Richard Vanek - Black and White Photography

Yesterday late in night, my scanner somehow starts working without hanging as much as for about seven stripes of six frames. Great! And it was even better because as it come to shots done in Slovakia in winter, particularly in place when I took shots of two girls playing game. Those photographs are great, really good, at least I think. I hope I will have some time and today evening I'll put some of them in last roll section.
I am glad twice as I had last 45ml of Aculux 2 so I did strange dilution 1:11 and kept time 12:00 min. And it turns out to be great combination! It so nice to see how work is going right. Comparing to it, my last usage of FX-50 was quite disaster. Now only I have to wait for new bottles of Aculux 2 to arrive. In a mean time I'll go with Ilford Ilfotec LC29 or Ilfotec S which I still have in storage.

Not always things which are planed turns out to reality. That happened to me yesterday. I wanted to develop new rolls, but I realise that even I have developer and I have bought new fixer I forgot to buy distillate water. Yes I am using that for diluting my developer. I like it because this way I am ensured that things stay as much the same as possible.
Than I planned to put new pictures on the Internet even create new gallery for my childhood project. But at 23:00 I was so tired after day at work that I just gave up, and good I did. I wasn't able to awake at normal time today morning anyway. I can't imagine if I would be awake longer. So it is for today, to buy distillate water and publish photos. Stay tuned :-)

Well title is difficult isn't it? That is name of the game these girls were playing while I was taking pictures. The title I wrote in Slovak language as I have no idea how it is called in English. This was very muddy day and I was with my own children waiting for my wife. As we were passing these girls I took my camera with intension to catch face expression and movement. I like the result, even better with a drawing on wall.

France. Again just passing by, while looking for place to eat. I saw this passanger on a back seat. He didn't move.

I added two new pictures in Kids and Street gallery. And I filled up Last roll with pictures from on of the rolls with girls playing game. I would really appreciate your comments on this shots.
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This morning when I am sitting here and listening great music by Dezo Ursiny I have again kind of flash back feelings from my childhood. I do not know why but I have just remember cold afternoon, Sunday walking on place called 'bulvar' in my home town. Walking slowly in cold shady afternoon in direction of sweet shop. Maybe you do not know, but we had those sweet shops which were open also Sunday. That was a place where sometimes teen aged kids meet each other. And I saw myself walking there and meeting with my first girl Jana. Nice nostalgic feeling, where are all those times? What all those people do now? Do they also remember? I have I didn't take photographs of every moment, you never know which one will be remembered like this.

Two new rolls developed. I used Amaloco AM74 with Foma 200 Creative. I use AM74 as I run out of my favourite Paterson Aculux 2. I must say (only from looking on film strips after developing) that I have got there very nice landscape pictures of frozen meadows and river. I will scan them today and soon I will bring them on-line. I still see that Aculux 2 give more tonal range especially in shadow areas.
It is so nice to see after working with chemicals that you get nice results. I do not know how is it in digital world, do you feel also that moment of surprise when you look at your LCD? I doubt that. In conventional (analog) photo there is always delay between exposure and visible result, so you can enjoy the same moment twice :-)
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My scanner giving my hard time again, I spent two hours scanning and get only 14 shots scanned. I am tired now and will go to bad. Sorry folks it will be for tomorrow, I hope scanner will behave better.

Yesterday I didn't have a good day with my scanning. Sometimes it is working sometimes not. I will give it second chance today, that I hope we can see new landscape on-line. I am also planning to develop few more rolls this weekend. And thing which I like to try for longer is to print A2 size and see how it will holds.
I am getting very good feedback recently. Number of visits to my site is increasing. It is nice to have feedback, it inspires me and giving me energy to go on.

Finally I am finished with scanning. So you can find few new photographs, from cold winter in a nice village cold Lokca in part of Slovakia named Orava.

As I was walking in cold morning around village I have come to the small river. Next to it was a forest road and I went on it. Frozen snow dump my steps and I could come closer to river which was hidden and ice cover. On few places water gets above ice. One such a nice place is on this photograph. This shot is like painting, even drops of water flowing fast over the ice are now frozen in the air.

Today, after I wake up :-), I am going to pick up two bottles of Paterson Aculux 2 developer. It arrives extremely fast from UK. I made order Tuesday and Friday it was here. This is another great service by Speed Graphic. So for next rolls I will using it again. I really like this stuff. They call it also FX-44.
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When I was scanning those Foma 200 Creative I find out that one of them has scratches all over whole film. When I look back on the roll canister I find out that it has small piece of metal coming into entrance of film. Yes this was a first time such a thing happened. I hope I will have no more those problematic canisters.

