The all new ART paper by Ilford

I woke up this morning and the first thing that went through my head was I gotta do a blog post on the new Ilford Art 300 paper.

Not that I am in anyway qualified to do a real live review on any product, but it's something I bought, used, and have opinions about. Maybe someone out there is on the fence about buying it since it's description is, well, confusing to say the least. They throw out words like matt and eggshell in the same sentence. huh? exactly.

Lets start with the extreme buoyancy of this product. This stuff floats. Like if you wash in a vertical washer it sticks up a good inch out of the water. Its not really a problem, I just wasn't expecting it. I mean it is a problem, in that you need to find a way for it to stay under, but it's not that difficult to solve. I just laid some plexiglass pieces over the tops to hold them down.

I printed 3 of my images on this paper. I scanned them to give you a bit of a visual but again its not really fair because its a scan... and scans are crappy, but then also the paper has this texture which makes it look quite grainy in the scan, when in fact it is not at all a grainy image. You can see that I included the whole of the image, all the way to the edge of the paper, and it is indeed textured.

These are they...

I love the way these printed up. This paper does a really beautiful job with the blacks and contrast. I mean really beautiful. The tones are perfect. In the description it says, it has a cool base colour and warm image tone.  I wasn't sure what that meant. The example photo on the box looks really warm. Kind of a rich brown, I don't find that to be the case in real life.  I can see that its not a cool black, but its not brown either. its a warm black and thats really the only way to put it. But definitely black.  

The thing that throws me off about this paper is the texture. If you look at the print straight on the texture is really noticeable.  And sometimes usually I don't really like all that texture. It seems to give it this furry look. Really hard to put in words.  But then if you take the print and tilt it, and look at it from an angle, even a slight angle, it transforms into shimmery wonderfulness. Honestly, any furriness it had disappears completely and you are left looking at a gorgeous print, almost as if the light picks up the little slivers of silver. It's really something to see! That particular quality about it excites me. But the texture not so much.

it is also very heavy/thick, which is nice.

So is it worth the $1.42 per sheet, plus shipping and/or tax?

I say yes. 

I won't print all, or even most of my images on this paper, but I think certain images will look really beautiful on it. 

And if you're a darkroom printer I think its definitely worth a shot. I mean, you just HAVE to see the gorgeous silvery shimmer. It's like nothing I've ever seen, not that I've seen much of anything really.

For reference, the paper I usually print with is Adox premium fiber based paper. Which I do quite love.

If I have any film shooter, darkroom printer, blog readers out there, I'd LOVE to hear back from you how you feel about this paper.

My local camera store doesn't carry it. I ordered it online from Freestyle Photo. I use them quite a bit, they are really great, I get all my paper from them and a good lot of my film.

Also... lots of exciting things happening in my little world of photography that I will talk about more later, but I just started a critique class over at Art Intersection with Carol Panero-Smith and Jim Hajicek. AND... I also just signed up for wet plate collodion workshop with France Scully Osterman! 

yeah yeah, more later :) !!!!!!!!! 

(I can hardly wait)

WANTED

opinions!! 

for all those who care to dish it.

one is film. one is digital.

I was going to make you guess which one is which but since to me it's so obvious which is which (its really not fair to the film image, scans of images are so horrid) I will just tell you...

the top one is digital and the bottom one is film.

There just something different about film, they say. I can't put my finger on it. its just different. analog.
(if you ever wanted to see a side-by-side of film vs. digital you're in luck... I got one right here :))


furthermore if you ever wondered what a crop sensor is doing to your photos this is a prime example. Both images shot with a 50mm lens (or the equivalent... don't make me go into the specifics of shooting medium format) my digital is a crop sensor. Both images taken from the exact same spot. Look at all the real estate you're missing out on!

The question is... which do you prefer and why?

I feel like the scanner did an exceptionally terrible job of scanning this one in. Wooo doggies.

I can assure you with certainty the actual print does not have a blown out dress.

You don't have to be a photography expert to have an opinion. I welcome all opinions :) !!

