Richard Vanek - Black and White Photography

Autumn is around and I have found one of the shots from Gamla Staan in Stockholm which exactly express my autumn mood. Sharp sun, contrast shadows and cold wind. Maybe you like, as I do, also the contrast of building and tree together in on place.

It was quite cold and cloudy day, but sometimes the sun gets through them and make very nice contrasty light.

No I am not going to complain, I only wish to write things a little bit for myself. Maybe it is not good idea to put them here for public view, but what!

Last few days were quite difficult. Once month over and just one sale. Friends doing same kind of business saying that I can be happy to make that one. But on other hand, it wasn't even the real sale, just somebody who wanted to buy already earlier and web shop just make it little easier for him.
But that is not all, I was very busy with other things and having head full of thoughts about photography. After discussions I have had last week I had plans to do certain things. Only thing I did was developing some negatives lying here for month or two. I still have quite a few to go. But my time is not only photography and that makes things more challenging, one would say.
You see all and all I have this kind of self censorship and I just am not able to write all I have in mind. It just doesn't go. It is too late or?

It seems like I will not have Konica Hexar AF anymore. There is about five people now who are in almost last stage of considering. I hope they will decide soon as I have a person waiting for me with Nikon F100. After this sale is over I will sell out also my Olympus OM system. I have two bodies, three lenses and couple of small things, like filters, leather case and book about all OM equipment. Hopefully I will have a little more money so I can buy tripod.

There is a lot of other things going on and I have really prioritize what I will be doing next otherwise it will go bad. And I must say I am not very good in it. Hopefully it is not too late for me to learn.
Yesterday I have start to replace A3 size prints on our living room. I use to have there six prints of A2 size from my exposition, but I just got enough of those images and now moving to some portraits. I put all frames and passe-partout there. late in the nigh I have printed first portrait. It looks quite ok. At least it did in night light :-) I will see now when I will come back from work.

My Konica Hexar is sold out now. And you would maybe be interested to buy it I am sorry, but maybe you can find some nice photographs in my web shop. Those prints are much cheaper than Konica Hexar and could bring you better mood. Once more, I am sorry, I had only one but I have many nice original prints. Take a look.

Looks like advertisement, doesn't it? Well in certain sense it is. But I had so many emails about Konica that I was busy just answering them. Now could be nice to offer something else to bright up your day.

And myself? Well, I am looking forward to have my Nikon F100 soon!
Hm, like a small boy :-)

I have just arrived from short train trip on which I have bought Nikon F100. I will write little bit more later. For now I have try few things and I have setup custom controls the way I like them to handle camera. It does work perfectly and feel very good. Viewfinder is much better than F80 and focusing is faster and more precise. No hunting. It is a bit noisier, but I do not mind now.
More later...

I have first roll finished using my new Nikon F100. Isn't it good feeling? Yes it is incredible good feeling. Viewfinder feels like on old good manual focus camera, build is same. So you really feel like you have trustable piece of equipment in your hand. F80 did feel little toys, not much and not from the first time, but more and more I was using it it has created that feeling. F100 is little bigger and little heavier, but, surprisingly it adds to the positive feeling.
What I like very much is that I can use lens for setting up of aperture! It is again like in old good days when you use both hands. The modern auto focus camera put all controls in your right hand and that makes it too much in my view. Now I can use left hand for aperture setting and stabilizing camera as well. As I do not use zooms these are only two actions my left hand is doing. I am using AF-ON button for focusing and AE-L button for Auto Exposure lock. Shutter release is used only for shutter. I also like controlling exposure compensation by main dial on back of the camera without need for pushing any additional button.

I was shooting some ceremonies in church today. I took my new Nikon F100 with SB-28. Nikon loaded with alkaline batteries and flash with NiMH 2300mAh. I shot two and half rolls in about hour. F100 never let me down. Perfect focusing in dim light,perfect handling, no strange feelings. I didn't feel weight. Perfect view through viewfinder and not a problem with sound. So just a perfect time! I am happy.
Well, I didn't develop a single roll yet, so I should be careful. But as I said handling is perfect. I was planning to do some development today but I am tired. Long night party yesterday, and yes I would have more fun I guess if I would take F100 with me. But never mind. I had a heavy weekend and I am tired now, This autumn weather is not helping either. So I plan to develop some tomorrow, I hope.