After I received my Aculux 2 yesterday, I went on and developed four rolls today. Number of undeveloped ones is counting down. Three of them were shot in Slovakia and one is my last roll from my Voigtlander Bessa R2 which I am going to sell. If you interested drop me a message.
I already published one shot, Frozen water from the first roll. Few more will come soon.
I went today on small photo exhibition of local photo club to the next village. There was about 120 photographs exposed, mostly colors though few black and white. I liked work of Jan Walburg, nice clean compositions. A lot of shots were graphical exercises, nice on first look but boring after.

I have just print A2 sized print. I used four A4 papers with help of Picture Window Pro, software I am using for adjusting my photographs. It is drying now and I will bring it together tomorrow and place it on A2 under mat. Than I'll see how it holds and if the connections between A4 sheets are disturbing or not.

My attempt to print A2 print which is put together from four A3 prints, failed. It looks ok, so even printing with 180dpi is fine with my printer and inks, but taping four prints together doesn't look good. Whatever you do, you can always see the edges. So this is no way.
I ask on few mailing lists opinion about my last_roll set of two children playing game. I get a huge amount of response. Thank you all of you for it! It is nice to get a feedback. As it seams the most discussed photos are Pogy 6, Pogy 5 and Pogy 2.

I asked on few photography lists for opinion about which is the best shot on my last roll page. I also talk to few friends and gave the same question to few photographers I know. Question was to find which one they like the most and why. I knew from previous times I did something similar that it will bring more confusion than useful results, but I was curious as this time my question was more specific.
Dave Beckerman is recently writing about the confusion and way to obtain opinion about work in his journal. I must say I fully agree with him. This time I have got huge response couple of dozen e-mails, which indicates at least that people want to share their meaning. Also result was quite interesting, in a sense that most people choose same image. Most responses also contained reasoning behind their choice. What I have found, from this, is how much my view on my images and my reasons differs from views of other people. But as Dave is writing in his journal is better to have own way than somebody else way :-)
I must say that I am grateful for others opinion. At least I can see what do they consider interesting. And of course feedback is always good, positive or negative as far as it is constructive :-) No no I have quite good mood today even I am quite tired, but I am happy that so many people react. I didn't expect it.
As a next step I will prepare small page about my project and will place images with text there. That page will be than extended as I create new better images. One day when I feel that I covered what I wanted the way I planed and like I will close it and will start new project. I must say that I can thank enough Caroline Schröder for giving me this idea. Idea to focus on one theme and get maximum out of it. This brings me very natural way of taking a picture. Taking pictures with a theme idea and thought in mind. This makes it much more enjoyable as I do have a goal, target. I like it a lot! Thank you Caroline!

I have developed two rolls of Ilford Delta 400 in Aculux 2 1:9 for 9 min. It is different than my favorite Fuji Neopan 400. I did expose about 8 rolls in Stockholm about month ago and now is the time to developed them, So these first two are OK but I hope it can be better. I will shorten the time by 30sec and use constant inversion for first 30sec. I need to increase contrast.
Tomorrow is Friday and I had a plan to put again few new pictures. I will keep that plan!

There are few new pictures for you to enjoy. Today I am very very tired. I really do not understand what is going on. Is the end of working week. I need a rest.
Tomorrow I will try to go to local photo lab which is able to do big (up to A0) size prints on epson inkjet printers. I will try to do on A2 print and compare it with mine. My intention is to make A2 prints for exhibition if that would be possible.

When I was taking this shot I was hoping it will turn this way. Blured background with feeling of bring sunny day and very fragile frozen twigs in front.

On my walk around village I come to football field completely covered by snow. There was a such a strocng reflexion of Sun on cristall of frozen snow that you had difficulties to look into them. As a Sun was quite low, as is normal in winter there, long shadow of trees where projected on snow field.

Some can see this as just a snap photo. I was actually following the grand father, quite a long time, trying to make portrait which would cover also a little more a place where he is living. That beautifull environment full of nature, animals and old times. Maybe this is not the best, but still I like it. You would be suprised how all those animals understands and listen to this old man.

