About the Photographs

Generally, my aim is to make the images displayed on this site look as much like the prints I produce using both traditional darkroom techniques and monochrome inkjet printing. This, however, is doomed to failure simply because a photo print is a light reflecting 'device' whereas a computer monitor is a light emitting device. The primary issues that follow from this are as follows:

-Contrast is inherently higher on a monitor, normally ranging between a ratio of 1:400 to 1:1000, whereas on a photo print you would commonly get a contrast range of 5 to 7 which translates to a ratio of 1:32 to 1:128. So, on the one hand, you can simply decrease the contrast of your on-screen images to match that of your prints, but this will mean that the blacks will turn out a dull dark grey, especially in comparison to something black on your screen (e.g. you pointer arrow) and the highlights will be a drab light grey, all in all an abominable result. Or, on the other hand, if if you want your on-screen images to look good (or 'natural') in their computer/web environment you have to accept the higher contrast range and not be true to your prints, which is what I have done here.

-Resolution will most likely be lower on a monitor than on a print (unless your particular flavour is, say, using ultra fast grainy small format black & white film and printing it at a size equivalent to a 30-inch monitor). Typically monitors are capable or 72 or 96 ppi whereas traditional print materials have, for all practical purposes, no resolution limit except the one imposed on them by the size of the film to be printed and the amount of enlargement of the image produced by that film.

To me, however, the result/difference does not appear quite as bad as the figures seemingly suggest and I suspect that we, as viewers, semiconsciously adapt to the contrast range at hand. Still, it seems a good idea to keep the difference in mind.

The bulk of the images were captured using either a medium or a large format camera but sometimes, and just for the fun and convenience of it, I also use small format cameras. Most of the time I use traditional b&w films but on rare occasions I also use chromogenic b&w films (e.g. Ilford XP2 Plus). I tend to favour cameras that are mainly mechanical but I'm not particular about it. I can't remember the last time I used a zoom lens and unless someone politely asks me to use one I will stick to prime lenses, not because of any fuzz about "optical quality" etc. but simply because I like them a lot. I only work with natural light, mostly because nine times out of ten it would be impossible to artificially light what I am photographing, but also because it is what I really like. Except for the occasional chromogenic film (which requires the standardised C-41 colour developing process) I do all film developing myself and the same goes for printing and framing. I even build the picture frames myself, not so much because I have to but simply because I like it (again). The only thing I do not like is image captions and for that reason none will be given. All in all I think we can conclude by now that, quite generally, I am a happy photographer.

Thanks for visiting!