Hoflehner´s blacks and whites

[Rainer]

Some of you might know the work of this guy: http://www.josefhoflehner.com/portfolios.html

I like his way of shooting land- and cityscapes. And what i even like more is the fantastic greys and more than anything else these super-blacks.

Afaik he uses a Phase back for shooting this.

So - what does the converting procedure look like to get B/W like that? How would you do it?

[micek]

Rainer, those greys and blacks are not the result of any digital back or converting procedure, it is good old film. Hoflehner's work, like Michael Kenna's, relies on refined long exposure techniques and exquisite printing on traditional selenium and sepia toned silver gelatin paper.

[Graham Mitchell]

Rainer, those greys and blacks are not the result of any digital back or converting procedure, it is good old film. Hoflehner's work, like Michael Kenna's, relies on refined long exposure techniques and exquisite printing on traditional selenium and sepia toned silver gelatin paper.
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Why are you making this up?
Josef uses a Phase One back. Plenty of evidence if you google. One example:
[a href=\"http://photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00DgAm]http://photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00DgAm[/url]

[TechTalk]

Why are you making this up?
Josef uses a Phase One back. Plenty of evidence if you google. One example:
http://photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00DgAm
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How is he mounting the back on his Fuji 617?

"Josef Hoflehner , Aug 10, 2004; 03:43 a.m.
Don,

look at these books. Most of the landscape-photographs of where taken with Fuji 617.

Josef

www.frozenhistory.com"     [a href=\"http://photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=0097dI]617 Used for Landscape Books[/url]

So, all of the great film work that this fellow did for decades before he acquired a digital back is now forgotten?

And by the way, if you buy a print from him they are "Silver Gelatin Print. Selenium/Sepia toned. "      Prints Link

[Graham Mitchell]

How is he mounting the back on his Fuji 617?

"Josef Hoflehner , Aug 10, 2004; 03:43 a.m.
Don,

look at these books. Most of the landscape-photographs of where taken with Fuji 617.

Josef

www.frozenhistory.com"     617 Used for Landscape Books

So, all of the great film work that this fellow did for decades before he acquired a digital back is now forgotten?

And by the way, if you buy a print from him they are "Silver Gelatin Print. Selenium/Sepia toned. "      Prints Link
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=194493\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Ok, perhaps I should have made it clear that I meant he is using digital NOW, but I am sure there is film work in his folio too.

He probably went digital around 2004, so the quote you linked to was probably just before or after he went digital.

The point is, he is achieving his look with the digital back too, so without knowing the history of a photo you can't look at it and declare that it was definitely shot with film, as micek did.

[TechTalk]

so without knowing the history of a photo you can't look at it and declare that it was definitely shot with film, as micek did.
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=194497\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

or accuse someone of "making this up".

Over 30 years of producing images on film and 4 years of producing digital images. On which is his reputation for producing beautiful tonality based?

I'm just asking because I don't want to be hasty in making judgements.

[mtomalty]

To quote Josef Hoflehner in the Jan/Feb 2008 issue of Lenswork, "....most of my work is
made with relatively old,square format cameras,but that doesn't mean there is always
film inside. I'm open to all kinds of cameras,lenses,or media. I use film,digital and I also work
with a lot of 8 x 10 and B & W polaroid.  My prints are traditional selenium/sepia toned
gelatin silver made on fiber-based paper."  

There is no mention in the interview with regards to his printing techniques,etc


Mark

[patrickfransdesmet]

Hello,
I 've contacted Joseph by mail several times, as I bought some of his books and numbered prints.
He is a nice guy, and responds to your mails too ;-)

As far as I understood, today he works with Phase One backs, previously P20, now p45+, on Hasselblad V system camera's.
P45+ alows him for making long exposures.

Prints are made on a Durst lambda with the new Ilford FB digital fiber base paper,
and developed in a BW processor from Collenta, somewhere in a company in Austria.
then the prints are hand toned by himself in Selenium
great work !
I love it.

[Graham Mitchell]

Sorry if my earlier post was a bit harsh  I was just reacting to the attitude that some people hold onto of "digital can't do that" when in fact some of those images certainly are done with a digital camera.

[Dinarius]

Really gorgeous work!  

I certainly wouldn't mind having few suggestions for handling B&W conversions in CS3 (or even ACR4).

