Nikon FE235mm Film Camera Minolta Maxxum 535mm auto-focus film camera
Edward M Cotter, the charm of this historic fireboat is simply undeniable. In the past, I was lucky a few times seeing her around Buffalo, NY but I never knew ahead of time when she would be putting a show on. Despite that, I was once lucky enough to see her water guns in action.

This time was different. I caught the schedule of the 125th celebration of the boat's arrival in Buffalo, NY on the internet and had it in my calendar weeks ahead of time. Our family schedule was not fully ironed out and it was not for sure I could make it to the celebration until that very weekend. But it worked, it was worth it, and I even got some merch for me to proudly wear and to hopefully help with the maintenance budget.

Edward M Cotter Cap The celebration was at Buffalo River Fest Park on Buffalo River right across the river from Riverworks and short distance up river from the Michigan Street draw bridge. When she arrived and turned on its water guns, a gorgeous site it was! As a photographer, I was a tiny bit frustrated by the afternoon sun mostly backlighting the scene but a little + on the exposure compensation dial dealt with that and the rest was just enjoyment.

For an event like this, I came with two cameras, one loaded with black and white 35mm film, and one with color. While black and white felt more appropriate to celebrate Edward M Cotter's arrival in 1900, right around the time of invention of 35mm black and white film, the boat is red! Kodak Max 400 went into the Minolta.

Edward M Cotter Entering, 125th Anniversary125th Anniversary Celebration, Buffalo, NY

Edward M Cotter Entering, 125th Anniversary Celebration, Buffalo, NY
Photographed with a 35mm Nikon FE2 camera on Agent Shadow 400 black and white negative film

Edward M Cotter Going125th Anniversary Celebration, Buffalo, NY

Edward M Cotter Going, 125th Anniversary Celebration, Buffalo, NY
Photographed with a 35mm Nikon FE2 camera on Agent Shadow 400 black and white negative film

Edward M Cotter Coming125th Anniversary Celebration, Buffalo, NY

Edward M Cotter Coming, 125th Anniversary Celebration, Buffalo, NY
Photographed with a 35mm Minolta Maxxum 5 camera on Kodak Max 400 color negative film

Edward M Cotter Passing By125th Anniversary Celebration

Edward M Cotter Passing By, 125th Anniversary Celebration, Buffalo, NY
Photographed with a 35mm Minolta Maxxum 5 camera on Kodak Max 400 color negative film

Edward M Cotter Returning125th Anniversary Celebration

Edward M Cotter Passing By, 125th Anniversary Celebration, Buffalo, NY
Photographed with a 35mm Minolta Maxxum 5 camera on Kodak Max 400 color negative film

Edward M Cotter Leaving125th Anniversary Celebration

Edward M Cotter Leaving, 125th Anniversary Celebration, Buffalo, NY
Photographed with a 35mm Minolta Maxxum 5 camera on Kodak Max 400 color negative film

Edward M Cotter Departing125th Anniversary Celebration

Edward M Cotter Leaving, 125th Anniversary Celebration, Buffalo, NY
Photographed with a 35mm Minolta Maxxum 5 camera on Kodak Max 400 color negative film

Enjoy The Beauty That Surrounds You! #etbtsy

Do you enjoy reading my photography blog? Would you like to see more photographs from Buffalo and Western New York? Visit my Buffalo Cityscapes and Buffalo & Western New York Landscapes and enjoy! For more travel photography, my Travel Photography gallery offers an interesting mix of places all around.

Edward M Cotter at Naval Park IIBuffalo, NY Edward M Cotter & USS Little RockBuffalo, NY Edward M Cotter's Solo ShowBuffalo, NY

Vintage USS Little RockBuffalo, NY Vintage USS CroakerBuffalo, NY

Praha Nový SvětReference Print Lith printing takes the darkroom magic to the next level. It's based on overexposing the paper under the enlarger and then developing it in a special diluted high contrast developer. It's called infectious development. The initial phase, incubation period, where nothing seems to be happening, is several minutes long, depending on the temperature of the developer. The development time is not constant. Rather, one has to carefully watch as the shadows start to quickly build up. When the print reaches a so called "snatch point", the print needs to be quickly pulled from the developer and submerged is stop bath. The infectious development is so fast at that point that it's best to skip the dripping off and move to the stop quickly, otherwise, the photo may go too dark.

It takes practice to pull the print at the right time as the darkroom conditions are not the best for evaluating the tones. It's a darkroom to begin with faintly illuminated by red (or green) light. Often, the practitioners also add a little bit of "old brown" developer to the mix making it even harder to see through. However, when it's just right, it's very exciting. The technique introduces colors to a black and white process without toning, and yes, toning is further also possible.

Unfortunately, the technique only works well with a limited pool of photographic papers and that pool seems to be shrinking as manufacturers change their formulas and governments introduce further chemical regulations. Who knows how much time this technique has left. I should make sure to enjoy it more while it's possible.

A good starting point for exposure is 2 - 3 stops overexposed. But how does one know what the right exposure would be? There are several methods but I choose a 2-step process. I first make a standard black and white print in a standard developer. This reference print provides me with the base exposure. It also gives me another version of the print to enjoy, put side by side, compare.

