just some thoughts.

you know. i see a lot of great portraits out there.. and then when i go into details, i often realize that most portraits that are considered to be great, are taken with a nice lens and film or sensor. someone knows their tools, be it the lens, camera or photoshop or all together..

but can you ever say you took a good portrait ? isn't it just a moment you capture, not the person. just a thin slice of life, not the whole story.

i think i'm still too young and not experienced enough in life to concider myself a portrait photographer. maybe i'll never be, maybe it's impossible. still, as long as i can walk and shoot in all conditions, i'll stick to shooting street and documentary. these moments out there is what interests me. i'm not one of those who says i'm shooting people. i don't believe that you can walk up to strangers, take their "portrait" and capture their story. there is much more behind than that. even when i think of my girlfriend, who i captured a thousand of times already - i couldn't pick one that is "her".

so i'm saving portrait for my retirement, when i'm too old and weak to shoot a roll a day all the time, develope, scan and print whenever i've got the time.

maybe i'll be able to take these "portraits" when i'm grandpa.

So i'm getting a lot of print requests lately. Is it because christmas is coming ?

I'm in a little dilemma here. To be honest, i'm not interested in selling hundreds of machine printed DA prints or other lab prints from digital photos (or negative scans). I'm intersted in selling original pieces. Handmade darkroom prints on all kind of fiber based papers of all sizes, tonings and finishes.

I think that's a much better product to offer. Those prints are a lot of work too. I limit the number of each to about 50, larger sizes to 25 or 15. I sign them, because i made them by hand. A print takes some time. First off all, i need to get to the darkroom. Then set up everything. Adjust the negative in the enlarger and the printing frame. Have to build up all the baths. That process takes 15-20min.
Then the first teststripes that take about 10min. Then the first paper that takes another 5-10min. Even if the first one is perfect, you will always do another one, to have a second copy and often a third, because A: you never know if you ruin one of the prints in the process and you have the neg in the enlarger so you just do another copy or 2 because it's just work not a mouseclick.

So now the 2nd or 3rd enlargement of that negative is in the fixer. I got to the darkroom, i set up everything, i printed - so all together spend about an hour of time on it already.

Next step is washing. A fiber print or baryt needs about an hour to wash - in running water. So you can't really leave the place for a coffee. You need to stay in the darkroom. So it doesn't make much sense to print a single negative to watch 3 papers getting washed for at least an hour.

So you do more prints of more negatives. Again time consuming. I usually print 5-15 negatives in a session - depending on my physical state.

So after you washed a print (you can quicken this by using hypo, so it only takes half an hour... but then i need to stay with the prints and can't print more negatives... so i just wash it an hour), well after i washed the print i can decide to A: dry them, B: tone them and C: give them a finish.

If I decide for A: which means i am more or less happy with the tones and actual papercharacteristics, i need to prepare to dry the prints. I need some glass plates and a special mounting tape that drys with the paper and get's really sticky when it's fully dried. So you basicly stick the paper on the glass so that when it drys, it stays flat.

Until the print is dry some more hours will pass. So i rarely take a print home with me on the day i printed.

This is the "usual" way to print, process and dry the fiber print. Well that's how i work. I don't have industrial machines that make things faster - because they cost a fortune and are rare.

If i tone a print (depending on the toner) i will need another hour of washing. so an extra hour of work.

A ferrotype glossy finish for example goes rather quick but is a tricky thing to pull off. You roll the print on a clean, scratchfree metalplate (a ferrotype plate) and press the paper on the coated side so that there is no air, dust or anything between the paper and the plate. then you put it in a drying machine. This takes 10min but to have a perfectly glossed print it takes perfection in any way... you can also ruin prints when the gelatine stays on the plate and you tear your print in two (one of the best feelings ever!). So you better have 1 or 2 more perfect copies you can gloss.

--

If you think that's a lot of work - you're right. Each print takes about 3 hours of work minimum and often i need to go to the darkroom twice to get the prints and cut off the tape that is left. So either way, it's hours of concentration and physical work (and all that in a tiny dark room).

But i'm NOT moaning here. I love to do it, just as much as i love shooting... still, when you hire me for 3 hours shooting, you'll pay and when you hire me for 3 hours retouching, you'll pay for it - because this is my profession. So is the darkroom.

Why am i telling you all this ? Well it's easy. I claim money for my prints - the same amount of money i'd ask for a shoot that takes the same amount of time. Then i add some bucks for the paper and chemistry, so i end up having fixed prices for differntly sized prints.

And you know.. all that "artistic" value shit... whatever.. if i'd add that (how to calcualte this anyway)... then i won't find many buyers for my work... and i'm not interested in selling to rich art-collectors only.

So if you're intersted in purchasing a fiber print of mine, please have all this in mind and don't be shocked when i charge for it. This is not a DA print you can get for 20 bucks.


One last thing i want to add is that i wrote all this not to sound pissed or elitest... i'm just trying to put things into perspective and explain why these prints have these prices - and if you're intersted in a print, you can mail or note me anytime.

ît's here:

[link]

I did my first video (recording, cutting and editing on my own)

As DA doesn't accept music videos, i can't post it here.

You can view it here: [link] or visit the band's webiste at [link]

honest votes are welcome here: [link]

technical details:
Cameras: Canon EOS 5dMKII and EOS 7D

Lenses: 12-24mm 4.5-5.6 sigma, 24mm 1.4L, 24mm ts/e, 35/1.4, 50 1.2

7d only with ts/e and 12-24 in the slow motion parts. 50fps and 60fps

the band and singer had to play the song 20% faster when recording at 30fps with the MKII and double when recording at 50fps with the 7D (bass close ups and some drumming close ups)

cut in premiere, posted in after effects.
analogue elements are selfmade with negatives and a nikon coolscan V ED.

any ideas and criticism is welcome - i learned the most in the process it self so far but i appreciate your input.

It's a german song - i don't know how that influences non german speakers but i'd like to know.

I've also updated my blog with some photostories: [link]