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Milestone reached: 300 followers

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I’m not here to name names, but thank you all.  It’s been over five years since I started this blog, and I’ve seen people come and go over that time.  There are a few who have been with me from the beginning, or close to it: you know who you are.  And welcome to all the people who have joined me recently.  According to WordPress I have 300 followers, though I’m sure a lot of those haven’t been active for a while.  Not that I keep track of it too closely, but I’m sure that I’ve had people who have re-followed me too.  The most rewarding aspect for me is seeing so many visitors from different parts of the world, and it’s humbling that anyone finds what I’m doing interesting.

The blogging has been pretty unfocused the last year or two, and it seems to me that I was running on fumes for a while.  The day job has been taking up so much of my time, and even though I was shooting nearly all the time I would hold off on developing until I had quite a lot of film; last time it was 17 rolls!  My main goal through all of it was to keep posting at least once per month, but now that I have 17 rolls developed I have an incredible backlog.  And of course, I decided to retake Advanced Photography for the hell of it (main reason was to get into a darkroom one more time) so I’m creating work at a good clip and on a consistent regular basis. 2019 will be a good year for pictures and posting, at least while the semester lasts.  I’m not going anywhere, and neither is film.  Except maybe Fuji, but we all knew that anyway, sadly…

Color negative film in the Trip 35

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I’ve shot color film in the Trip before, but it was always slide film.  I was a bit afraid that the lens wouldn’t be contrasty enough for color negative film, remembering my experiment with the Leitz Summarit.  But I went ahead and risked a $3 roll of Gold 200, and I’m glad I did, because I think these pictures look pretty nice.

So main point to take away?  You won’t know what works until you try.  And now I know that the Olympus Trip 35 is a more versatile camera than I had originally imagined.  I can shoot damn near anything in it and be happy with the results.

Good news regarding Tetenal

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I figured my other post was old enough that I’d make another.  Photoklassik International posted this on Facebook, if you haven’t already seen it I reproduce it below:

“The final English press release:

Acceptance by the Insolvency Administrator of the offer by the employee-led New Tetenal !

NEW TETENAL – The employee-led initiative has made an offer to purchase the collection of recipes, the brand and the production assets of its former employer.

The insolvency administrator, Dr. Sven-Holger Undritz, was delighted to accept the offer of the founding team in the offices of White & Case in Hamburg today. The insolvency administrator’s and the founding team’s attorneys have set the roadmap for the next steps as a result of today’s decision. Since the announcement of the liquidation of Tetenal Europe GmbH in January and the subsequent launch of the employee-led initiative helmed by Stefania Grimme, Carsten Gehring and Burkhardt Mueller to rescue the analogue photo chemistry pioneer, the initiative has received overwhelming support from former employees, analog photography enthusiasts from around the world and large commercial customers of TETENAL Europe Gmbh.

“These calls of solidarity and pledges of loyalty further motivate us as we move forward with a revitalized NEW TETENAL.” says Stefania Grimme

Industry partners from all around the globe, ranging all the way from California to Tokyo are signaling their support to establish NEW TETENAL as an innovative and reliable partner in Germany addressing the global photo chemistry community. Several commercial discussions have started.

At this point, the formalities of the business activities of NEW TETENAL are being established. Following the previously announced end of production by the insolvent TETENAL, the operations of the new company are scheduled to begin from the 1 April 2019.

“However from the beginning of March, it will be possible for existing customers and other commercial partners of NEW TETENAL to place orders which are a prerequisite for starting the production by the new start-up company on the 1stof April.”
add Carsten Gehring and Burkhardt Mueller

“What does NEW TETENAL stand for?” is a frequently asked question posed to the founding team. “We respect the heritage and the responsibility for 172 years of photo history that we inherit. Together with the global photo community and commercial partners from the analogue photo industry, we will relaunch proven products to ensure reliable sustainable supply for film and photo studios, while developing new business models, products and services” notes Burkhardt Mueller.

“The supply and support to the international subsidiaries of our previous employer will be continue under NEW TETENAL without interruption,” adds Norbert Koester-Beestermoeller.”

So, business as usual!  And there was absolutely no need to worry.  Tetenal’s website is, for the moment, only in German, though they should have an English version at some point.  What this means for the digital side of the business I’m not sure, so Epson inks and papers are still in jeopardy I suppose, and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t care about that because I’m even using Epson brand products this semester in the Advanced Photo class.

I’m glad that the photochemical side is under the control of the employees though, as they would appear to have a genuine enthusiasm for film and the chemicals they make.  Also, I think that it’s even more important now that Ferrania get its act together, because the interconnected ecosystem thing is somewhat problematic, with Tetenal making chemicals for Kodak and Ilford, etc.  I’d hate to think of the chemical imaging industry as one big game of domino rally just waiting to fall, and Ferrania are certainly forward-thinking in that aspect.  But for now, all’s well.  Life is good.

Film forever.

Who wants prints?

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I’m taking Advanced Photography again.  I took it before, three years ago, all those pictures can be found here, as well as a few related projects that bled over into the following years.  I suppose I wanted to take the class again primarily because I wanted to get back into the darkroom.

What this will allow me to do is make a lot of fine art optical prints, something I’ve really missed doing, and I’d like to offer this to you, my loyal readers.  Traditional black & white optical prints get the best out of analog photochemical imaging and are the most archival process, I’ve read they can last for 1000 years if properly processed and stored.  I will be printing 8×10 on Oriental glossy fiber paper, one of the best available today.  As I only have access to the darkroom while I am taking the class, this will be a limited-time offer and all orders must be received by May 1, 2019.
Prices:
x1 print: $30
x5 prints: $125 ($25 each)
All prices in USD; prices include shipping in Continental USA, international shipping additional and will vary but contact me and we’ll work something out.
contact: joseph.irvin.photography@gmail.com

These will be black & white prints of course; most of what I’ve shot is Kodak Tri-X, T-Max 400, and Eastman Double-X and the links should make it easy to browse the majority of my black & white back catalog, just send me a link to the picture in the email.  If you absolutely have to have a color image I can make a digital print using an Epson large-format printer, email me and I’ll see what I can do; there is less of a time constraint on these.