Fahrenheit 451, Digital Test

The title of Ray Bradbury's novel 'Fahrenheit 451' (1954) comes from the fact that paper burns at a temperature of 451 fahrenheit. In his story books are banned by the state and 'firemen' are employed to seek out and burn all remaining books. Its a fantastic story and is the starting point for a new series of photos about fire.

Below are images of some old test prints stuck onto a rough concrete wall and set on fire. What I find fascinating is the combination of the wall surface, the image on the photo, the bubbling of the resin coated paper and the pattern of the flames. These shots were made with a digital camera but I am now making similar shots on film so I can make some prints (on the same resin coated paper).

Drainage Tunnel

As part of the construction works for the AVE high speed train around my home are a series of new drainage tunnels. I took these shoots before they are buried forever.

The Adventure of the Empty House

Close to our home is an empty farm house. Its simplicity always fascinates me so I took some photos.

Ruin On The Way to 'El Torcal'

The old factory building has been abandonded for some time. On the day I decided to go out and shoot there were near hurricane force winds blowing. I decided not to enter the building but just took some photos through the windows. Below is one of the interior shots and a contact sheet still to be printed up.

Kittens Arrive At La Chacona

Extreme Darkroom Tricks

The photo above was shot from the base of the structure with the camera tilted up. This causes the vertical lines to converge towards the top of the negative. Perspective correction, or 'keystone' correction, was done during printing by tilting the baseboard under the enlarger. This is a normal darkroom trick, a small aperture is used to keep all of the print in focus. However is this case the tilt of the board was extreme, about 45º. I used the enlarger lens stopped down to f32 and remarkable the print was in focus. This was a 18cm x 18cm print. I am curious if this will work at a larger size!

The same structure photographed from the hill with the camera set horizontal.

More animal remains in another part of the building complex.

Goats, more from the Canon 35mm SLR

Watering the Fields At 'La Chacona'

Our neighbour, farmer Antonio, has just got the watering system going in the fields around our house in Antequera: