Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Lauren Elizabeth Stewart straight scanned Fuji Instant print

In years past the process from taking a picture to seeing the results went through lengthy steps. If I shot b+w film I would process the roll, wash it (to make it archival) and then wait for it to dry. Forced drying with a hair dryer, sometimes helped to embed dust into the negative. Patience was best. Then I had to mix chemicals and clean up the darkroom of all dust. I would turn off the lights and the excitement would begin. I would turn on the lights and looking at a wet photograph in my hands was and is still is a thrill.

Fuji Instant Print converted to Autochrome via Corel Paint Shop Pro X2

But the digital age has modified my life a tad even though I still shoot film. In the examples you see here it involves one Fuji Instant Colour Film print and its corresponding negative peel. Unlike the real Polaroids (pack film Polaroid film is no longer made) these Fuji peels fade quickly. It is best that I place them on my scanner while they are still sticky wet. The image on the peel can barely be seen but with the wonders of a good scanner and a middle-of-the road approach to the highlight/shadows Photoshop tool the information can be pulled out. What you get is random.

Fuji Instant Print negative/peel

In the last few months I have been working with an effect in my Corel Paint Shop Pro X2 called Time Machine. With a bit of control and one click I can convert my pictures into looking like Daguerreotypes. albumen prints, cyanotypes, platinum prints and something quite exciting called Early Colour which converts pictures (they have to be in colour first) into a close facsimile of Lumière autochromes a French process from the turn of the 20th century.

Fuji Instant Film peel scanned with corrections

In order to maximize the effect I must manipulate my original scans to fit the constraints of the effects.

These pictures of my 9-year-old granddaughter Lauren were inspired by her dance, Niña Frida, choreographed by her teacher Claudia Segovia at the Arts Umbrella. I used Lauren's dance costume and sat her on the credenza in our dining room. At the end of the session (with one frame left in my camera's Ektachrome) I ran into the kitchen and brought a dry erase marker and fashioned a sort of mustache and  joined Lauren's eyebrows!




The previous scan, cropped and then modified by Corel Paint Shop Pro X2 Time Machine on the albumen print setting

Mamiya RB-67 Pro-SD 140mm lens Ektachrome 100G