Black & White on the Bog.


On Friday, 15 February 2019, during my visit with Stephen Hirsch and Denis McCabe to Bord na Mona’s operations at Lanesborough, I worked with three cameras to document operations.

My FujiFilm XT1 and Lumix LX7 were for exposing colour digital photos, while I employed a Nikon F3 to make classic 35mm black & white images.

I processed the film yesterday using custom tailored formulas.

The first roll was Ilford HP5 that I’d bought a couple of days earlier at John Gunn’s Camera on Wexford Street in Dublin. I processed this using a two stage development, starting with an extremely dilute solution of Kodak HC110 (roughly 1 part developer to 250 parts water) which used as presoak. The weak developer helps activate the chemical reaction and improves shadow detail without overdeveloping highlight areas.

The second stage of development involved Ilford Perceptol mixed 1-1 with water and heated to 71F. Based on past experience, I left the film in the developer for 12 minutes, then stop bath, 1stfixer, 2ndfixer, pre-wash, hypoclear, main wash (10 minutes) and final rinse in distilled water.

After drying, I scanned the negatives with an Epson V500 flatbed scanner and touched up the scans using Lightroom.

Stay tuned for more photos from the Bord na Mona!

Tracking the Light Posts Every Day!

4 comments on “Black & White on the Bog.

  1. My locations are largely from public roads along Bord na Mona’s lines in the greater Lanesborough area. I’ve typically worked with Ordinance Survey maps that I’ve bought at Easons in Dublin. However openstreetmap.org has on-line maps that show many of Bord na Mona’s routes. Finding the trains requires a bit of patience and luck.

  2. Tom Rochford on said:

    Brian ,
    where does one access these areas? I usually visit the area around Lanesborough each year and would love to see them up close.

  3. Anonymous on said:

    That picture from the rear, with wagon 422, and just a glimpse of the loco over the hedge, really appeals to me.

    Michael Walsh

  4. That is really cool!!!

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