Today's day is not over yet and I already did quite a few things. Submit to the local photo lab for experimental A2 print my photo. They use A0 Epson printer and same Epson Archival Matt paper as I do. Test print should be ready Tuesday. The man in shop was very nice. We went in back of lab and he showed me machine and let me see different papers they have. We discuss a lot.
Next I developed two new rolls of Delta 400 exposed month ago in Stockholm. I have a plan to scan them later today and develop next two rolls today and four more tomorrow. This way I should be ready with Stockholm this week.
And last I put another two new photos on these pages. Both exposed in December last year. Great winter! They still have now almost two meters of snow. Must be beautiful but not very practical.

From the time I was a small boy I remember mostly smells, feelings. This picture brings me back to that time, but feeling which gave me sharp refelction on snow crystals. Also the feeling that some animal was leaving from grand father back yard house. I want to go and follow that animal, find out what was it. I want to be a small boy and be walking in half meter of snow on fields alone in bright Sun.

The other picture, named Charle's cat was exposed a year before this one in this agriculture backyard house. There is a lot of old machines inside and storage of things for summer work.

This weekend again six rolls developed. I finished with photographs exposed in Sweden. I still have some rolls there, but I do not think those are from Stockholm. Scanner is working flawlessly today. And I have a good mood. I made selection of photographs for exposition at beginning of April. Still not final set, but I am down to about fifteen.

Yesterday I have finished scanning of all my rolls. Now it only takes to think more and make final selection. Wednesday I will come to take a look in to the local lab how did they print my test print at A0 size. And if everything will be ok I will put them all my five (or seven) photographs to print. Than I can pickup them Saturday.
Anyway this week I will be quite busy with other things among the photography, but anyway I would like to develop few rolls which I still have in different films. I have some TMX, TMY, HP5+,... I hope I can finished them soon. And after exposition prints are done I can come back to photographing again :-)

I was today for a test print in the lab. They print it wrongly. I only realize it when I was back home and compare print with my own print. They didn't print it at 180dpi as I asked they just print A4 paper with resolution which would print whole image to A0 size which is max for they printer. That way print of course looks terrible grainy and unsharp. I payed 10 euro for this A4 test print. I am a bit disappointed as I multiple times asked please print it at prepared resolution do not sharpen and do not modified anything. I will call them and will come back again and try to ask for second test print with no charge. I will see if they agree.
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I printed yesterday two prints of photo I made month ago in Stockholm. Flying snow thing with two boys on it. Very strange picture as I was following movement of them the background get moved. But the result of move looks like drawing. So you can see this flying thing as photographed object on pencil or Charcoal drawn background. Nice effect. I promised to send these two prints to Sweden. I hope they will like it. Now only find a time to walk to post office :-)
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These are busy days. I wanted to write already couple of times, but always something came in it. I finally take a little break and watch a movie 'The end of Affair' based on book by Graham Greene. Such a nice slow mood movie. I was wondering, after it ends, that these days people doesn't have a time to think, maybe they even do not want to think. All is happening quite fast, like a stream of binary data. You only react, you do not think, you do not feel reasons consequences, meanings, don't you?

So I will be exposing five prints. Yesterday we were at exposition place and we planed who will have which place. I have got quite nice place and also arrange frames and all stuff. Except prints of course.
I am still bit faithing with local lab. I would love to have bigger prints than 20x30cm. Yesterday I was there as well and I had discussion with person operated the system there. He advice me to prepare print in 200dpi, because that is what machine is printing he says. Everything else is resized to get 200dpi. I am not sure if I want to make another test print for 10 euro, maybe I just prepare all prints and will hope in luck. In worst case I will print A4 prints myself. Yes that is what I am going to do. Will bring them CD tonight and will pick-up prints Wednesday. Saturday we doing installation in exposition hall.

Today morning I was missing my camera it was so nice foggy morning. That kind of low mist that you can see with difficulties in the same high as you but above you is a blue sky and moon with just rising Sun. Beautiful.
Tomorrow I will go pick up my six A2 sized prints from the lab. I am curious what they did with it.
Recently I am not writing very much. Last week I had very busy time at work and than we a re rebuilding bedroom home. New floor and all the stuff. So I am tired physically, which is what I like but it really needs some sleep to recover :-) Hopefully in one week I will have exhibition installation done and home will be everything in order and I will have some time to put new pictures. I had this wish to put every week some nice pictures on-line. I didn't keep it last week. Some today one extra picture. This is one of the first from set of photographs which I was doing in attempt to fit it into my childhood project.

