Two new chapters in the 2nd edition: 'Artisanship' and 'Troubleshooting'. 

Finally!  I've started posting TLF's revised contents.  Actually getting started was a higher hurdle than I expected but I think things will go smoothly from here out.

The new chapters are listed in the far right column on the homepage. To date: 'Introduction' and 'Vocabulary'.
As always, I welcome comment. Denise, editor@thelightfarm.com

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season and that you feel like 2013 was a good year, and that 2014 is going to be even better —  a year full of fantastic photography. 

Everyone is a photographer today.  I say that without the slightest irony or sarcasm.  Someone who snaps a picture of their morning latte — and enjoys the image and perhaps shares it with others — is a photographer. But, I believe many people want to go beyond making snapshots. Learning a traditional process is one path to travel. 

I hope TLF will be your first go-to place for learning handmade silver gelatin emulsion making and photography, but if you have the time and financial resources, you should consider taking one of the 2014 George Eastman House silver gelatin workshops.  GEH is an inspiration all in itself.  It is arguably the photographic center of the Universe and Mark Osterman is second to none as a teacher.  A GEH Osterman workshop will be an experience you won't forget.  Here's the GEH workshop schedule.  The spots fill fast, so don't wait too long.  Here's a great video about GEH.

Mark has an excellent article on making dry plates in the current issue of View Camera magazine.

Finally!  I've been promising to update and rationalize this site since summer.  But, I hadn't anticipated that my color work would suddenly bolt out the gate.  That has kept me delighted and occupied full time for the last couple of months. It will be the primary work of the rest of my days, but at least it's now in a place where I feel I can timeshare with other things. 

The new essay on the home page pretty much says it all.  The re-write will be a rolling work-in-progress for many months.  In addition, I'll try to post a few 'Bits & Pieces' following the progress of handmade color. More importantly, the work of other emulsion makers will be front and center.

As my dear, patient emulsion penpals know, I periodically promise to stop playing with my chemistry set and cameras and finally sit down at the computer for as long as it takes to reorganize TLF. The site desperately needs at least an index. A couple of months ago, I started re-working the page links and managed to upload an older version.  I lost the new "Gelatine" page.  I just noticed. (I don't spend much time looking at the homepage.)  The error had been corrected and Anthony Leahy has sent a new picture of very old gelatine to re-launch a very interesting look at an important part of our art's history.  Without further ado: Gelatine.

Henk Mantel continues his emulsion making and refinements of work space and procedure. That's the short form version but it doesn't begin to describe the pure poetry of scientific/artistic method that Henk has managed to put into words.  'Elementary, my dear Watson.  Elementary!'  Enjoy.

Time to order Ammonium Bromide!  New tutorial coming up in a week.

Happy Summer!  Maybe it's not official for a few weeks, but just saying "June" is happy-making and summer-feeling, at least here on the Oregon Coast.

There is no doubt that summer is the traditional prime time for photography. The Light Farm has added a new section that I hope fills up with great summer photography — and beyond to include all the seasons.  Robert Beech attended the March 2013 George Eastman House Bromide Emulsion workshop and is already out there making art.  Welcome, Robert, and thank you for launching the GEH page of Mark Osterman's section.

A few quick notes:

1) Thanks to Will Rea for the heads-up on Ilford's annual special orders.  This year it includes 120 film backing paper...   http://www.ilfordphoto.com/pressroom/article.asp?n=164

2) Freestyle Photographic Supplies will special order Adox precipitation gelatin.  It can be in by August.  The price is $34.99 for 250 g.  I'm ordering some to test.

3) I just discovered a glitch in 'Bits & Pieces'.  The page on ortho sensitizers got overwritten with nonsense.  I don't know when that happened, but it's been corrected...  http://thelightfarm.com/cgi-bin/htmlgen.py?content=18Jan2012

Hi All.  I hope everyone has been enjoying Spring.  No matter what is going on in the larger world, for good or for evil, our personal relationships with the seasons, our friends and family, and our art remain a gravitational constant.  Celebrate them all.

The weather on the Oregon Coast has been stunning this spring following a warm and dry (for us!) winter.  The gardens are ridiculously gorgeous.  I admit to spending far more time in my garden than in my darkroom these last couple of months. I haven't needed to make new materials.  I had so much stuff left over from putting together the first of the web tutorials, I've been happily using it all up.  Some of the work has been technical; some just for fun.  I've made heavy use of my Baby Speed Graphic.  You can get a whole lot of Baby negatives from one batch of emulsion.  The only way to get true comparisons between emulsions is to shoot different ones at the same time, and develop them in the same darkroom session.  It's an invaluable way to really learn what's going on, but it's a fair amount of work — and not remotely necessary for the average photographer.  I am more than happy to do the work and pass forward what I've learned.  The information will work its way into the coming tutorials.  Those will be starting mid-June.

 In the meantime...

