I’ve been shooting paper negatives for the last few weeks and having a lot of fun doing it.

A paper negative is Ilford photographic paper as the camera’s film. That’s right, the same stuff used to make enlargements from Black & White film negatives. I’m currently using Ilford MGIV Multigrade IV RC De Luxe paper.

@JonWilkening @ILFORDPhoto My shots came out as paper negatives. I reversed them in Photoshop. This is what I got http://t.co/vIZqH4HzYi

— Mr. Holga, filmtographer (@MrHolga) March 23, 2015

The photo paper creates a negative photo of whatever is projected on it. So, everything I shoot and develop comes out as a paper negative. The image is inverted from black to white and left to right. Both of these issues can be corrected in Photoshop once the negative is scanned.

I shoot paper negatives with my Speed Graphic and pinhole cameras. Both cameras use 4×5 inch film holders. Each holder stores two 4×5 paper negatives until they are ready for exposure.

#papernegatives #papernegative #paperfilm @ILFORDPhoto #SpeedGraphic #pinhole pic.twitter.com/JVpA44ZE5D

— Mr. Holga, filmtographer (@MrHolga) March 30, 2015

Why Shoot Paper Negatives

I’m shooting paper negatives for several reasons including time, cost, convenience, experience and entertainment.

I’m saving time and money with paper negatives by omitting the film negative: film cost, development cost and development time. Each 4×5 film negative is about $1 per shot, which does not include developing chemicals. Development time for six film negatives takes about 30 plus minutes to load, process and dry.

In contrast, Ilford paper is about $1 per 8×10 inch sheet, which gives me four 4×5 paper negatives for a quarter a piece, and each negative can be developed in 3 minutes. That’s ten or more paper negatives in the same time as six film negatives.

Convenience is my reason for using photographic paper in my 4×5 cameras. Photo paper can be handled under a red safe light, allowing for ease of cutting and loading the film holders. Loading film holders for the first time in the dark is a nerve racking enterprise.

The benefit is experience. The ability to quickly load, shoot and process paper negatives gives me more time to use my large format photo equipment. My Speed Graphic sat idle for many years until I started shooting on photo paper. My messenger bag is currently filled with either my Speed Graphic or pinhole cameras and all the film holders it can carry. A notebook for shot records is the only thing missing.

I’m also practicing my pinhole on paper technique for the Dallas Photo Walk Worldwide Pinhole at The Museum of the American Railroad on Saturday, April 25, 2015. I’m hoping to capture the old iron with a well exposed paper negative.

I think this is pretty sharp coming from an @IlfordPhoto paper negative. House Portrait https://t.co/K5xqXfF2L8

— Mr. Holga, filmtographer (@MrHolga) March 23, 2015

Lastly, I’m doing this for the entertainment. I have 35 plus 4×5 paper negatives on my desk. I really enjoy picking up the stack and thumbing through the photos. It’s wonderful to hold photographs in your hand. We are missing this in the digital age: holding a memory in your hands.

Shooting with Paper

Shooting with Ilford photographic paper is slow. The ISO of the paper is estimated to be ISO 3-4. Compared to my normal film negative of ISO 100, this is a near stand still.

Using my f-208 pinhole camera on a bright, sunny day takes about 20 seconds for one shot. Cloudy days will take minutes. Be prepared to slow down your photographic process, if you intend to create paper negatives.

It's overcast and my pinhole shot on #ilfordpaper will take over ten minutes to capture. #Ilford… https://t.co/gWyq1CtwWL

— Mr. Holga, filmtographer (@MrHolga) April 1, 2015

Negative to Positive

There are a couple of things I am still looking into. The first being positive paper. Ilford was distributing Harman Direct Positive Paper until Harman went bankrupt. With all the reasons I have given above, I hope Ilford sees a great need to redevelop this product as soon as possible. Analog photography would go through the roof using large format and pinhole cameras again with positive paper.

Since I can’t wait for innovation, I’ve read about a process of creating a paper positive from a paper negative. It involves putting the paper negative over a new sheet of photo paper and them exposing both images with light. The details state that both sheets should be emulsion side together. Exposure time is about 20 seconds. I will be trying this really soon. Until then, I’ll just scan and invert. Cheers.

I had so much fun going walkabout with my darling spouse and my Nikon D7000 with 35mm lens, that we ventured over to Fort Worth for a little antique shopping. The good news is that we saw lots of stuff. The better news is that we did not buy anything other than lunch.

In light of the Paula Deen scandal, I can’t help but notice all the stereotypical, racial items for sale in antique shops. As you will see in my photos, there are negative characterizations of African Americans, Native Americans, Italian Americans, Africans and even angelic white children. Please take my photos with a grain of salt. I am only showing what I saw.

Click any of the thumbnail images below for a larger version. Cheers.

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Just in time for Mother’s Day, I am thinking about mom with a photo that I took of her in 2007. Mom is holding a sign that reserved her parking space on the US Air Force base. Alas, mom did not have any car to drive that day. Just her luck. Love you, mom.

The family and I spent the Labor Day weekend in Galveston, Texas. It was a delightful four day weekend starting on Friday, August 31, 2012. We drove down U.S. Interstate Highway 45 from Dallas to through Houston.

We stopped for a little lunch and art at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.

Click here to see some of my goddess butt images from MFAH on Tumblr.

We stayed at the Galveston Hilton. I splurged on my darling wife and got us the presidential suite. It was a very nice room with king-size bed and living area. Too bad it did not have a microwave.

