The 4rth Dimensions Only Working Cartoon Cat Photographer!!!
Ol’ Uncle Twee Cat’s Photo Esoterica, Pt. 5:
I’ve got no idea what this whackamatack claptrack jigjag is. Probably made out of moon rocks and tin cans. Never seen the like of it…
{ .pdf at the end of the post! }
Continue reading “Silvestri Wide Angle & Shift Camera (Silvestri T30)”
Ol’ Uncle Twee Cat’s Photo Esoterica, Pt. 4:
~ Camera And Darkroom Magazine, January 1904 ~
This here is a magazine I received by post this week or last. It could have been the week before. Quite pricey these days at ten cents per issue. What’s that you said there, you young thing you? This document is almost a hundred and twenty years old and it’s in the public domain now? Oh. Huh. Has my watch stopped? Where am I?
{ .pdf at the end! }
Ol’ Uncle Twee Cat’s Photo Esoterica, Pt. 3:
Are you making most of your photographs on Hammer Dry Photographic plates? Of course, it goes without saying that most of us are. What’s that you say? Hammer Dry Plates have been discontinued and out of production for nearly one hundred years? Oh. Huh. Well, I guess I’ve got to get out of the house a bit more often, now haven’t I? Well, regardless, here is this short booklet on making negatives from the Hammer Dry Plate company. There is lots of interesting information of development and other such things.
.pdf at the end of the post.
Continue reading “Hammer Dry Plate – A Short Talk On Negative Making”
Ol’ Uncle Twee Cat’s Photo Esoterica, Pt. 2:
Are you tired of viewing the latest AI generated images of a fake reality into which you have invested the vast majority of your psychic energy?? No? Oh. Well, I am. So here’s this Eastman catalog for the early ’30s. There’s a good amount of useful information if you’re interested in early photography.
There’s a .pdf at the end of the post.
Continue reading “Eastman Professional Photographic Apparatus 1930”
Ol’ Uncle Twee Cat’s Photo Esoterica, Pt. 1:
Are you interested in using old expired Ilford glass plate negatives? No? Oh. Well, I am. When you start trying to do this, you will find that they are surprisingly usable and more abundant than one would expect for a product which hasn’t been produced in about fifty years (the last of them were discontinued in 1973). But how to make good use of them? One method is to remove them from the light-tight packaging which has kept them usable and unexposed for many years and then balance them on the tip of your nose in room light. But this is totally ineffective and gives poor results (in fact, it should be said at the outset that photographic glass plates are sensitive to light and will be ruined if you open them in daylight – many people selling them on the internet seem not to realize this). What, then? What to do?
First of all, if you’ve found this, here’s the page you’re most likely looking for. Otherwise, read on. There is much useful information.
The stated speed ratings are provided in the old Hunter & Driffield standard, conversion tables for which are easily available. You can read about this film speed rating system on Wikipedia here.
Given that this system was superseded almost 100 years ago, and was not used in Ilford’s own literature after the 1930’s, I believe this document to be in the public domain, although I have not found a date of publication in it.