David Ondrik Photography (blog)

“When I was a younger man, art was a lonely thing. No galleries, no collectors, no critics, no money. Yet, it was a golden age, for we all had nothing to lose and a vision to gain. Today it is not quite the same. It is a time of tons of verbiage, activity, consumption. Which condition is better for the world at large I shall not venture to discuss. But I do know, that many of those who are driven to this life are desperately searching for those pockets of silence where we can root and grow. We must all hope we find them.” – Mark Rothko

Mark Rothko, Black on Maroon 1959, © 1998 Kate Rothko Prizel & Christopher Rothko ARS, NY and DACS, London, Oil on Canvas

Today I spent the better part of 3 hours in a color darkroom, trying to remember how to make chromogenic prints. It was a mixed bag. I certainly got better as the day grew longer and the stack of photographic paper smaller. I was even told by a good friend that knows about such things that my whites were dingy, and that this meant the chemistry was bad, which could be why the colors were so…strange. It was an interesting experience, that’s for sure. I’m hopeful that the next couple of hours will be even better. Then I can really throw that R2400 in a river.

Organ Mountains, originally uploaded by davidondrik.

According to Flickr, this is my most interesting photo. Yikes.

I’ve been playing with Nelson Gold Toner. All the prints are on Ilford warm tone fiber paper. First is untoned, then toned for 6 minutes, then for 12.

Imbrication, Gold, originally uploaded by davidondrik.

I have a batch of Nelson Gold Toner from the Photographer’s Formulary. I’ve never used it before, so I decided to go all out and tone this print for 15 minutes. I’m not sure what I think. It was really nice around 5-6 minutes. There was a much more subtle warming of the blacks, rather than a total transition to…whatever color this is. Brown? I’m not sure if I’ve opened a new chapter in my black & white printing or not.