I spent most of my time with the family at the beach and out to eat. I did sneak away for jogging and a little cemetery photography. I knew better than to go shooting at noon, but that was the only time I could get away. Maybe next time I’ll get some early morning or evening shots.

Galveston Gallery

Click any of the thumbnail images to see a larger version. My film is being developed. These are shots from my Nikon D7000. I did shoot with a variety of Holga cameras including a pinhole model.

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It’s not every day you get to meet Stephen King.

I was part of the press conference for Mr. King at the Majestic Theater in Dallas. Mr. King was promoting his new book, 11/22/63 A Novel, and also doing a benefit for The Sixth Floor Museum.

I brought along my big brother, James, to take photographs. This left me free to ask a few questions of Mr. King and shoot off a roll on my Holga 120N.

Unbeknownst to me, my Holga was in the B shutter mode, which we all know stands for blurry. Actually, it stands for bulb and it keeps the shutter open as long as you finger is on the shutter release. This usually results in blurry and dark photos due to over exposure.

Under normal circumstances, these photos would be trash, but some other interesting variables took over.

I was taking photos while on the stage of the Majestic Theater. The background for Mr. King was very dark. I was using a flash with Kodak 400 TMAX film. The combination of the B shutter mode, flash and a mostly dark room gave some sharpness from the flash with a little ghostly after image from the ambient lighting.

I only got two out of ten shots to come out. The two were closer shots, about three to four feet. All the distance shots, about ten to twelve feet, were still too blurry for my liking. I honestly think these two close-up shots were better than what I would have normally gotten.

Click here to see the other shot on Flickr.

I still hate the B shutter mode setting. I should supper glue it to the N setting.

Stephen King

Meeting Mr. King was a pure delight. He’s the next best thing to meeting my favorite author and daisy delicacy, Ernest Hemingway.

Mr. King was casually dressed in a loose fitting white oxford, blue jeans and loafers. His graying hair is done in a slick backed wavy style. Mr. King’s long jowly face makes you think he could be someone’s mean old neighbor (You kids get off of my lawn!). He is a very animated speaker who expresses himself gracefully with his hands and sometimes a creepy smile or two.

Mr. King has a wonderful sense of humor. I liken him to a roller-coaster designer who aims to thrill and excite all in the same ride. He really likes his job.

If ever you get the chance to meet or be in the same room with Mr. King, then I highly recommend it.

11/22/63 A Novel

It took me a little while, but I finished all 850 pages of Stephen King’s 11/22/63 A Novel on my Kindle.

As you know, I’m currently on the hunt for the people, places and things associated with the Kennedy assassination. I’ve already been through the Who’s Who of the Kennedy Assassination, The Report of the President’s Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy (The Warren Commission), Assassination Vacation and am currently reading On the Trail of the JFK Assassins. So, I’m a little over informed to read Mr. King’s latest novel.

In short, 11/22/63 is about English teacher Jake Epping, who is befriended by the local diner owner, Al Templeton. The reason for the quick friendship is that Al, who’s suffering from a terminal illness, has a secret passage in the back of his diner that leads to September 1958.

Al wants Jake to use the passage to save President Kennedy from Lee Harvey Oswald. As you can imagine, this is no easy task, because the past is obdurate and does not change easily.

I think 11/22/63 is a delightful read, all 850 pages. It is a little long for my liking. I prefer shorter stories that leave some details to my imagination. I am sure most King fans will eat this book up and still want more.

I was at the press conference and the speaking event. I heard Mr. King say he spent some time in the Dallas area researching for 11/22/63. Mr. King admits he made some mistakes like misspelling Killeen (he used one L) and calling the local radio station K-Life, when it should have been KLIF (as in Oak Cliff). Those points aside, I really feel all Mr. King did was a drive-by. I have lived in the Dallas area most of my life, and I don’t really think he got a good lay of the land.

Mr. King was a little hard on the people of Dallas too. But that’s okay, we don’t much care for yankees either.

Unfortunately, 11/22/63 did not keep me on the edge of my seat like Misery, my all time favorite Stephen King novel, or give me a surprise ending. I could see where the book was heading a mile away. If anything, this novel was written for the big screen and it will need to be drastically pared down. 11/22/63 should make a wonderful movie for the fall 2013 season, in time for the 50th anniversary of the Kennedy assassination.

Can I see into the future? I knew you would ask that.

If you really like Stephen King novels, then you will like 11/22/63 A Novel just the same. If you are not a Stephen King fan and are looking for a little excitement, then I would recommend something else like The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson. Cheers.

My Favorite Stephen King Novels

• Different Seasons, 1982
• Misery, 1987

Other Stephen King Novels I have read

• The Shining, 1977
• Night Shift, 1978
• Christine, 1983
• Skeleton Crew, 1985
• The Stand, 1990
• The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, 1999

Dick Dale and Jimmy played an hour long set of only acoustic guitars. Wow! They can really make those string sing. They started out with Ghost Riders in the Sky and ended with Miserlou and a new song, which sounds really cool.

For those that don’t know, Dick Dale is most famous for his song Miserlou, which is the opening song for the movie Pulp Fiction.

Not sure if I can manage a Holga. I’ll be taking DART downtown with a LL Bean folding chair. I definitely want to take my Nikon with my 300mm lens. Too many cameras, so few hands.

See you after the concert.