Far faster and to a much greater extent than I originally anticipated, basic darkroom skills (as in: lack thereof) are as much a hurdle to getting started making emulsions and using them as fear of high school chemistry. It is high time to add analog photography basics to The Light Farm.  We start with the wonderful words and images of Laurent Girard, our newest contributor.  Laurent is not an emulsion maker, but he brings to us the element that I will no longer take for granted — darkroom skills and passion.  His work tells it better than I can, so without further ado, please enjoy here. 

Henk! Celebrating a Month of Emulsion Making here. 

Another delightful chapter in the emulsion adventures of Henk Mantel.  If his experiences don't inspire others to join the fun, nothing will!  "A laboratory table for friends of black and white photography" here. 

I posted a nifty little booklet today — "The Velox Book".  It was published in 1916.  Velox was the brand name of a Kodak gaslight paper.  The formula was very similar to Baker's KCl gaslight paper, the recipe in the first tutorial.  Since we are time travelers, the booklet (about the size of a cell phone) is current events to us.  The information is invaluable.  To read it, please go here. It is our first posting of a booklet in .pdf form ready to download and read on anything that reads pdfs. 

 Also, Henk Mantel just keeps on making progress!  Because of a week that got away from me, I've posted two articles at the same time.  As always, excellent insight and suggestions.  'Pushing The Puddle' here and 'I Love It When A Plan Comes Together' here.  Thanks, Henk!

Henk Mantel has written his next installment.  He has compiled a comprehensive list of European sources of emulsion making materials.  It is an invaluable resource, but beyond even that, Henk's experiences should ease the anxiety of people who are worried they won't be able to become emulsion makers in the EU.  Thank you, Henk.  To read Henk's article, please go here.

I am delighted to welcome our newest contributor Henk Mantel. Henk is learning to make emulsions in Germany.  Read his story here.

New on the Contributor's page: Wendy Monahan

Things are coming together very nicely for 2013.  If you want to start making your own silver gelatin materials, 2013 will be your year.  George Eastman House is adding bromide emulsions to their workshop roster, taught by Mark Osterman.  The Light Farm will be publishing a year-long series of web tutorials.  It is my hope that anyone starting at the beginning and following through recipe-by-recipe will be an accomplished emulsion maker by the beginning of 2014.

Our newest contributor, Wendy Monahan (www.wendymonahan.com) will lead the way with her comprehensive article describing her experiences getting back to film and darkroom printing.  Building a home darkroom today takes a lot more creativity than it did when you could walk down to the local photography store and buy anything you needed with no more effort than buying a carton of milk at the grocery store. Digging, scrounging, inventing. Her husband has started calling her MacGyver! 

 Welcome, Wendy!  Read her first article for us here.

It's always wonderful to be reminded that the historical aspects of The Light Farm are about more than just the history of emulsions.  Photography has been an integral part of our culture for a very long time.  Photography plays the role of recorder of our culture; the photographic technology of a time influences how we think about that time.  The classic expressionless portraits, the result of slow colorblind processes and emulsions, are well known.  Perhaps less understood — it was certainly a surprise to me! — is the confusion that can result from trying to decipher a full color history that was recorded in black and white. 

The following communication from Dave Moor made my day.  It made me proud of the work we do here. 

and a followup email:

I have finally updated "TLF #2" dry plate emulsion.  Please see the Glass-Green box. 

I couldn't be happier that the first significant change/addition to TLF is a major new section: Gelatine.  It is tailor-made not only for emulsion makers, but also for history geeks of any flavor.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I have.  Many, many thanks to Anthony James Leahy and Edward Montague (Sam) Nelson. Gelatine. 

The Light Farm is moving ahead a little sooner than originally planned and in a different direction than I had hoped when I started this. In February, 2008, I fully expected that the site would be fundamentally different by February, 2013. I had no way of knowing, of course, what the difference would be. The future of photography was in a state of profound flux.

The future came far faster and with far more changes than in my wildest imagination. Home and public darkrooms are all but gone. I can’t begin to keep up with the list of disappearing and reappearing (often under a different name) products — including, amazingly, cameras.

Almost five years ago my crystal ball got a few things right but many more things absolutely wrong.

I never guessed how astoundingly excellent digital cameras would be, or how totally they would “become” mainstream photography. Film and darkroom printing have inarguably moved into the alternative processes side of photography. Even then, it’s often with a digital element. It is a challenge for analog materials manufacturers and suppliers to keep photographers engaged with film and wet-processed prints. Workshops for historical printing processes are finding it challenging to fill enough slots to run. Whether or not the ease and excellence of digital imaging is a factor, or competition from other alternative processes, or the influence of some broader cultural zeitgeist, there is currently little interest among photographers in making silver gelatin emulsions.

