The ground beneath her feet

I have been experimenting recently with a multi negative pinhole camera recently, for a workshop I'm teaching in July. I've had lots of fun with it so far and surprisingly few light leaks.

10

This was my submission for the latest Filmwasters collaboration "10". You can see the whole bunch here
http://www.filmwasters.com/collaborations/v/collaboration19/
 I recently rediscovered the old plates that I took back in July 2007
http://janetpenny.blogspot.com/2007/07/all-fingers-and-thumbs.html

It's a little bleaker than I had thought it might be and reminds me of a rain storm. Still, it's pretty indicative of how I suspect 2010 might turn out. It's going to be a tough year.

which came first

I have been putting together some desk calendars to sell at some craft fairs, one of which is called "the chicken or the egg". It has 6 chicken and 6 egg photos, one for each month.

Gum Bichromate

I have been experimenting with Gum Bichromate recently. This is the first image I have produced. The layers are Magenta, Yellow and Cyan. I have a lot to learn but I'm happy to have any results at all to show

Garlic

Fig

I'm not a big fan of figs, but I must admit that they look fantastic. This one is bound for the cyanotype heaven. In the meantime, here it is in glorious monochrome.

Cherries

Wabi fruit

I am currently reading "The Elegance of Hedgehogs" - a wonderful book - and came across the Japanese word 'wabi'
"Wabi now connotes rustic simplicity, freshness or quietness, and can be applied to both natural and human-made objects, or understated elegance. It can also refer to quirks and anomalies arising from the process of construction, which add uniqueness and elegance to the object." (from Wikipedia)
I'd like to think that I could create a series of cyanotypes along these lines, highlighting both the beauty of the natural form of fruit and of the process of cyanotypes.

Pomegranate

I'm working on some cyanotypes and really enjoying doing a little non-work related photography. My initial thought was that these shots would just be intermediate ones, a means to a cyanotype end, but I actually really like the shots in black and white too. Pomegranates are so photogenic.

Castle in the Snow

a revelation all over again

How long do I have to go without using my rollei before using it becomes a revelation again? Not long it seems. I love to run fuji acros or fuji neopan 400 through it, the film is so forgiving of my shonky light reading. I got the film tip from Susan Burnstine, whose images I love, on the one and only time I have ever met her. I've stuck with it ever since. Thanks Susan!

Happy New Year!

I hope this year brings you happiness and health.
Keep reading in 2009, with any luck there'll be lots to read about.

www.folksy.com

I have just discovered another place to sell. It's called Folksy.com and runs along the same lines as Etsy. It's very new at the moment and is still in Beta, also it's only based in the UK right now. But do check it out, here's the link to my shop
http://www.folksy.com/shops/JanetP

A passion rekindled

At the risk of doubling up on blog posts, I wanted to post this image as it is one of the only non-digital ones that I have taken recently. I took it during this week's pinhole camera workshop, which I taught at a local school. After watching the students making cameras and taking fantastic shots, I felt I needed to do it myself. I had the perfect box to use, it was small, plastic and had only one opening through which light might leak. Loaded with paper (which I rated at 12asa) and with an F-stop of 38, this image needed only 1 minute of exposure. And that was it, I'm in love with pinhole photography again. My brain is teaming with ideas about what to do with it. By the way, the small black shape in the background is one of my students, posing for her pinhole camera!

I have done so little film photography this month but lots of digital (see above). I'm hoping a French holiday will inspire and revive me. I have given up hope of ever recovering the images on my hard disk. The company who took it away have been pretty flaky about returning it to me, after I told them I didn't want to pay over £400 to retrieve my data. I have been rescanning all the important films and that has stopped me from wanting to take any more.
However, I've done some great fun portrait sessions and lots of other exciting projects and I;m beginning to feel like a proper photographer.

6 months on

It's been 6 months since I left work and time, perhaps, for a little round up of where I'm at.
To start, I have challenged myself professionally more in the past 6 months than at anytime in the previous 6 years. As a result I've done so much that I never thought I would have the courage to do and I'm proud of myself. I have produced some beautiful images too.
However, going freelance has been much harder than I thought it would be. When I was working full time I felt that all I needed was more of a chance to get my name known and the work would come rolling in. It hasn't. That's not to say I haven't hit the targets that I set myself for my first half year trading, but it's been a slog and sometimes downright depressing.
I spent a lot of time cold calling companies to no avail and chasing work that never materialised. Most of my work has come from sources much closer to home. I don't mean my Mum and Dad but through contacts from friends. Once the word gets out that you are a photographer, people tend to remember and think of you if they need something done.
I have also spread myself pretty thin, trying to work out where I wanted to take my photography. Now, I believe I have worked out the route I want to take and narrowed it down to a couple of areas to concentrate on. I might have arrived at this point a little earlier if I had not simply believed in what I do best.
So, my chosen fields of expertise are:
Events and Portraits photography
Fine Art photography and agency work
It still feels like a lot to get my head round but manageable.
So, looking ahead, I hope that in the next 6 months I can build up my work and continue to challenge myself everyday and that you guys will keep looking in on me to check my progress...

King of the terrible lizards

My external hard disk has gone kaput and I am feeling bereft. I managed to salvage the most important client images, but I am in limbo until the files are recovered for me. So, there's not a lot to post except images from my Sputnik, from our holiday in Norfolk - hopefully they'll make a good series to hang on my boys' walls.

Back to work

Hmm, it seems the summer holidays are over and not one, but both my boys are now at school. We've had a lovely summer and now it's time to set our hats towards the autumn and enjoy it.

Salt prints

My salt prints have not been quite so successful so far. Initially they are beautiful but after 'fixing' in water they fog very quickly. I have ordered some hypo (sodium thiosulphate) and will try fixing in that instead. I'm pretty paranoid about working with all these chemicals. I kit myself out with a face mask, gloves and apron and look like a surgeon, but better safe than sorry eh?