“It’s not about the destination, it’s about the journey”

A well used phrase of which if you will allow me a small indulgence of adding one word to make the rest of this post make some kind of sense.

It’s not about the destination, it’s also about the journey

I have started my 2023 series of “Photographic Journals”, photo walks, rides and drives, sharing any points of interest i see on the journey before fully capturing the destination.

Journal number one is titled “The Walk To Church”.

Note: As of 28/12/2022 it is not finished yet but will be end Jan 2023.

This is a great starting journal for me as it is one I can repeat as often as I need, to fix any tech or photographic issues I may have, and have had detail next, as its a 2 mile or so walk from my house to our church on the hill.

I have photographed this often as it is so picturesque so an obvious first destination subject for me.

Project Progress Timeline
I have created this timeline to share with you the key points that are, as I am still creating this project as of Jan 2023, key moments in making this project happen. I hope in sharing my successes and failures it might be helpful to someone who is on their own photographic project creation adventure.

22/12/22 : Shot 8 rolls of Tri-X 400
24/12/22 : Developed the rolls but had fixing and washing failure leaving very purple negatives
04/01/23: Purple negative issue fixed by developing 4 more rolls of Tri-X 400 using correct 1:4 strength of Ilford Rapid Fixer.
14/01/23: Tested the good negatives by enlarging and printing them using E-72 paper developer which I am happy to say worked very well and will be going forward with this for my projects.
19/01/23: The prints session above showed weaknesses in my negatives that I want to fix in camera so went back the the church with some new to me spot metering knowledge and shot 6 rolls, 1 in Ektar 100 colour film.
21/01/23: Developed the rolls using Barry Thornton’s 2 Bath and for me the Kentmere 400 and 100 rolls came out with the feel I am looking for.

Found a light leak In one of my SQ backs (NOW FIXED 24/01/23) so getting them both checked over. Going back one more time with rolls of Kentmere 100 & 400 120 & my Bronica ETRSi 645 to do some final test shots.

24/01/23: Used a roll of Tri-X 400 to test my light meter skills as I was not happy with the overall tones of my negatives. Note, I am aiming to make my negatives “correct in camera” to make printing via my enlarger easier and to give a wide range of tones in the images. A bit like a RAW file in digital. I am pleased to say that my test, indoors because it was freezing cold out, was a success and once I confirm my findings at the church using the rolls of Kentmere 120 film, I will make a full post on my “new to me” light metering technique.
31/01/23: Went to the Church with a roll each of Kentmere 100 & 400 in 120. Used my Bronica SQa, Sekonic L-558 Light meter & along with my new found light meter skills put into practice hyper focal distance focusing. Detailed post with samples is here.

Project is still ongoing and once finished the results will be posted here.

I wish you a very happy new years and pray that 2023 brings you all that you desire.

DC x