Kodak Retina IIa - NO LONGER AVAILABLE -but still cool!

This sweet little 'made in Germany' rangefinder is new to our consignments. I believe this model is 1950s era. What I find so cool about it is fact that it takes 35mm film and folds up, becoming the perfect vintage pocket camera.

Harman Inkjet Paper

A while ago I decided I wanted to see my Impossible Project emulsion lifts printed larger on fine art inkjet paper. A friend of mine recommended Harman inkjet paper. Looking at Harman's inkjet paper sample book I noticed they had a great selection of paper surfaces, everything from matt to high gloss finishes, smooth to textured. After a bit of research I went with their Matt Cotton Smooth 17x22. I found that I really liked how the Matt Cotton Smooth seemed to make the lifts look like they were a part of the paper not just ink sitting on top of a surface.

Since then I have gotten stock on the Harman Inkjet papers for Beau Photo Supplies, we now regularly carry the Matt Cotton Smooth, Gloss Baryta and Gloss Art Fibre in 8.5x11, 13x19 and 17x22. There are five other choices such as, Matt Fibre Duo, Matt Cotton Textured, Gloss Art Fibre Warmtone, Gloss Baryta Warmtone, and canvas that are easy enough to special order in. 

Here are some examples of the different papers and I have taken photos of them at a certain angle with the light hitting them so you can actually see the texture (or lack there of) on each of them. Most of these photos are also very close up too, in the hopes you can get a sense of what the texture looks like. We have sample books in store so you can feel them and see them in person however!

Gloss Art Fibre. 300 gsm, 100% alpha-cellulose, white, glossy.

Gloss Art Fibre Warmtone. 300 gsm, 100% alpha-cellulose, warmtone, glossy

Gloss Baryta. 320 gsm, 100% alpha-cellulose, white, glossy

Gloss Baryta Warmtone. 320 gsm, 100% alpha-cellulose, warmtone, glossy

Canvas. 450 gsm, poly-cotton, white

Matt Cotton Textured. 300 gsm, 100% cotton, white

Matt Cotton Smooth. 300gsm, 100% cotton, white.

An interesting bit of trivia I learned while researching Harman Inkjet paper is that the name Harman is the surname of the founder of Ilford, Alfred Harman. 

Also that Hahnemuhle and Harman paired up to produce this paper together which is how they have had the ability to produce an inkjet paper that has the look and feel of traditional Ilford darkroom paper. 

Consignment Polaroid Land Cameras

More Polaroid Land cameras have just arrived to the Beau Photo Consignment cabinet!

We have a mint Polaroid land 450, that comes with its original box and is selling for $110.00.

There is also a Polaroid Land 250, this camera is quite popular, it is being consigned for $80.00.

 

On the lower end of the things there is a Polaroid Land 330 which is being sold for $50.00.

 

 

The last one is a Polaroid Land Countdown 90. This is one I've actually never seen in person before, it is selling for $60.00. 

 All of these cameras are in great condition and film is still readily available for them. In our store we carry the Fuji FP100c, it costs $16.43. However if your looking for more variety old stock of the Fuji or Polaroid Type 100 can be found from private sellers on line.

Red Light in a Dark Room - Part 13

Thanks a lot to Joe for his very concise development routine for this weeks installment!


What is your darkroom? A room, closet or bathroom? Please tell us a bit about it.

I use a very large film changing bag as my darkroom, along with Paterson film tanks.

What's your process, talk a bit about your developing routine, especially if it's tricky.

Here is my routine, very simple and quick. I put my film camera in the changing bag, load the film into the Paterson tanks

Take the loaded tanks to my kitchen and start the process of development.

What's your go to developer?

Ilford Ilfotec DD-X

What's your all time favorite Film/Film developer combo? 

Ilford HP5 and Ilford Ilfotec DD-X

What result/look does this give? 
1950-1960 FILM LOOK

 Have you tried or are you into any alternative processes, such as cyanotype?

Yes, right now at this moment I just received my tintype kit so I’ll be doing Tintype this week. I am signed up for a wet plate collodian workshop in April that I am really looking forward to.

What is the best processing tip you can give?

Develop a routine, a method, a system, makes the workflow much easier.

Project: Impossible – Canada. V2.0 Photos From The People

Calling all Canadian Impossible Film shooters, show us your Impossible view! Beginning now, we are gathering entries for our second Impossible Project photography exhibition.^.

The exhibition will be held at Science World from April 6^th until May 10^th, with an opening reception on April 8^th from 6-8pm. Because of the family oriented audience at Science World, we ask that the subject matter be appropriate for all ages. Science World reserves the right to refuse any photos they feel are not appropriate for the space. If you are unsure about an image and would really like to include it, contact us and we can have it pre-screened prior to hanging the show. Please be aware that this show will be on display in a high traffic area, and while we do not anticipate any issues, and there have not been issues in the past at this venue, there is the possibility that photos could be damaged or stolen.

Submissions can be dropped off at Beau Photo Supplies or can be mailed in to Beau. Each person will have from one to three images included in the show, and a selection of entries will be chosen for framing and exhibition style hanging. Prizes will be awarded in the following categories:

• Impossible Project Instant Lab photo

• Impossible Project camera photo

• Mixed media using Impossible Project film emulsion

• Judge's choice image

Submissions must be received by 5pm Monday, March 30th 2015.

The Details:

Submissions are restricted to images produced with Impossible Project film only; any Impossible format will be accepted. Emulsion lifts or mixed media that include the original photograph are permitted. Digital reproductions of Impossible Project film images will not be accepted.

Only original photos mailed in or dropped off to Beau Photo will be accepted for the contest and exhibition.  

Submissions are open to Canadian residents only.

If you would like original photos returned, please include a self addressed envelope with sufficient postage with your submission. Photos can also be picked up from Beau Photo Supplies after the show. Any photos left for more than two months after the closing of the show will become the property of Beau Photo.

An entry fee of $15.00 + GST for one to three photos applies. If you wish to mail your submission, you can call Nicole at Beau Photo to make a credit card payment over the phone. The payment will be processed when the photos arrive at the shop. Alternately, you can include a money order for $15.75 which includes GST with your submission.

Please note: submission fees are non-refundable.

A copy of the submission form can be found here: http://beauphoto.com/impossible15/

Beau Photo is not responsible for damage or loss of artwork while in transit or on display. By submitting your work you agree to allow your images to be used for promotional purposes for the show/contest.

Photographs that are selected to be framed, and the best in show and other awards will be determined by a three person jury consisting of one representative from Beau Photo Supplies, one representative from Science World and an artist from our community. More details about prizes will be announced as they become available.

If you don't have a Polaroid camera, there is a good selection of used cameras for sale at Beau. Afraid to commit? You can rent a camera for two days for free with the purchase of a pack of Impossible film and payment of the submission fee. Contact Nicole at Beau for more information or to reserve a camera.

www.beauphoto.com

film@beauphoto.com

604.734.7771

toll free 1.800.994.2328

Beau Photo Supplies

1520 W.6^th Ave

Vancouver, BC V6J 1R2

Red Light in a Dark Room - Part 12

This week we hear from Kevin who has an interesting traveling dark room set up that he can take along on all his travels. Thanks for sharing with us, Kevin!


What is your darkroom? A room, closet or bathroom?

The kind of photography I have done for the last number of years might best be described as urban hiking. Therefore I need a camera that is simple, easy to use, can do both architectural photography, as well as point and shoot and doesn't weigh a ton! The answer I found was a Speed Graflex. These cameras are much underrated but nothing comes close for ease of use and versatility. I acquired one that was fully functional with a coupled rangefinder for less than $500 at an estate sale. One photo at the bottom is a hand held shot (boy on tightrope) and the other is of architecture.

I have shot large format for over 20 years and have learned if you want to survive at this sport you need to keep things simple and straightforward. After trying all kinds of exotic developing methods, I found that four sheets face up in the bottom of a tray works best. I made a special tray by gluing plastic guides to an old paper tray. As I often travel and needed a way to develop the film in the hotel bathroom - and this fits the bill.

What's your all time favorite Film/Film developer combo and what results does this give you?

My preferred film/developer combination is Ilford Delta 100 and Kodak Xtol. This gives a nice smooth evenly stepped tonal scale and allows for 4X enlargement of the negative without the grain showing. Although I have tried platinum printing, which produces a beautiful image, I find that having a large neg and then using split contrast printing produces what I am looking - generous detail.

What is the best processing tip you can give?

When it comes to processing film I have found that slow is best. I usually dilute the developer and use a semi-stand method when I have a 5 stop or greater of dynamic range. I keep the time negs are in the developer at about 30 minutes - which is sufficient for the negs to "stand" several times for 5 minutes preventing the highlights from going off the scale. When I have 4 stops or less then I use a 1:1 dilution, shorten the time and use continual agitation. Even though I use variable contrast printing I still follow the basic rule of 19th century photographers "expose for the shadows and develop for the highlights."

Below are a couple of examples from a recent trip to Lisbon.

LENSBABY WORKSHOPS in Vancouver- February 19th & 21st

 
We are pleased to announce that Kirsten Hunter from Lensbaby will be joining us for a few great free events in Vancouver next week.  Kirsten is the Director of Customer Happiness and she's great at her job. She will be sharing her vast knowledge of the Lensbaby lineup and bringing up an arsenal of products for attendees to use.

Thursday, February 19th  6:00-8:00pm

Join Kirsten at Beau Photo for a seminar which will inspire you to go out and get creative with your photography. She will be discussing the Lensbaby line-up and giving tips and advice how to get great images with a variety of lenses.  Event is free but space is limited. 

Please RSVP to film@beauphoto.com or call 604-734-7771 and ask for Nicole.

Saturday, February 21st

Join Kirsten at Granville Island for a hands-on Lensbaby walkabout. Bring your camera and she'll have an assortment of Lensbaby products for you to try for free. Plus she will be available for any questions you may have on Lensbabies.

There will be both a morning and afternoon session. Our sincere thanks to English Bay Gallery on Granville Island for letting us use their space as our headquarters that day.   

AM Session - Saturday February 21

10:00am - 12:00pm

Meet at English Bay Gallery at #107 - 1551 Johnston Street at 10:00am. Bring a piece of photo ID to sign out a Lensbaby and don't forget to bring your camera!!!

Please RSVP to film@beauphoto.com or call 604-734-7771 and ask for Nicole.

PM Session - Saturday February 21

1:00pm - 3:00pm

Meet at English Bay Gallery at #107 - 1551 Johnston Street at 1:00pm. Bring a piece of photo ID to sign out a Lensbaby and don't forget to bring your camera!!!

Please RSVP to film@beauphoto.com or call 604-734-7771 and ask for Nicole.

In addition, all attendees will be entered into to a draw to win a $50 certificate towards any Lensbaby purchase.  PLUS, ALL ATTENDEES WILL RECEIVE SPECIAL DEALS ON LENSBABY PRODUCTS PURCHASED THROUGH BEAU PHOTO.

In stock! Fujifilm XF 16-55mm f/2.8R LM WR

The hotly anticipated mid-range pro-level zoom from Fujifilm has arrived. Equivalent to a 24-83mm zoom in full-frame terms, this lens feature's Fujifilm's Linear Motor (LM) drive for fast and quiet AF, and also has weather resistant (WR) construction. My own personal one has also arrived, seen opened in the above photo, and I have done a few tests with it. See my personal blog gallery link below…

Gallery: First Fujifilm XF 16-55mm f/2.8R LM WR Tests

Please note the link in the gallery back to the blog posting is not active yet. I need to get out and shoot with this new lens some more and the gallery will expand at some point, hopefully soon if the weather cooperates! I plan on doing a more detailed review in the coming weeks. For some quick first impressions, see the intro in the gallery though. If you have been waiting for this lens, give us a call as our initial pre-orders have been filled and we still have a few left - selling for $1,299...

Red Light in a Dark Room - Part 11

We've got a double dose of our darkroom series this week as Monday is a holiday in BC and we will be closed. We thought we'd give you some extra reading for the weekend!

Thanks a lot to Ben for sharing his darkroom set up with us and showing us that you can construct some of these things yourself with a little know how and determination!

What is your darkroom? A room, closet or bathroom?

About two years ago, after a hiatus from photography, I decided to buy myself a digital camera. It was my first digital camera and, really, I had no idea what to expect. The real excitement was in the thought of taking photos again. Once I got to shooting I found myself fairly bored with the digital process. A yearning for my old Pentax K1000 started to creep in and within a month my DSLR was up for sale and I was on the hunt for a manual film camera.

Once I found a camera, I wanted to start developing my own film, so I ordered the basics and made friends with my new darkroom – the bathroom. It was fun for a while until I wanted more out of my results. So, I decided that bigger was better, which is not necessarily true, and bought myself an iconic medium format camera; a Hasselblad 500 C/M. At this point, I switched from colour to black and white and was on the lookout for some instruction.

There is a lovely couple in town who teach darkroom courses at one of the local colleges. I signed up and started to delve into the process. It was there that I fell in love the art of black and white photography. It inspired me so much that I started to search out a place to build my very own darkroom. Going back to the bathroom was not going to be good enough anymore.

It was in August that I finally found an establishment that would allow me to install a darkroom. It was 80 sq ft of nothing. No water, drain, electrical, venting, walls or ceiling, but I was ecstatic. Luckily I have some carpentry experience and tools, otherwise this would have been too daunting. It took me four months to properly install everything and have it running. I've included some photos at the bottom of this post.

What's your all time favorite Film/Film developer combo?                                             

Over the past while I have gone through some of the more popular developers like Rodinal or ID-11, but I wasn't getting the results I wanted. Not that those are bad developers, I was just in the market for something else. The film I shoot is HP5+, which is, for better or worse, what I have stuck with this whole time. After a bit of research I showed up at Beau one day and put an order in for some raw chemicals. A couple weeks later, I was mixing up a recipe for a two bath developer. It is an old recipe that was refined by the late Barry Thornton.

