Took this shot of Mulcahy Park, before joining the Captain Cook Jaycees and running the fireworks show in 1985. Taken from a tripod to 35mm film and under exposed a little to help boost the contrast. It also helps that some cloud cover had set-in just before the show started. #Anchorage #4thofJuly

This is my tribute to Jackie Whedbee who passed away from a heart attack last week. Took the original B&W at a halloween party in 1977?, then posterized it to litho-film in 1982?. I finally ‘colorize’ the digital file, today. A true ‘free spirit’ if there ever was one.

Hadn’t done this in 50 years. 12 rolls of 35mm & 4x 120 rolls. 5 passes through the same C-41 chemistry using a 1L tank. I finally got to use the drying cabinet I built from 1” square tube and 1/4” PVC. Even has a little biscuit fan and vents to keep the air moving.

I took this my last winter of 2008/2009 in Willow, Alaska. I lived there for just a few months. Exposure was 30 minutes from an Olympus OM1 35mm SLR with a 24mm Vivitar Series 1 lens, on tripod. Temp was a frosty 15ºF. I was sitting in a lawn chair, in my Alyeska parka and Bunny boots. Toasty!!

A close-up view of BAOHONG watercolor paper I tested with highlighters and a Sharpie. Since no brighteners were used, it has a slight cream color. The outside of the roll has a very fine texture with very little tooth, and no tooth to the inside. I may experiment with coating both sides in one pass.

Another critical component of the Alt-Photo print processes is watercolor paper. I recently acquired two rolls of BAOHONG hot pressed, 100% cotton, acid-free, 300gsm watercolor paper via TEMU. Since I’m new to gelatin sizing, I’ll use this to practice coating paper using a Meyer rod.

Like this swipe from a 100 year old dictionary...

I started using ‘IPSO FACTO’ as my studio name back in about 1975 after having picked it out of a dictionary at random. I still have an old state of Alaska business license from the same time period. My current Wordpress website is based on a ‘theme’ I created with Artisteer. ipsofactophoto.com

With this last Daniel Smith acquisition, my pigment collection now totals 96, of which 45 are raw colors in powder form. Yea, there are a few duplicates, but I now have a full complement of colorfast, single value colors, ranging from transparent to opaque. My crayon box is full!

1930 Devoe Academic Water Colors brochure with front panel view and inside description with line drawings. Glasses are for scale.

This brochure from Devoe Academic Water Colors dates to 1930. I’m impressed by the fact that many of the sample watercolors are still quite vivid, 95 years later. Watercolors like these are fundamental to the Alt-Photo print process. I recently added 18 Daniel Smith watercolors to my color range.

Things I regret- Running over the garden hoe in the driveway and punching a hole in the RAV 4’s oil pan. $900 fix. Yesterday.

Websites I don’t keep up with- RobertosPuertoRico.com Created this PR Blog in an effort to feature interesting venues outside of Old San Juan. It has a ton of photos, some maps and a few YouTube vids. As well as this map I made, traced from a 1952 USGS map. There’s some gardening stuff too!

My shot of an old Puerto Rican roadhouse ruin in Santa Isabel. It’s no longer standing. It was identical to the many other small roadhouses that cover the island and built well before the Spanish/American War of 1898. This toned, B&W version is a digital render, but no ‘AI’ enhancements were used.