Thanks Andy. Appreciate the kind words.

Thanks Edersandro. Yes, it's unfortunate, Ilford really did fail to marketing the opportunity including the unique beauty of the medium.

Did you watch the video? The short answer is I love Cibachrome, its unique characteristics, and the positive transparency process. Negative based prints (C-prints) have a very different aesthetic.

@@zenfoto6428 that comment made the two questions seem related when I didn't mean them to (I mean why do analog enlargement and film at all when digital is so much easier amirite?) What I meant to ask was if there was something been inherit to color positive or just aesthetic reasons? Unfortunately it's kinda hard to tell aesthetic differences through KZbin (and my lack of experience) although I can't disagree with the results. The second question was just general curiosity

@@AMTunLimited Cibachrome printing is the only way to directly print from color positive to photographic paper. The paper itself is unique in that the color is actually built into the paper. For various reasons, a well printed Cibachrome has a luminosity and depth that's rather unique to photographic print making. So, yes, there's inherent capability and aesthetic that factor in my decision to use it. If you can ever see the large format work of Christopher Burkett in person (where do you live?), you might better understand. Your question about the "easiness" of digital is really a philosophical one. I print my Icons of Agriculture series on an Epson 9900 at home. I utilize image processing tools to achieve the aesthetic I want in a way that could not be replicated in the darkroom. Believe me I've tried. I find the digital process, while powerful and appropriate to my intention, it still does not carry quite the magic of working with your hands in the tactile medium of the darkroom. Engaging in any activity that demands both a mental and physical attention to detail, with the possibility of total failure, serves, at least for me, to elevate the process of creativity and life itself. Those tactile, in the moment, fully attentive experiences is what I live for. Make any sense?

Vedat, the chemistry for Ilfochrome is specific. There is a Developer, Bleach and Fixer. The Bleach is proprietary to the medium and only made by special order in large quantity.

I raise my hand as well here :D

Very kind words. Thank you.

Incredibly frustrating, indeed. Just dealing with crowd control under the pandemic restrictions has the Park fully taxed resource wise. Not to mention the priorities of our political administration. Best action is education, awareness, and a bit of strategic shaming. If I lived in the area regularly, I'd form a group to routinely monitor and mitigate the graffiti. Out of sight, out of mind.

Thanks Willem!

Thanks for the compliments. In fairness, my everyday darkroom organization is a little sloppier ;)

Luis, I use an old densitometer that can measure neutral and color densities, both transparent and reflective. Since I currently use just one type of paper in the darkroom, the densitometer is only used on occasion. It's helpful when initially testing new paper (from different sources) but I don't use it as a tool to save test paper when making new prints. Color is so subjective, I don't find measurement tools particularly helpful in making aesthetic choices.

Douglas Vincent that is now clear to me. Thanks for your reply and help!

Yeah, cibachrome isn't coming back. Some of us negotiated a partial powder/raw version of the chemistry. I haven't mixed any yet because I'm still running through my last delivered batch of chemistry from late 2015 which could start to expire any day now. If I'm lucky I still have 3-4 years of printing left. I have enough paper to make 2-3K worth of prints but even that is starting to shift (losing density in the blacks). And, yeah, I run a water wash in my Jobo before washing in trays to avoid the extra stink. Cheers!

Hi Andy. There, unfortunately, is no comparable to Ilfochrome. The design, materials, and aesthetics of the paper are unique in a way that there really aren't any direct alternatives. Of course, you can go with negative based printing and Fuji's Crystal Archive paper line. When I'm finished with my remaining stock of Ilfochrome (about 4,000 sheets), I'll likely switch to something monochrome like platinum palladium. I used to photograph with Polaroid Type 52 which was a lot of pain, I mean fun ;). Cheers!

@@zenfoto6428 if in the pain and effort, you find joy...it was worth it. Thanks for you response Douglas, very much appreciated.

Rene, I spot metered light values for my enlarger at different heights. From there the conversion calculations are pretty easy. Enlargements to standard sizes are a 1.65x increase in exposure. But the prints are almost always tweaked - they open up at larger sizes and I find my exposures decrease slightly (in relative terms). Also, now, if I'm confident in the image, I'll start directly with 16x20s. Or I'll make 8x10 sections of a 20x24 image. It's a little quicker as I'm now focused on making larger images. Cheers!

@@zenfoto6428 thanks. Do you use a standard light meter placed at easel level? Can you share your calculator?

Rene, I spot metered the light (on the easel's center) with no light head filtration and recorded the exposure values (EV) applying standard photographic exposure adjustments (i.e. an EV change of -1 would mean an additional stop of exposure) to my calculations.

Apologies for not responding sooner. Been traveling a bunch. You're right about capturing the material's beauty, It's so highly reflective, it's almost impossible to capture its unique characteristics by digital means. The drum roller (Jobo CPP) does alternate the rotation which is critical to this type of processing.

You're probably right Abigail. At the time, 5 years ago, I was wholly emotionally invested in my massive commitment to Cibachrome and the tradition of handmade darkroom prints. I still fundamentally value them in a way that's different from digital photography and pigment printing. But I've wholeheartedly embraced digital photography for my Icons of Agriculture work. My vision there is something that can't directly be achieved in the darkroom. Though, what I'm currently most excited about is outputting some of those digital files to film and printing them in the darkroom. It's a fusion of mediums. And that's a lot of fun. Cheers.

Hey Martin, sorry, been traveling a lot the last month. You cannot find chemistry in stock anywhere. A chemist in Switzerland has the rights to produce chemistry (he's done it for me and others in the past) but it's enormously expensive and requires a significant volume commitment.