What result/look does this give? 

The first roll I developed turned out superb! It was sharp, had good tonal range and the contrast was balanced. If you are not familiar with this type of developer, it is a compensating developer. It will do the same job as a stand development with a diluted developer, but in a much shorter time and produces reliable results.

What is the best processing tip you can give?

My advice to anyone out there who is as obsessed with this stuff as I am, is to be persistent, take lots of notes on everything you do, and move slowly through making changes. This will get you to a place where you can start to visualize ideas and have the tools to render them onto a print. When that happens, it is magical. Also, gut feelings are just as important as standardization. Almost 100% of the time that I have a gut feeling and act on it, it turns out great.

Enlarger is a Saunders/LPL 670DXL with Dichroic head. The colour has been removed and I use the Ilford multigrade system for contrast control.

On the left is my homemade drying cabinet. In the middle is the negative venting hood. To the Right is an Intellifaucet D250, which controls the water temperature.

The sink is made out of plywood with 3 coats of marine grade epoxy for water proofing.

The room is completely air tight and this intake vent is the only way for air to enter. It is light tight and has a replaceable furnace filter inside.

Masterclass with John Lehmann

On Sunday, March 1, John Lehmann (@johnlehmann) award winning staff photojournalist for the Globe & Mail is giving a workshop on photojournalism and the art of visual storytelling. This will be a hands on workshop where participants will be given an assignment in the second half of the day, after which there will be a group editing compartment followed by an optional review of any personal work. This will be a very interesting and fun day where you will learn the ins and outs of the world of photojournalism. 

You can register for the course ($225) on John's website: www.lehmann.ca
Time: 9am
Date: Sunday, March 1, 2015
Place: Revolver Coffee, 325 Cambie St, Vancouver @revolvercoffee
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
John was named Canadian photojournalist of the year in 2012 & 2013. If you read the Globe & Mail national newspaper, you will be familiar with his work!

Consignment 110 Cameras! $5.00 each!

Recently added to consignments in the Film department is a giant basket of 110 Cameras! There are many more where these came from and each of them are only $5.00. If you've ever wanted to try one out, now is the time!

You can still get 110 film from Lomography and we have it in color negative, black & white and slide.

We also have a few other, higher end 110 cameras available in consignments as well if you'd like delve deeper into the miniature world of 110 film!

Red Light in a Dark Room - Part 10

This week we take a look at how and where August develops her film. Thanks for sharing, August! Your alternative process ideas are also very interesting! Good luck, and we'd love to see how they turn out.


What is your darkroom? A room, closet or bathroom? Please tell us a bit about it.

My darkroom is in the basement of the Dunbar Community Centre; it is one of the last public darkrooms in the Parks Board system, let alone in Vancouver Proper! It has a quasi-high school sense about it. The space itself is about 6x10 ft. It's cozy, but well equipped-everything you need for a black and white set-up.

What's your process? Tell us a bit about your developing routine, especially if it's tricky.

My process is pretty basic; I strive to create master prints and consistent negatives. I've had to get a little creative with my film developing, since we don't have much space or a print dryer in the darkroom. So far, the best place to dry film is the ladies shower room, since it has separate metal stalls that you can sneakily lock from the outside.

What is your go to developer?

Hands-down, Kodak's D-76.

What is your all time favorite Film/Film developer combo?

It has to be the now extinct old-formula Agfa APX in Kodak X-Tol developer. I made such amazing contrasty black and white prints with the perfect amount of grain and tonal range-I've so far not been able to replicate it. For the last few years I've switched between Kodak T-Max and stand-by Ilford HP5, usually processed in D-76.

What result/look does this give?

HP5 gives a nice tonal range that allows a fair bit of latitude when adjusting contrast. I love TMAX when I'm shooting landscapes and urban scenes-it is fun to push and pull this film to play around with the grain.

Have you tried any or are you into any alternative processes, such as cyanotype?

Yes-I have started to experiment with making some of my own chemistry, starting with a recipe to develop film using instant coffee! I'm also planning on making my own toner dyes if I can source the chemicals, and I also want to make a film developer formula that was intended to use to record nuclear blasts in the New Mexico and Nevada test grounds.

What is the best processing tip you can give?

When it comes to processing black and white, the most important detail is the temperature of your film developer. Get a film thermometer and make sure you're exactly on. Nothing ruins a roll of film like over and under-exposure, and you have only one chance with negatives. It's a good idea to have all your chemistry at the same room temp, but the developer is critical.