A trip to Georgia USA part 1 (from darkroom to blog #3)

We hadn’t planned a second trip to the USA within a year of our 23 day road trip but, when moments or opportunities like this arise then I guess you have to grasp them.

It’s a bit confusing as our Daugter is called Georgia and she had decided she wanted to spend a Semester in Georgia (USA) to see how they studied Philosophy and Sociology and of course, go on a big adventure away from home, by herself, for the first time.

We touched down in Atlanta Airport mid September 2017 and picked up our rental car to head off to our Air BnB in Athens (the home of REM if you didn’t know).

Always wanting to avoid busy roads where possible we chose a route of about 70 miles with the intention of stopping once or twice so, taking highway 20 and picking up the 138 we arrived in the town of Munroe mid afternoon.

Parking up and getting Ice cream at “Scoops” the late summer sun was blasting through the window onto the very photogenic chrome bar stools. I’d recently purchased a mint F2 with a lovely f2 AI lens and it was loaded with Bergger pancro 400.

Munroe #1 – Gelatin silver print on Ilford MG5

They sold boiled peanuts which we avoided but I rather wish I’d tried them now as I feel I missed out.

Munroe #2 – Gelatin silver print on Ilford MG5

Munroe #3 – Gelatin silver print on Ilford MG5

And of couse to us Brits “It’s all so American” – even the view through the window, to me was worth capturing.

Back outside in the sun I snapped Julie as we were trying to cross the road – a building had caught my eye.

Munroe #4 – Gelatin silver print on Ilford MG5

Munroe #5 – Gelatin silver print on Ilford MG5

Of course we all look for the light – form, light, framing.

Heading out of Munroe I had no option but to stop and record these two scenes – again easy to pass by.

Munroe #6 – Gelatin silver print on Ilford MG5

Different Camera for these last two photographs. My GW690 is my go to camera for road trips and specific Fenland projects, I love the 6×9 ratio for these topographic style images that I am constantly drawn to. The camera was loaded with HP5 with a light yellow filter.

Munroe #7 – Gelatin silver print on Ilford MG5

These guys I’m guessing hadn’t been in business too long, if you google them now this truck is gone and replaced with a proper (but less photogenic) building.

NOTES ON PROCESSING AND PRINTING

These recent blog posts are all about my hated of negative scanning, well in a way they are. These days I make prints 95% of the time, and scan those. Reasons are many and I wont bore you.

That means social media posts like this take longer but that’s OK, it becomes a deliberate act, an act based on thought and pondering rather than quick reaction.

Both the Bergger negatives and the Ilford negatives were developed in ID11 1+1 at a time I have homed in on so that they print at grade 21/2 or grade 3 in my Magnifax Meopta of Devere 504 enlargers.

The time you develop your negatives for will determine how dense the highlights are, the speed you expose the film at will determine how much or how little shadow detail you have.

Your times and how you rate your film will be different probably from mine or the next person who may want to explain how to do things on Twitter or Facebook.

These negatives print easily with maybe a little dodging here and there of shadows and a bit of burning in of foreground to make the print appear more balanced.

Paper for this project is Ilford MG5 resin coated and for colour images Fuji Crystal Archive.

As ever…….Stay Safe