Hello hello, reporting from south of The Netherlands in Europe. We have successfully developed first roll exposed by new Nikon F100. And yes all shots are good and none of them is dark, or transparent or deformed in other unexpectable way. We are all happy here and celebrating by drinking nice beer.
After we have finished a second bottle we put flash on F100 and went on the street of our small village where people are walking with dogs in any time of the day and night. As we had only four shots left we were not expecting any huge size project, just having fun for four times of fraction of a second. And that what happen. In total night dark we shot driving car and scaring a driver about having speed check in the middle of our road. Than we scared dog and his owner from the back and we try to scare some playground but it give a shit about us and didn't move a inch in our flash light.

So we are here in great mood and new 3200 asa film exposed. We are planning to scare more people in the night with Nikon F100 and SB-28 until we will hit some strong boy, who will explain it us all.
More news in 24 hours...

It was a difficult day for me today. At the end I was able to scan four rolls which I have developed yesterday evening. The one from my new Nikon F100 was there as well. Seems that F100 works correctly. I have noticed that the f100 roll is little lighter than the other roll of the same film developed in the same tank. Therefore I assume that Nikon F100 is underexposing about half stop comparing to my Nikon F80. It is not bad thing and actually can be advantage as the negative scanned better than the one from F80, just I need to be aware of it when I develop.
I also developed two Fuji Neopan 400 from our summer trip to Slovakia. Looking at it there are some nice shots. So tomorrow there will be new batch of pictures.

Yesterday I was a awake for quite a time. I went into bad in early hours of today. I have quite a pressure at work so at evening I am rather tired. It is not good as I wanted to print some pictures and put new on web, but I just have no energy to do it.
Anyway when I was going to bad I was kind of refreshed after shower and was looking at sealing. and suddenly I had two nice ideas about photos. You know I was writing earlier that I like to make some changes, and it goes rather slowly. I had already few ideas, but I never get to the point of actually making pictures. I believe it will come soon. I feel like it is growing in me.

About a web shop, well it is sad but I didn't sell anything in path month. I need to do something. There are few ideas, again.
You certainly wondering where are the new images I always put Friday. They will come, just little bit later as I had to come to work today. So no free time, this time.

They didn't notice at all, when I was taking about four shots of them. I was standing few meters in front of them on almost empty square, They had a lot of fun watching screen of the mobile phone.

I have decide to watermark my images as some agencies doing. I hope you will be not annoyed too much. I try to make it as less as possible intrusive but still slightly visible. It is my first attempt and I am planning to improve it.
Let me know what do you think about it. And yes, you asking for reason? Well it is simple, quite a few of my images are linked to blogs and other web pages. And I do not like when my images are stolen. So I try to make it little bit more difficult and get some advertisement back from it.

I went today with Viera to city close by, its name is Breda. There is a photo exposition which is ending last week. I was planning to go there much earlier as it is open about month now. But as things go I didn't find a time and even today we had only little so we went only to the two exposition. One in Keizer straat and the main one on Breda's museum.

In the Keizer hotel, was exposition of my friend Els. She was exposing and color prints from her Hotel series. Those shots are made in hotel over the world. They are done from unusual angles, from ground or from close by. Normally sterile hotels corridors looks in her little boosted colors suddenly very interesting. The light from open doors or side window is falling to the used carpet. The old wooden table with chess board on it is standing in reception hall.
I have to say that these shots, especially with this little boosted colors gave me nostalgic feeling. You do not see people on here, you see used things, tables, shoes, hangers and carpet in long hotel corridors with dozen of doors. And all and all, yes I liked them. As the Dave Beckerman says, very nice living room pictures, but these has nice mood and little tension in them which makes possible to see them on wall also next month. I mean it very positive, I liked them very much, Els congratulations!

