New Prints ~ Tombstone Portfolio

The recent interruptions to the printing work weren't all distractions from the cause. Showing off Arizona for Chicagoan guests offers up a plethora of desirable destinations. Turns out, one of those destinations was Tombstone. An old photographic haunt over the years, different times different days, each time there with different characters doing different things, and that adds up to a lengthening portfolio. If I am presented with a tasty shot, especially devoid of the normal heavy tourist presence, like cars and other intrusions to an historical western scene, I will definitely accept it as yet another photographic gift. This trip was one such photo opportunity.

Shooting events, in the street shooting tradition, has everything to do with 'seeing' the event before it takes place. Usually counted in seconds, it becomes clear at some point if the subjects are going to form a photographic event, and if the shooter has chosen position and background well, when that golden moment arrives, clicking the shutter merely finalizes what was previsualized. Something a photographer rarely becomes fatigued or bored doing. I do miss the street shooting, which is why I have lately returned to this slice of photography. I was able to capture five more images of the Tombstone scene of the late 1870's, when Wyatt Earp roamed the streets.

This image was one of the shots that formed without me seeing it beforehand. I heard heavy booted footsteps behind me, on the wooden sidewalk. The sound was closing in very swiftly as they were soon to overtake me. I had my 20D in hand, set on aperture priority (just for such events) setting; f.8 (ISO 100). I simply turned and found the image anchor, the bottom right corner of the frame, then squeezed off a shot, hoping the auto focus was quick enough in the low light. All of which took under three seconds. Ten paces further on the sidewalk was my second gimme shot, walked right past me, coming from the street, onto the wooden walkway. Those images to come as I print them.

The testing for correct density range of a digital negative, to match the preferred tonal range of a Kallitype print is no longer needed, and I now work with one image at a time, printing the negative then making the print. When I have a master print in hand and all the notes to how I did that, I move on to the next image. This print negative was prepared in Lightroom, then finished in Paintshop Pro, to reverse the image to a negative, then apply a <curve> I created for Kallitype images. This curve should also work decently with a platinum/palladium print, for the most part. If needed, I can certainly kick up the densities easily enough. A second Kallitype print was also made. That's next.

This Kallitype was printed for 10 minutes;
Paper; Revere Platinum (open side)
Developed in sodium citrate
Toned in Palladium toner

Palladium toned Kallitype
"Three Cowboys in Town" ~ 8x10 ~ 1/5
Tombstone, Arizona