It does my head in trying to get a look that pleases me in a way that, say, Tri-X did, and there's not much discussion on the subject.

D.

[eronald]

Really gorgeous work!   

I certainly wouldn't mind having few suggestions for handling B&W conversions in CS3 (or even ACR4).

It does my head in trying to get a look that pleases me in a way that, say, Tri-X did, and there's not much discussion on the subject.

D.
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=194554\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

The reason is that BW somehow only works well easily with the best camera eg. DB and Leica.
The Canons somehow don't have the texture to make a good BW shot every time - although there are exceptions;

Edmund

[Dinarius]

The reason is that BW somehow only works well easily with the best camera eg. DB and Leica.
The Canons somehow don't have the texture to make a good BW shot every time - although there are exceptions;

Edmund
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=194555\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Edmund, thanks for that. I have a Hassie 39Mp MS, as well as the 1Ds Mk3, so I'm all ears!  

D.

[Rainer]

As far as I understood, today he works with Phase One backs, previously P20, now p45+, on Hasselblad V system camera's.
P45+ alows him for making long exposures.

Prints are made on a Durst lambda with the new Ilford FB digital fiber base paper,
and developed in a BW processor from Collenta, somewhere in a company in Austria.
then the prints are hand toned by himself in Selenium
great work !
I love it.
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=194529\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Thanks guys.
This pretty much answers my question.
I´ll contact him myself to ask if i can see some real prints anywhere here in Austria.
B/W is nice on a screen, but certainly even better hanging on the wall...

[dergiman]

Thanks guys.
This pretty much answers my question.
I´ll contact him myself to ask if i can see some real prints anywhere here in Austria.
B/W is nice on a screen, but certainly even better hanging on the wall...
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=194561\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

i would also like to know where he gets his prints done! a PM from the insiders ?

[micek]

Dear foto-z: I am not making up anything. Please try and be civil.
Hoflehner's fine art (landscape) work on his site -including the latest work from Hawai- is mostly analogue, and his prints are traditional  silver gelatin prints handmade in the darkroom.
He uses digital backs mostly in the studio, although he is working on a new fine art project to be released online and at his galleries later on this year which has been captured digitally and whose prints will not be traditional silver gelatin ones but pigmented ink prints.
How do I know? Simple; I just asked him.
Drop him a line and find out for yourself.

[condit79]

I guess I think that black and white when you´re shooting digital just works better at higher than 100 iso.  If I know I´m shooting for black and white, I try and shoot iso 400 or 800 to get the grain simulation. I haven´t really ever had an issue where my camera didn´t give me the file I needed for black and white.  Normally it´s me not properly using the light or processing the file...

This was processed in cs3 via acr.

I warmed up the color temp, dropped saturation ever so slightly.

I then opened up the file, and desaturated the file by half by using the channel mixer and putting the blue and green channels at zero while raising the red to 90.

then made a copy of that file, did a duotone
that duotone was then copied on top of the rgb, opacity set to 90%

reset the levels-curves properly and then did the final channel mixing like before more or less but this time opacity was set to 98% before flattening to leave a slight touch of color...


this has nothing to do with his way of working black and white, someone had just asked for examples of people´s processing...

[Dinarius]

Condit,

Thanks for sharing that.

D.

[bob carnie]

Phillip

My lab is one of the few that are working with a Lambda and the Ilford FB papers.
Picto in France, Metro in UK, Lamont Imaging, Dalmation in USA and my Elevator *mine* in Toronto Canada. www.elevatordigital.ca
I started printing from digital files in 2002 on Agfa Classic before they got into trouble and now use the Ilford paper. In fall of 2008 , an Agfa/ Adox paper is coming out so there will be two emulsions for us to work with.
All exposure is done on the Lambda , and at our location the paper is taken off the machine and then hand processed as normally would with any traditional BW paper. All post fixing proceedures are exactly like in the old old days, currently we are Tri toning this paper with great success.

You will find that as the paper is maximised more for LED exposures more labs will jump on board with this process, as well if the manufacturers were in synch, they would place some exposing units in the photoschools  so that the students can work with digital capture and wet process prints which is a great combination.

Bob

i would also like to know where he gets his prints done! a PM from the insiders ?
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=194584\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]