This shot I did when I was doing shooting in child playgrounds in attempt to get some photographs which could fit into my childhood project. If you look at it better you will see caught movement in the background. To me it is like passing ghost :-) I like very much these kind of photos with hidden secret a little atmosphere. I like it also because it has nice tone and when I look at print here on my desk it really have some kind of mystery feeling.

I have 30x50cm prints home now. They are not any great. I mean they are also not any bad. The prints have little color cast to brown, but this cast is not on whole picture, only on some parts, looks like certain degree of black is printed by the printer as brownish. I need to take second look at them and than decide what to do.

I took a second look at big prints yesterday. It was at the evening so only big kitchen light, but still I am sure it is not wow! I believe these guys from lab they didn't try hard enough. But for those money they could. Prints are rather ok, only annoying think is that they for sure didn't use color profile embedded in picture. They use this Adobe Photoshop Elements, which I think, is for this kind of work totally useless.
Prints has a brownish cast on certain level of gray. And that is annoying, because if the whole picture is little brownish, well you can see it as toning, but this looks more like coloring.
Another think about prints is that they are much less in contrast, black is not really black and whole picture is little bit lighter than my prints. Now I really wish I bought A3 printer at the beginning.

Every morning I drive on my bike around small field of grass where black horse is kept. Few days ago he was on his knees and next day I saw him lying on the ground. Before that, for few month he looks pretty ok, running around fence when was cold weather or hiding inside small cabin. When I saw him lying there with closed eyes, I though, o man he is going to die.
Luckily yesterday he was back up again. And today he start eating grass around and looks really much better. I do not know what happen, maybe he was ill, or was it reaction on new horse which was add to the fence just few days before I saw him on the ground?

Six prints is installed. Yes six, at the end I put on the wall six prints, all which I had print at local lab. I must say, it looks quite OK, but you know how is it, one is never satisfied. So anyway, six prints is there I believe it looks well. So if you around Breda, in The Netherlands you are welcome to visit our small photo academy exhibition in exposition place of library from 5th of April until 30th of April. Official opening is 3th of April from 14:00 until 16:00. Among other people seven of us from photo academy year 2003/2004 is exposing about 50 prints. Some color but mostly black and white.
All prints I have there are part of my ongoing project childhood. I am preparing its on-line presentation here as well. It is far from finished, but it was what I was working for past few month and will do surely for few more. I still have ideas...

For a long time I was always trying to catch the right moment for picture of kids swinging. This one is so far my favorit. There is a slight problem with light going directly to lens from top middle. But I like that you can see the girl who is pushing and expression on faces of both.

Few new pictures I had add today. I would add more but I need to go into sleep now. I am so tired and especially with summer time shift which happened this Sunday I am bit shifted myself.
I feel I need to take camera again into work, feel like taking more pictures. Spring is really coming and morning light feels nice.

One day I came home after work in terrible rainy weather. I took a camera and I decide to take few shots around in this low light, grey, wet weather. I was thinking let's try to capture this wetness :-) And let see what Fuji Neopan 400 and Paterson Aculux 2 can do. When I went out covering camera from direct rain I did few shots and than saw three girls playing game. I saw they must be totally wet. And they were. I did more shots of them than this one, but most of them is not focus properly. I was shooting with almost open lens (2.0) and therefore it was quite difficult catch all the time moving girls.

I found this snowman build together with its friend on stage of summer amphitheater behind my colleagues office buildings in Stockholm. I was walking around after lunch and when I saw two alone snow-mans placed on stage with no viewers I felt sorry for them. So I took few pictures.

Do you remember changes I made on web site for Google? Maybe not, about six weeks ago I have changed internals of web site so search engines can index complete site and not be blocked by passing argument sin url for dynamic pages. From that moment page ranking of my web dropped terribly in Google. I do not know what actually happened, but that is true. On the other hand I am getting more and more hits from Google and from other search engines in last week. So maybe things are going to change.
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I am again working on little change on my web site. Preparing simplified and same menu system on all part of the web site.
I am also working on new menu item called Projects. It will contains photographs more tight to one subject together with article about the subject. It will be more like documentary projects.
I have also start writing articles how I am doing things about photography. How I develop, print and possibly how I actually taking photographs. I think this can be useful for somebody, as I am getting recently more and more emails with such a questions.

So there is a lot of to come. Just hang on a bit and we all (including me) will see how does it turn.