinal stand with this film or if I'll use some HC-110. I guess it all depends on how well the writing is going. I prefer doing stand developing on writing days because I can sit here and write while the film is doing its thing. Too bad I'm so afraid of my reels getting too gummed up--I am actually kinda sorta increasingly in the mood to do some caffenol development. Hmmmm. Nah. Probably not a wise choice when I'm trying to get a handle on working with this camera and gauging proper exposure times.