And now for the study sequence, technical information is under each print. Admittedly, the digital representations are approximations. I photographed the prints with a digital camera and processed them to look as the printed originals. But of course, a reflective surface of the paper is not the same as a monitor. And my monitor will be very different from yours, brightness, contrast, and color balance. Either way, hopefully the below will show you how the look of a lith print can change making small tweaks to the process.

Praha Nový Svět, Lith Print No. 1Lith printing study

Praha Nový Svět, Lith Print Study, No. 1
Black and White Darkroom Lith Print on Foma Fomatone 132 Paper
Arista Liquid Lith Developer 10+10+240+240 (500ml)
Exposure: f/4, 48 seconds (2 stops over reference)
Development: 9:30 minutes at 80ºF/26ºC

Praha Nový Svět, Lith Print No. 2Lith Printing Study

Praha Nový Svět, Lith Print Study, No. 2
Black and White Darkroom Lith Print on Foma Fomatone 132 Paper
Exposure: f/4, 48 seconds
Development: 8:45 minutes

Praha Nový Svět, Lith Print No. 3Lith Printing Study

Praha Nový Svět, Lith Print Study, No. 3
Black and White Darkroom Lith Print on Foma Fomatone 132 Paper
Exposure: f/4, 96 seconds (3 stops over reference)
Development: 8:00 minutes

Praha Nový Svět, Lith Print No. 4Lith Printing Study

Praha Nový Svět, Lith Print Study, No. 4
Black and White Darkroom Lith Print on Foma Fomatone 132 Paper
Split tone exposure: f/4, 48 seconds + 24 seconds
Development: Not recorded :-(

Praha Nový Svět, Lith Print No. 5Lith Printing Study

Praha Nový Svět, Lith Print Study, No. 5
Black and White Darkroom Lith Print on Foma Fomatone 132 Paper
Split tone exposure: f/4, 48 seconds + 12 seconds
Development: Not recorded :-(

Darkroom: Praha Nový Svět, Lith Print No. 5Lith Printing Study

Praha Nový Svět, Lith Print Study, No. 5 - Matted Selection
Black and White Darkroom Lith Print on Foma Fomatone 132 Paper

Enjoy The Beauty That Surrounds You! #etbtsy

For more darkroom prints, please, head over to my Darkroom photo gallery.

Previously from the darkroom:

Orchard Park Train Depot in InfraredDarkroom Print Grosse Point LighthouseDarkroom Print

Chautauqua BelleDarkroom Lith Print

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Mamiya RB67Mamiya Sekor C 65mm f/4.5 Lens Dedicated to Paul, who introduced me to this wonderful Western New York gem

This photo session was primarily inspired by a need to do a technical test. I bought a new film back for the Mamiya RB67. The OEM ones I had no longer worked flawlessly and the off-brand ones do not fully integrate with all of the bells and whistles of the camera. Thus, I felt having at least one fully working one would be a good thing.

The camera takes large 7cm wide and 6cm tall pictures. The rotating back can be positioned horizontally or vertically based on the scene. From the photos below you might think I decided to capture the days photographs vertically but it is not so. They were all composed and captured horizontally but later cropped. It turned out that while the back was mechanically solid and performed as expected, it had a leak through the hinge. Lucky me thought, it only impacted a very small area directly adjacent to the hinge.

I have already bought a seal KIT and need to find the patience to sit down for a bit and install the many, many tiny strips of the light seals that the back needs to be light tight. I'll report back once completed.

Rocks, Sand, Water; Lake Erie ShoreSunrise on the Lakeshore

Rocks, Sand, Water; Lake Erie Shore
Photographed with a Mamiya RB67 camera on Ultrafine Xtreme UXF 400 black and white negative film, developed in D-23

Rocks, Water, Sky, Lake Erie ShoreSunrise on the Lakeshore

Rocks, Water, Sky, Lake Erie Shore
Photographed with a Mamiya RB67 camera on Ultrafine Xtreme UXF 400 black and white negative film, developed in D-23

Water; Lake Erie ShoreSunrise on the Lakeshore

Water; Lake Erie Shore
Photographed with a Mamiya RB67 camera on Ultrafine Xtreme UXF 400 black and white negative film, developed in D-23

I really loved what the rising sun did to the beach here. Sunrise on a beach facing north-west is not exactly the intuitive thing to do but somehow, nature always throws a wonderful surprise my way here.

Sand, Light, Shadow; Lake Erie ShoreSunrise on the Lakeshore

Residence, Orchard Park, NY
Photographed with a Mamiya RB67 camera on Ultrafine Xtreme UXF 400 black and white negative film, developed in D-23

Thanks for stopping by to check out this short Sunrise on the Lakeshore photo series.

Enjoy The Beauty That Surrounds You! #etbtsy

Do you enjoy reading my photography blog? Would you like to see more photographs from Buffalo and Western New York? Visit my Buffalo Cityscapes and Buffalo & Western New York Landscapes and enjoy! For more travel photography, my Travel Photography gallery offers an interesting mix of places all around.

MailboxesBlack and White Photography Storm over Niagara FallsBlack and White Photography Celoron Lighthouse in Black & WhiteBlack and White Photography

Lower Niagara Rapids - The CrashBlack and White Photography Lower Niagara Rapids - The SwellBlack and White Photography