Kirkdale is a small hamlet near kirkbymoorside which has a beautiful Anglo-Saxon church called St. Gregory’s Minster.

St Gregory’s Minster, Kirkdale, North Yorkshire

I have photographed around there a few times as the subject of one of my projects – Herbert Read – is buried in the churchyard there. I wanted to try my 250mm Tessar lens out on the 10×8 and today was a good opportunity. I set off about 8.30 and was there by 9. I parked up and carried my bags and tripod into the churchyard and set up the camera. It seemed to all fall into place quite easily – always a good sign. In fact where I put the tripod down was exactly the right place to compose the shot. I was using paper negatives again. I measured the exposure at ISO 6 at f22 at 8 seconds in the bright sunshine and 15sec in the shade so decided to settle on 8! At least 4 people – dog walkers – stopped and chatted about the camera and Mr. Brown stopped to chat about the state of the world – we touched on everything from poisoning the lands and rivers to kids today thinking they knew it all! I managed to explain I didn’t have long to go and eventually managed a couple of exposures. 

I then decided to go into the church and, again, did a couple of exposures. They took 4 minutes at f22 iso 6. The problem in the church was the contrast – deep shadows and bright light coming through the windows. I didn’t hold out much hope for those exposures but we’ll see! 

Once finished I came home and processed the paper negatives. One thing I do like is the easiness of processing them. I measured out 50ml of dev to 100ml of water and went to work under the red safelight. I did the interior negatives first and as I thought the contrast was too much. A preflashed paper may have helped. The exterior shots, though, look very promising. Can’t wait to print those. 

A great morning out and a lot to like about paper negatives.