Photographs by Frank

17 April 2021

Tonight’s Fortune / New Salted-Paper Prints

Simplicity of character is the natural result of profound thought.

— Found in a fortune cookie this evening.

The ‘fortunes’ usually found in Chinese restaurant fortune cookies usually leave much to be desired. However, this one seems worth sharing.

Early spring (and that is stretching it… we had eight inches of snow yesterday) is tough photographically. The light is often drab, as is the landscape. Thus making new photographs is hit-or-miss.

However, I have been staying busy experimenting with salt-paper printing. I’ve been trying different types of subjects and different papers.

The prints shown below were made on three different papers. Artistico Hot Press is a medium weight (200 gsm) very traditional water color paper; it is just a little bit warm. Crane’s Cover is a moderately heavy (240 gsm) paper that is often used for alternative process printing; it is a fairly warm paper. Platinum Rag is a heavy (300 gsm) paper made specifically for alternative process printing (especially platinum printing, as the name suggests); it is pure white. All of these papers have very smooth surfaces.

Each paper has its idiosyncrasies when it comes to coating and exposure. It is amazing to me how different the same negative can look when printed on two different papers. This is all part of the fun!

Here are a few salted-paper prints made in the past few days…

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24 May 2010

Horseshoe Crabs, et al. at Wellfleet Bay Audubon Sanctuary

Filed under: Audubon Sanctuaries,Birds,Wildlife — Tags: , , — Frank @ 2:00 PM

On the high tides of the new and full moons in spring, horseshoe crabs turn to mating. Thus when mid-May rolls around in New England, my thoughts turn to horseshoe crabs… hey I can’t help it it is just the way my mind works

All of this probably has something to do with my youth, profitably spent on the beaches of Long Island Sound during Jacques Cousteau’s  heyday. But I digress!

About a week ago (Sunday, 16 May 2010 to be exact),  Joan and I made our second annual trip to the Wellfleet Bay Mass Audubon Sanctuary in Wellfleet, MA (on Cape Cod) in search of horseshoe crabs and whatever else the day might bring. (Wildlife photographers learn quickly not to expect anything and to be prepared for everything.)

The horseshoe crabs were there and actively mating… we probably saw about a dozen mating pairs and twice that many lone males.

This four shot sequence (taken over about 4 min) shows the process. The larger female tows the male around. At the water line (of the highest tides of the month), the female digs into the sand (first image), deposits her eggs (second image) and drags the male through the nest (third image) to fertilize them. The pair then heads back to open water (last image).

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Sometimes, large numbers of shore birds attracted to feast on the eggs, but not this time. However, we did see a few small birds on the beach including an endangered piping plover and a pair of least sandpipers.

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We also had great fun watching (and photographing ) the fiddler crabs.

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