Gaskin Bay

So I’m driving through the Florida Everglades (Does anyone else have everglades?) and I catch a glimpse of a sign that says something ‘gallery’ at a little hole in the wall pull off on old US Highway 41.  I hit the brakes and backup so I can pull into the parking lot. When I get parked I see the sign said ‘Clyde Butcher Photography Gallery‘.  I go inside and its a very nice gallery 20 minutes or so south of Naples. On the wall are these huge black and white prints. I mean huge as in 3 feet by 5 feet huge or more. How the heck is he getting this incredible tonal range and sharpness? He uses an 8 x 10 inch view camera. He also uses 4 x 5 and a panorama camera with a negative plate somewhere around 10 x 20 inch. Nobody uses film anymore. Except this guy and maybe a handful of others. Traditional film and photo paper are the analog response to digital photography. Kind of like the way vinyl records hold on with audiophiles against the onslaught of compact discs. Analog has a range digital simply can’t match. I don’t know what Clyde has available to him in the way of film,  paper and developers anymore. ASA 32 FX film, HC110 developer and certain Ilford photo papers could produce some awesome results. I have no idea what tools are left to use in this digital world. But its great to see.

Ochopee