It has been over a year since there has been a new research contributor on The Light Farm. On photography forums, interest in handcrafted silver gelatin emulsions has fallen off — despite the amazing and unforeseen (at least to me) quality and usability of handcrafted film, plates, and paper. With the benefit of hindsight and six years’ experience, it’s a little embarrassing to realize that I, too, was brainwashed into believing superb quality was out of reach of amateurs in our home darkrooms. I expected we’d top out at early 1900s technology, but we’re at least 30 years beyond that. Today I can put a piece of film I made myself on a light table next to a similar piece of commercial film and be hard pressed tell the difference. I love going out of the house carrying a camera loaded with my own film. I have been immensely enjoying handheld camera street photography. Printing on silver-rich paper is almost a religious experience. I can’t imagine anything better. But apparently I am alone. I have failed at convincing others. That is what I got most wrong.

So, where does this leave The Light Farm? First, the whole site is in desperate need of time and attention. Basically, I need to stop posting new work until I can reorganize the current information into a more cogent “1st Edition.” Back in the day of traditional books, this is the point where the draft would be sent to the editor for pre-publication polishing. Electronic publications should have no less a standard. So, I will not be adding new research for a while. (Months? Years? I don’t know at this point. I plan on doing a lot more photography and a lot less sitting at a computer.) I made panchromatic film yesterday. Like everything involved with this adventure, it was easier than I expected. This will let me put together a tri-pack and hopefully dabble in an autochrome-like process. Enlarging paper is done, as is a new and foolproof gaslight paper that can be thrown together in a temporary darkroom. The Fates willing, all these things will be in “TLF, 2nd Edition”. Until then there is a bounty of things to play with — today — on The Light Farm. I will try to make the information more easily useable. I hope others will be undertaking independent research. Fingers crossed, the 2nd edition will be able to add many new contributors.

http://newlightfarmer.blogspot.com/.  Good luck and fun, Michael!

Also, we finally have officially listed Marco Boeringa as a contributor to The Light Farm.  Welcome, Marco!  And, thank you for the historic Kodak film. Check out Marco's website, you'll enjoy the visit.

Please check out our first film, How Film is Made.

Kevin has added to our catalog of dry plate emulsion recipes here.  Be sure to see Kevin's dry plate prints here. To learn more about all of Kevin's photography, please visit his website, kevinklein.biz.

We are delighted to link The Light Farm with MichaelandPaula.com, the website of Michael A. Smith and Paula Chamlee.  To learn more about Michael and Paula and their work, please go here.

The homemade baryta recipe and technique has been updated.

All emulsion makers are invited to contribute. For information on how, please go here.

Growing this section will be ongoing for several months, starting with some information on Melenex.

There are many pages of new information.  Please check it out.  You can see the new link from TLF's home page.

Read about 5-color silvergums here, and visit the gallery here.

"I began studying photography, and purchased my first SLR (a Pentax K1000), at the age of 45. Fortunately, this was in 1993 and the 'Digital Revolution' had just started crying for Mother's Milk. So, I received an excellent foundation in traditional Black&White Photography. Shortly after taking my first course in Color Photography I saw my first Large Format Color Transparency, and became obsessed with everything transparent. I did a one semester Independent Studies course in Color Separations, shortly before taking a workshop in Platinum Palladium Printing.

The next ten years, I dedicated to working out a method for printing Pt/Pd/Au on glass.

I now have a system for reliably printing these metal images on glass, and (if desired) adding color using a variation of the Gum Dichromate method. I have entered the world of emulsion making because I hate being dependent on commercial film. Also, I wish to do Dye Transfers and Matrix Film is no longer commercial. Since all of my work involves Color Separation, I must make Panchromatic emulsions. I am currently restoring two 1930-1940 tri-color 'one-shot' cameras.

I am a Native New Yorker, but have lived in California since 1974. I have always worked in some field of research, first in Cell Membrane function, then in industrial coatings."

We have a rare and valuable opportunity to expand our knowledge of the iconic Kodak papers. Kit Funderburk was a papermaker at Kodak and is an historian of photographic papers. He is our newest Contributing Editor. He isn't an emulsion maker, per se, but he understands the substrates and the essential character they bring to b&w paper. It is his belief that we should be able to get very close to the original papers — closer even than I had dared hope. Welcome, Kit!

Here is Kit's contribution to us:

“In 2006, I edited/authored a book (spiral bound booklet) titled History of the Paper Mills at Kodak Park which was intended as a memento for Kodak papermakers (the last papermachine was dismantled in 2005). I won't go into the details but that book led to lots of questions about the history of the fiber based B&W papers so I wrote a second book in 2007 titled A Guide to the Surface Characteristics, Kodak Fiber Based Black and White Papers. I'm strictly a papermaker (retired). The books are about manufacturing paper support and there is nothing about emulsions, emulsion coating, or photo products (subjects I don't know much about). Both books are available at no charge though I do ask that requesters cover the mailing costs. The mailing cost is $4.60 within most of the US but is as high as $14.00 for some international locations. If you would like a copy or want more info you can contact me at 'KitFunderburk at gmail dot com'. I'll also be happy to try to answer questions here.”

Kirk Keyes has done some research for us and found a number of books from our literature list available to read from Google Books Online. Look for the links on the Literature List page.

Thanks, Kirk!