{"id":25689,"date":"2026-01-04T15:04:36","date_gmt":"2026-01-04T15:04:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fourtoes.co.uk\/iblog\/?p=25689"},"modified":"2026-01-04T15:04:41","modified_gmt":"2026-01-04T15:04:41","slug":"first-of-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fourtoes.co.uk\/iblog\/first-of-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"First of 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I’ve slowly been moving some photography kit to Portugal. We usually just take under seat carry on bags but this time I booked hold luggage and squeezed in a wooden Berlebach tripod. Kindly gifted to me by Shane Balkowitch from the charity auction at last years UK Collodion weekend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s perfect for the Sinar 5×4 camera I brought out last time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In between heavy downpours over the Chistmas holidays I shot a few sheets of Fomapan 400. Processed in the Stearman Press SP445 tank.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Foma chemistry, I bought from Niobo<\/a> in Olhao, last year is still working fine having been kept in the fridge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A quick drying line in the kitchen. There were a couple of schoolboy errors on two sheets, forgetting to close the shutter etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The only paper for cyanotypes was this old pad of Bockingford. The cyanotype chems soaked right in, and the tooth of the paper was far too textuted for my liking. Losing some detail in its roughness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A six minute and a ten minute exposure. Yesterday was stormy and overcast. Couldn’t get anywhere close even with an hour long exposure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A 30 minute hot instant coffee toning without any bleaching.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A digital inversion of the same 5×4 sheet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

On the list for March is a contact printing frame and some UV led lights to make an exposure unit ready for next winter. I don’t think I’d fit a darkroom enlarger in my luggage. And second hand kit in Southern Portugal seems pretty scarce <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’ve slowly been moving some photography kit to Portugal. We usually just take under seat carry on bags but this time I booked hold luggage and squeezed in a wooden Berlebach tripod. Kindly gifted to me by Shane Balkowitch from the charity auction at last years UK Collodion weekend. It’s perfect for the Sinar 5×4...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25698,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[19,14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25689","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alternate-processes","category-film"],"yoast_head":"\nFirst of 2026 - FOURTOES<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/fourtoes.co.uk\/iblog\/first-of-2026\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"First of 2026 - FOURTOES\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I’ve slowly been moving some photography kit to Portugal. 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