Point taken, John. It's typical of many b/w negs I have which give me constant trouble. Initially they were badly processed (by me, hands up) in my then home darkroom -still there but sadly unused. My Nikon Coolscan V ED neg scanner is merciless with any flaws. As you know, scratches, dust, the usual darkroom junk assume mega proportions with a good scanner. I think reticulation is the main problem with a lot of my early bw negs - I get an irregular vein-like pattern on the surface of the emulsion which I believe is caused by a sudden and severe temperature change during the development process. This took place in an attic at home with very basic equipment and too little care about constant temperatures. I was using a light bulb inserted into an upside down biscuit tin, believe it or not. In other words, woeful carelessness in the rush to see what's on the neg and a very costly mistake. In any event, it's damned difficult to deal with and I've given up on many a decent image as a result.
I was going through some negs and came across this image which I thought was interesting, despite the flaws. I was liningup the timber figure at a local lake when the guy on the bike cycled into the frame and I took the shot instinctively. Given it's technical flaws however, I probably shouldn't have posted it here - or anywhere!!
To quote yourself on another post:
"There seems to be little hope for my old ambition to rival Adams or Weston in the annals of photographic greatness. Their reputations are most unlikely to be perturbed by Smith’s efforts here in the wintry depths of Cornwall, and one of the reasons for this is my unwavering ability to make a total hash of things when there is, for once, a good subject in front my lens. Looking back through last year’s frames, I find that there is an uncanny correlation between the shots I like best from an artistic viewpoint, and the fact that most of them are also wrongly exposed, poorly focused, suffer from mirror-slap, or contain some other horrible technical fault. Whereas my perfect, sharp, technically wonderful shots are very often the most forgettable. The cruel unfairness of the human condition bears down upon us all, I suppose (background violins here)."
That's a great summation of the photographer's condition too.
Thanks, John.
