Last one, but with problems

 Here is the last 4x5 black and white image I took with expired Ektapan film, using my Travelwide camera with a Schneider Super Angulon 90mm lens. I didn't include it yesterday because, as noted in a previous entry, I had taken it off the drying cable and it had stuck to some white paper. I put in in water again hoping to have the stuck paper come off. It didn't.

I went ahead and scanned it two times, the first without digital ice specified (which is a quick, quick scan of a few minutes), the second time, with digital ice enabled, so that I could see if it would eliminate dust from the negative. Nico at Nico's Photography Show said in a video that digital ice does absolutely nothing with black and white negatives, it can only help with color, but I tried it anyway. It did nothing, though.

The image on the left, Claremont 006, is the one without. The one on the right, Claremont 007, is the one with digital ice enabled. It took about three times longer, but there is no difference.

There are big problems with these negatives. Once again, the mottled sky is a big problem. I have to see what is causing this, the expired film, the film developing roll, my developing technique (not enough or too much agitation) or maybe the film holder imprinting patterns on the film. Or it could be something else. I am inclined to suspect the expired film. I wish I could say this is a happy accident, but no, I would have loved a cleaner images. I will have to go back and take this one again, I love this scene with this tree.

So, there is work to do. In the meantime, I have some hankering for IR images. I want to try the Rollei IR 400 film in 4x5. I will need a Hoya R72 filter, though, which I don't think I have. It is conceivable that I might have one from twenty years ago, but it would take a Herculean task to rummage through all my boxes to find one, so I will have to spend the $65 to buy one from the shop in New York. Also, I will need film. I will buy it local, from Freestyle, because mail delivery is so delayed in these times of the waning Trump presidency. 

It is a shame about this photo above. For the next few weeks, I will have to give the Ektapan a rest and go back to fresh Arista film. Maybe I can nail down the problem with the mottled skies. If I have to, I will buy a new developing/processing roll. 

It is hotter than heck outside. We are above 100 degrees and to step out into it is to recoil in horror and leap back, a la Condorito. (Plop!) And on Labor Day we would traditionally have had the opening of the LA County Fair. Not this year, not the year of mounting misfortune. Everything has been cancelled, all the fairs, all the parades (except virtual parades), almost all cultural performances (except virtual performances and, interestingly enough, a drive-in folklorico event at the Muckenthaler this upcoming Thursday, Sept. 10th, which I might attend), almost everything. People are out, there is no doubt about that. On Labor Day, the plague will not keep them from going out to the beach, the lakes or the mountains. It is their American birthright, they will say, to willfully ignore the plague and be Americans. I'm staying at home.

That's it. Nothing much more to write. Was going to develop some more 8x10 pinhole negatives but I am tired. Maybe tomorrow, although, I would prefer to go to Oceanside if I can. But, with 110 degree plus temperatures (not Oceanside, but where I live), I am loathe to go out anywhere.