We than went to main exposition in Breda's museum. Oh I forgot to mention the them of this five weeks show. I would translated as "Not usual beauty". Maybe it is not exact or correct translation, but that is how I understand it.
So we went there and comparing to free entrance to Els's exposition here we need to pay and it was also much bigger instead of 10-15 prints we could see a lot more. First what strikes me was that a lot, if not majority pf prints where rather old. Forty and more years old prints. Second was that the selection which was made was heavily made in the erotic direction. I am not a critic or anybody who should judge art, but I know what I like and what not. And I really do not like the selection which is made in Breda's museum. But I am not going to tell about what I do not like, let's see what catch my attention.
Few prints from Alain Fleischer, especially two which were expressing reflection of womens body in fork and spoon. I was surprised that after I saw untasteful prints from some Dutch photographers I have found something which was of a different taste Ruud de Brouwer.
I have to mentioned it, I really didn't get shots of skeleton Harve Bohnert, sorry.
I saw big color prints from Jean-Claude Bélégou, which caught my attention, but not dramatically. Than after we saw all I have found book from him for sale. I like it extremely. Shots of every day things in great light and creating of interesting atmosphere. I didn't bought it and it is a pity, maybe I do it later. Those pictures of usual daily situation of cutting bread, making tea are made such a way that they become full of feelings and one can see other meanings in them.

But back to bread photo. I think I am not going to name all which I didn't like or like. I would like to mentioned my final feeling from this part in Breda's museum. Somehow I have got feeling that if anybody wants to create attention by photography here in this country (maybe in other as well) it has to be done by shock, and the best is used erotic and nudity. Tell me why is it like that? Why we try to sell everything? Why things just can't be itself? Why we need to push them to become something else than they are in reality?
Under theme of this exposition I could imagine totally different selection, which would shock little less but maybe it would create nicer and better feeling in observers, maybe it wouldn't want to be just salable but something little deeper. Maybe it would be expressing expressing something and not selling.
Very much the same feeling I have from some presentations in Naarden photo festival few month back. I am disappointed. Next week Saturday and Sunday I will be back and will see some other exposition and maybe I will change my view, but what I saw in Breda's museum today was in major part extreme disappointment for me.

Yesterday I did more or less first time shots in the night. And I must tell you I wasn't technically prepared as I wished, more what I was I had clear view on what I like to take picture of. I went with Viera on bicycles in near by location. It was full moon and some lights on the street. I took flash and small battery light to try some light effects. We did few shots with bike passing and some strange composition with chair in the middle of the field. That we did some portrait like shots with copper plates background from a statue standing next to the road.
After we come back home I also did made some testing shots for composition I have though before in our garden with candle lights.

What I mean by not being technically prepared, is that I had no idea what kind of exposure I should use. With candles was quite ok as I could measure light and than do some extension to overcome reciprocity effect. But with shooting in field and bicycle path it was little bit more difficult. I have use Fomapan 100 film and exposure from 8 to 30 sec with f5.6.
I will be developing roll tonight so result should be known than and some picture, if anything turns out interesting Monday evening.

I believe you can see people watching photographs as three different group of people. The one who likes to have nice picture in their living room wall. Those who makes pictures and see what is behind it and those who saw it all and want something different.

I guess there is not strict border between those people, one can be in more groups, but from mine point of view it is like this:
I have quite a bunch of pictures which are nice in sense of living room wall. Those picture I do not like very much because their are just nice and have not much of anything else. After years I just got tired of them. They are technically very close to perfection, but they miss depth.
Than I have pictures which have some idea or action or story, whatever you call it. Those I like, but they are still quite much tied to objective view captured by camera, even you can see little behind what is on picture itself.
Next group are shots, which I am trying to do now. Not much done yest but a lot of thinking happened and last evening I did some. Those should be pictures which are not reflecting things like your eye is seeing them, but like your soul, mind feels them and your brain imagine them. Those kind of photographs are mostly not reflecting world by what can be seen but with symbols, tension and fantasies.
Those are the pictures I like to try now.