Chad and I have differing opinions on this one.  And incase you wonder why I have one on digital and one on film, my film camera is a Pentax 6x7 and I don't trust the light meter one iota. And since I don't want to put out the money for a hand held light meter I use the digi to proof the shot.

This photograph very much belongs with the sunrise collection from the previous post.


Talk to me people!!!

A meager life's work

On day 18 of a 20 day semester I found myself putting in twice the normal days work as I stayed quite late to learn how to tone prints. And as I stepped out of the classroom that day holding my two boxes overflowing with prints, my teacher said to me...

wow, that's like you're whole life's work you're holding there.

I supposed that was true in a way, and as I looked again at the overstuffed boxes, what seemed before to be an enormous amount of work, now seemed meager and deflated.

Though headway has been made, I was reminded that I am only at the very beginning of my journey. With all the discoveries yet to be made I think the beginning is an exciting place to be.

Someday perhaps two arms won't be enough to carry out the life's work of this girl.

Before I show you what I have been working on all of June let me first explain that this is from an ongoing project which is still taking form. Eventually it will include the wholeness of my family, but for now it is mostly consisting of my three little girls. I am in awe of the beauty that can be found within the sincerity of a young person. What they give you in terms of truth and depth is such an amazing gift. Especially so for the mother that has an all access pass to witness these things plainly and often, now to capture them is a treasure.

Again this is not the whole of my project but a small sampling of what was created within the small amount of time that was my summer school class.

note the sequentiality of the photographs as we begin in a public place, and move into more private spaces. The tracing of these moments being under normal circumstances unavailable to you as an outsider, now sit suspended here for indefinite amounts of time for your looking.























Now next time you go to photograph ask yourself this one question...

What does ____________ look like photographed?

and then answer the question with your experimentation.

within reach, if you're willing.

Tomorrow is my last day of summer school. It's bitter-sweet, with a little bit of a lean toward the sweet.

I'm preparing for some much needed sharing on here!

Till then...



oh yes~ Take your children to see Mr. Popper's Penguins, it's great. I laughed and laughed. Abnormally loud in fact.


<3 jill

Stingy is as stingy does

I finished up with my photography class just in time to sign up for the summer class!

I guess you could say I'm addicted :)

Actually I wasn't planning on taking the summer class. I mean really... do I want to be somewhere by 8:00 AM four days a week during summer? Heck no. I want to be lazy as the day is long (and you KNOW they're longer during summer)

The plan was to take 290 in fall with my current teacher Mr. Mulno, who has been so great by the way, but no. All plans came to a screeching swirl of confusion and disappointment as he announced that the summer class will be his last class at Chandler Gilbert Community College. He is off to teach the lucky students of University of San Diego.

So if you have been wanting to take a photography class at CGCC I suggest you get crackin on that! Like post haste.

Well anyway, yesterday we had our critique on our final projects. I have pretty consistently photographed my children throughout the semester. It really came as no surprise to anyone that I chose that as my final project. When I laid all the photographs out to see what I had, it was almost like I could separate them into two distinct projects. I had eighteen prints, I whittled it down to fourteen that would be shown.

and I am showing you five.

Because I am stingy.







Do you adore that doll house as much as I do? It didn't always belong to us. I saw it sitting outside my parent's neighbors house. I wondered if they were throwing it away. THEY WERE! The man who lived there explained that they were moving and they had a garage sale earlier that day, but couldn't bear to put it out and sell it for $5.00 *insert gasp here* in front of his wife's father who made it by hand for their children. Can you believe it?!?! Me either. When we drove up with a car full of little girls he asked if we would like it.

Uh... try LOVE it!

This is classic win win.

I got the dollhouse I was lusting after. He got to feel good about sending it off to a home filled with little girls.

I only wish I knew where they moved to. I would love to send them a print.

And those masks!! Natalie and her friends made them. They were having plays out on the lawn. She is my most crafty kid. I immediately fell in love. I couldn't help but use them in a photograph. The one of Lucy standing with a mask on, my teacher referred to as 'amazing'. it's true.

I have it in writing :)