Volunteer Park Conservatory

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gordy's image archive index

A black and white to cleanse the palette from color overload. Another 30 year old 5x7 negative. I've figured out how to scan in two sections and then combine them easily, which means I can proceed with getting the 5x7 back repaired whether I get a new scanner or not. I've also been having 5x7 color urges. The Stephen Shore book helped as well as some others I'm looking at which are also color from 8x10 negatives. It's easy to resist the siren call of 8x10: expense. My 4x5 Efke 25 black and white film runs around 65 cents a sheet. The same black and white film in 8x10 would be a little over $2 a sheet. Color gets even more expensive. 4x5 runs almost $2 a sheet and 8x10 is $7 a sheet. But 5x7 is a nice in between.

5x7 is significantly larger than 4x5. Large enough to be useful for contact prints. Color 5x7 is $3 a sheet and black and white is $1 a sheet. I will definitely be using black and white for some time but eventually I will be doing some color. It's a shame that the web can't even begin to show the detail and tonality in these negatives.