You know this didn't happen to me for quite some time. Today I have planned to develop two Fomapan 100 and two Ilford Delta 3200. I use Aculux 2 normally but still have some two month open bottle of Paterson FX-39. So I said myself, use Aculux for Fomapan as you know time now and use FX-39 for Delta films. I decide to go for FX-39 also because I knew I am not going to use it further and I need 90mm of developer for 1:5 dilution.
I have developed Fomapans, where BTW was also the film from night shooting and I need to tell you that 30 sec is minimal so all shots from field are heavily underexposed except the ones with 30sec exposures. The shots from garden and candle lights are better but still 30 sec. exposures are the best.
Let's back to my development adventure tonight. Than when I was done with Fomapan's I start preparing chemicals for Delta films. And found out that FX-39 is totally black, oxidized. So I throw it away. I didn't have enough of Aculux 2! I have now films in tank and no developer to use it. I have some old SPD Super Prodol from FujiFilm,but there is not mixing instruction and no time for delta 3200 anywhere. I Would risk it anyway. So what to do?
Maybe I just go to bad I am tired. Morning is smarter than evening.

This is some years ago, we were visiting some nice places in France and I was still using my Voigtlander Bessa R. While walking all over those nice places with perfect grass I asked Viera to stop for a while. Few seconds later I have taken this photo.

It looks like he was run over by bike, doesn't it? I had this picture for a while and I wasn't sure. You know all the time nice pictures and here he is really furious. Suddenly I like it very much especially those track of tires coming from behind his head. Do you still remember it. You were on trip with your folks and was rather warm winter day, snow is leaving fields. You dressed by mama like for minus twenty but you sweating. And than a little more is too much and you start screaming and faithing with everybody and everything.

I do not really know if all this babbling is interesting to you, but I have scanned the Fomapan 100 I exposed the other weekend night. I already mentioned earlier that from negative was quite clear that longer time would be more useful. Now when I see it, I even print small previews, it is not that bad at all. I mean technically. Nice deep dark black with some part with light. I mean it was night so it is normal that it is dark on picture isn't it? But hey do not by cynic, it is ok. I am quite amazed by the scanner. It is able to pick up such a little details in exposed parts. Only little light can be there but scanner can pick it up, better than on overexposed negatives.
So as I said technically is not bad, on other hand that what it is on picture is absolutely not good. I need still a lot to learn. Yes it was experiment I never did before. I was making up scene and than photograph it. And I need to try more, this time it wasn't much of success.

This is advantage to have camera with you all the time. Even in a simple daily situation you can catch nice moment.

I need to take a little rest so I am going to Belgium for two days. I am of course taking my camera with me and even the weather is no any good I will try to make some shots. I am going by train which can be one more positive thing. I loved to use train earlier. Nowadays I do not have much chance for that. This journey will take about four hours, enough time to enjoy it.

We have returned back from Belgium today afternoon. I manage to jump to chop and buy Amaloco AM74 developer. Local brand, but quite decent developer. I did try it few times. It works well but I never was able to achieved results I really wanted. Today I have no other option as I had those Delta 3200 films in tank already for third day. I just developed it and interesting is that I prove what I always read only before. I developed two rolls of Delta 3200 one expose about two years ago and one exposed week ago. The background fog on the one expose two years ago is much more dense than of the other one. The newer is actually almost transparent.

In this age of digital photography one still using original approach can get into the trouble quite easy. I have order some chemicals papers and other stuff from Germany about, is it that long already? Well yes about fours weeks ago and they are still waiting for some HP5+ which they can't get. This is quite terrible. Other company which always was very fast responding, this time from UK, didn't even confirm my order in last four days. And so I have got into situation when I have no developer and need to go further. The solution is quite simple, just buy what the shop has and use it. This of course kind of zeros all those testing and trying with strange developers.
So I end up like that I have bought another bottle, this time 500ml of Amaloco AM74 developer. I developed just few minutes, four rolls of Fomapan 100. They were exposed at 80ASA in mostly contrast light. I had to use 1:15 dilution as standard 1:7 lead to extremely short time. Limitation is that one need to use minimum of 20ml per roll. I already earlier used less without noticeable problems. I had to use it this time as well because my tank can only take 550ml and I like to develop two rolls in the same tank. It all boils down to use18ml per roll which I think is still quite ok. Well at least result is not affected by any noticeable way.

All this situation let me thinking about future a bit. Do I need to still rely on Internet orders and make order and stock them for myself or just go for something which is here in shop which I can get almost any time and make the best out of it? What do you think? What would you do?

I should write some philosophical thought here I guess, but I can't find any at this time of the day. I guess I will be replacing this text some time later. This wooden cross was leaning to the original wooden house in Slovakia.

I have just posted this image of the cross which is nice example that combination of Amaloco AM74 developer and Fomapan 100 film can work together. Nice shots are those where was a quite high contrast light. Those in dull low contrast light need probably different development procedure, maybe little longer time.

I have developed four rolls of MacoPhot up 100p in Amaloco Am74 today. Three of them were exposed at 80ASA and one at 100ASA with flash and slow sync. All seems to be developer right even I have shorter the time to 6:30 comparing to 7:30 I have used before.
What is nice on letting rolls sit for a while before you develop them, is that you forget about those nice shots you were taking. And now after I developed these rolls I have discover some shots I was looking forward to see when taking them in summer. I hope I can bring you tomorrow some nice shots from local carnival in one small Slovak village.

One other note I need to make. I was complaining last time about long delivery and not answering my mail. In the case of not reaction from one UK based company I have to fix it. Mistake was on my side I have send email to wrong address. The strange thing is that this address was accepted and I didn't get notified. Anyway after I fix my mistake and resend order to correct address today morning I have my developer already on its way to The Netherlands. I like that :-)

I have received today this email and I really need to put it here. You probably know what it feels like when somebody writes words like this about you. I am honored.


What a treat it is to visit your site! It has been awhile since I last have, only because I have been busy and going through a lot of stuff these past few months. Visiting your site, I don't know - it just feels welcoming, at home for me, it is always a pleasure and treat to visit, to see were wonderful photographs, to read your writings. They always have been, and continue to be an inspiration.

New favorites of yours, to add to my list of your wonderful photographs... I think the last time we corresponded, was not too long after you posted your beautiful Horse photograph. Here are my new favorites:

Ema - It is just a darling photograph. A definite keeper! A photograph that will be a prized, admired and cherished for a lifetime. It is timeless and precious. Her playful look, the composition, again her eyes and look! I do not know her, but I am almost certain that you captured her essence. Defined who Ema is in the split second of time on film. Excellent job and image!

Sunny Doorway - The simple beauty. Wonderful composition, and your absolute mastery of exposure and printing (even though I am seeing it via a computer screen). Your images evoke so much Richard. This photo evokes home, comfort, knowing, peacefulness, safety... just - home.

Furious - First off, because of the wonderful lighting, the late in the day (or early morning) low shaft of sun light filtering through the distant trees, falling wonderfully upon the little boy in his fit! Which is the second element - capturing the young man in his child like rage :-) Another wonderful photograph.

Lost in the Woods - Again just a wonderful piece, that evokes so much from the viewer. Your talent at composition and exposure, the positioning of the boy and his pose, and again your ability to capture moments in lighting like you positioned the sun yourself, so that it falls just so, and just right on the scene. I am consistently amazed and admiring of your work.

Jeff, Iowa/Nebraska

Simple life, brings simple pleasures. You take care of your garden, plants. Bring water every day, make ground light and good. You wait and wait and one sunny day you enjoy bowl full of fresh peas. Isn't that great?

I have just added one new picture, it just strikes me while scanning it. Simplicity and nice texture. Nothing really great but this is kind of picture people would place on their living room's walls I guess. It is calm a nice shot.
I have scanned all four film today and there are nice shots. It is become late tonight and I didn't slept enough last few nights so I will go in bed soon. The more pictures will be for tomorrow.

I did only few times in my life. I always felt sick after turning all around in that high and speed. Some kids really love it, but I wasn't on of them. When carnival arrived in our town it was always big thing. There use to be huge place where they put their tents and mobile homes. Everywhere you can smell animals. It use to be extremely smelly and hot in schapito. Sugar wool and other sweet stuff was all around. I was a great fun with almost no money. Nowadays when I went with kids to little carnival in our village 15 euro is gone in less than 30 minutes. Terrible.

I am working today almost whole day at the little new look and improved design of my web pages. I am almost finished and I will soon put it on. I am wondering what will you think. I would appreciate if you leave a note. It is always good to know what do you think about my site. I hope you will like it ;-)
And if you find some problem, let me know soon! Thank you for your support.

So I am finished with new look. It is changed almost on every page except from web shop. That will come later. I hope it makes things easier to navigate and read. Enjoy!

Thursday I have received new bottle of Paterson Aculux 2 and today I have use it for two rolls of Ilford Pan 100 and tow rolls of Fuji Neopan 1600. Finally it seems I have only last six rolls or so to developed from my backlog. Than I will have nothing to do until I shoot some more. And that I would like very much. There are few problems, but shouldn't be stoppers.

I have terrible headache today, I am hardly walking and I am actually glad I could finished developing. I will take shower and go to bad. Saturday as always was filled with a lot of work around house and some play with kids. It is unbelievable how beautiful weather we have in last few days. Such a nice autumn, it is really great. There should come some showers from Monday, but I do not mind.

Don't you find that sometimes is difficult to describe photographs? Well I am in such a situation now. When I took this shot I though about wooden roof of house, now when I look at it, it seems more like wooden hills. In any case I like it, little confusion and great sky.

Warning, technical babbling:
Quite few month ago I have wrote article about Neopan 1600 developed in Paterson Aculux 2. After I scanned two last roll of the same film, now exposed at 1600 and again developed in Aculux 2, I need to change some of my views. It seems much better than those days, something is different. Yes I am using different camera, Olympus OM2n that time, Nikon F100 now. And yes there is a difference how those cameras exposed under the same light conditions. But seems like difference is also in something else.
Quite a few times I have read that you can use Paterson developers in higher dilutions and shorter times, I must say that from my experience it is not true, the times Paterson is publishing seems to be quite right for my way. It all depends, at least with Aculux 2, very much of how light is contrast. The less it is the longer time you need to develop film.
I scanned those Fuji Neopan 1600 at 5400dpi today. What I was expecting, was huge grain. But I a shocked, really I am the grain is not bigger than MacoPhot up100p in the same developer! I am really impressed. I will published two shots from this film tomorrow. Some low light shots I quite like.

When we were last time for short trip in Belgium parts of Ardene, we also visited few castles. Even earlier I was thinking to take kind of still life shots combined with nice light and possibly some person. I took this like a training to find interesting shapes and lights.

I really enjoy walking in old castles in France or in south of Belgium. They are preserved mostly in a way I like it. Minimal effort and maximal effect of capturing old times. In this castle in Ardene in Belgium every room was full of sound which normally would be present in daily live some hundreds years ago. So you walk into young lady room and there was a bucket with water and harp . You heard washing hands than walking to harp and start playing music after while she start singing, that walk to window and open it. You as a visitor just sit and listen and imagine how it was than. Beautiful!

I have just added two new shots from a week ago when we visited Arden in Belgium. Both of them, pipes and old music, where exposed in low light on Fuji Neopan 1600 and developed using Paterson Aculux 2. I like them quite a lot. Grain is minimal and only underlines a fact of low light shot. The contrast is fine and there is enough details in shadow areas.