Ashley Fletcher

  5/25/21 Tuesday Written at 4:00pm Today was the last day to work on senior project and I spent it well. I arrived at school at 8:10am and worked until 10:55am where I left for a self-defense senior seminar. In that amount of time, I worked in the darkroom. I first exchanged the chemicals so everything would be fresh to use for the day. Shortly after I looked at my negatives and decided what ones I wanted to develop. I got to work in the darkroom printing with the enlarger and developing. I also enjoyed a nice treat and drive from my advisor Jill. I returned to work at 11:55am and worked until 4:00pm totaling 6.83 hours for the day. The second half of the day I focused on getting things ready to present for tomorrow. I picked out the photos that I want to present at Express Fest and other little photos to display. I also matted the photographs so they would like presentable.

  5/24/21 Monday Written at 2:20pm I got to work in the darkroom at 8:00am and worked continuously until 11:25am where I had to leave for a senior seminar. I returned back to Slocumb at 12:50pm and ended the day at 2:15pm. Therefore, I spent 4.84 hours on my senior project today. When I was working, I was in the darkroom developing my prints. I was very efficient today and was able to get a lot of work done. One of my goals for senior project was to have at least three prints to share for Wednesday. I have already completed this goal. As of today, I have four prints ready to display. Tomorrow I hope to see how many more prints I will be able to finish. Additionally, I will need to frame my work to have it ready for display on Wednesday.

  5/23/21 Sunday Weekly Reflection Written at 6:30pm I have made a lot of progress on my black & white photography senior project this week. This past week I have focused a lot of my efforts in the darkroom. In the darkroom, I used an enlarger and chemicals to create prints of my negatives. This week I have learned that creating a final print can be a long process. For example, I worked for several hours on my bicycle wheel print. It takes a lot of time because the editing of the image can only be done prior to the developing process. Therefore, if I see something I want to fix or change I have to redo the print. Many of my negatives had a lot of gray space so I had to use filters in the enlarger to try and minimize the gray areas. This also took time because I had to play around with what filter to use as well as how much time to use. Before I decide on an amount of time to use on an image I have to do test strips. When I change filters I have to redo the test strips because the

  5/22/21 Saturday Written at 10:00pm Today was a short day for my senior project. I got to Slocumb at 9:30am and stopped working at 11:15am for a total of 1.75 hours. Today I focused my work in the darkroom. I played around with different frames to try and see which one I like the most. Additionally, I used a lot of different color filters today in the enlarger. The goal of the filter is to try and erase the gray areas in the print. I focused a lot on an image of leaves today and tested different time settings and filters. On Monday, I plan to finalize another photo to be able to present. I uploaded an image on the drying rack that I use after my photos go through the developing process.

  5/21/21 Friday Written at 8:45pm I starting working on my senior project at 7:55am and stopped for lunch at 11:15am. This morning I remade the chemicals for the darkroom and took out the old chemicals. I spent a lot of time working on little details today. The majority of my time spent this morning was working on the bike wheel frame. I played with different time settings and filters. I also burned and dodged the image which is a technique used when more light is needed in a particular area and not the frame as a whole. I now have an image of the bike wheel that is at its final state, I will have to frame it in the near future. After lunch, I returned to work at 11:50am and packed up for the day at 2:00pm. After lunch, I continued my work in the darkroom and finalized a leaf frame I was working on. Overall, I spent 5.5 hours today on my senior project.

  5/20/21 Thursday Written at 9:30pm I began my work today at 8:00am and got right to work in the darkroom. I worked more on the leaf frame and almost got it ready to present. There are still a few dust particles that I am going to get off of it. I also worked on another frame of the Proctor pond and Slocumb in the background. I paused my work at 10:50am to go to the senior project mandatory seminar. Once that ended, I returned back to work at 12:30pm and worked up until 2:30pm and totaled 4.83 hours worked for the day. After the break, I started to work on a frame that focuses on a bicycle tire again a texted background. I believe this shot will make a good final product because the details on the bike are very noticeable. Tomorrow I plan to work more in the darkroom and do the final touches on some of the images that I will present in the future. I have included a picture of the bike test strip I was working on.

  5/19/21 Wednesday Written at 4:17pm Today I arrived at school at 8:55am and worked until 11:05 for a lunch break and returned back to work at 11:25am. In that time I cut my film that was hanging into sections. I then placed those sections into a clear sheet which is designed for negatives. Once all the film sections have been places in the sheets I got the lightbox set up. I looked at the negatives through the lightbox to get an idea of which frames I liked. I then add a red mark with a sharpie to the frames I like. I have added a picture down below which shows the negatives and the red mark. After, I made the chemicals in the darkroom so I would be able to work in there. Today I focused on a frame I had of leaves. I did a bunch of test strips today and even added a color filter in the enlarger. Tomorrow I plan to work more on the leaf frame and possibly work on another frame.

  5/18/21 Tuesday Written at 8:00pm Today was a very productive day. I got to work on my senior project at 8:55 am and worked until 11:15 am where I took a break for lunch. I then returned back to work at 12:00 pm and finished my work at 2:30 pm. This morning I was able to roll my film. I did this successfully on the first try. I then developed the roll film with the new chemicals. My negatives came out successful today which is very good news considering the previous ones did not work. I attached images below of what the negatives look like drying. This means that I will be able to work in the darkroom tomorrow. After one roll was able to develop I knew that I wanted to develop more pictures while the chemicals were working. I had a roll with some pictures on it from when my camera broke I decided to roll and develop that film as well. So now I have a fully developed film of 36 photos and some extras. Today has been a huge success and I am excited to get working in the darkroom tomorr

  5/17/21 Monday Written at 1:45pm Today I arrived at school at 8:10am and was eager to develop my two films. Sadly again today my films both came out transparent. I have attached an image down below to show how the films looked after the developing process was not successful. I was surprised to see that the films did not turn up again since there were no chemical stains on the films. This most likely means that there is something wrong with the chemicals themselves. Kate (my mentor) is going to play with the chemicals and have them ready for me to try again tomorrow. I am very grateful that Kate is willing to take the time to do this. Since my rolls of film did not show up I had to take more pictures, which is what I spent the afternoon doing. I stopped at 12:35pm for a break and returned to work at 1:00pm. I used up all the pictures in my film and unloaded the film from my camera. I put away my supplies and ended the day at 2:00pm and worked for a total of 5.42 hours. Tomorrow I am h

  Weekly Reflection #1 5/16/21 Sunday Written at 8:55 pm I have had a lot of fun this past week working on my Black & White Photography. This past week I have already worked for 27.91 hours toward my senior project. I have taken many pictures this week both at home and on Proctor’s campus. Additionally, I have developed a roll of film. However, the developing process did not go as planned. Once I was done with the process the roll of film was transparent, meaning it could not be used in the darkroom. This was a little setback, but it also motivates me to do better on the next roll of film I develop. I plan to develop two rolls of film tomorrow (Monday) and I am going to be extra careful that I do the procedure correctly so the negatives work this time. Moreover, the lens on the original camera I was working with broke. I was able to overcome this challenge by switching it for a different film camera. Overall this week, I have loved what I have been working on. I have enjoyed taki

  5/15/21 Saturday Written at 10:05 pm Today I actually took a day off from senior project. I figured it would not make sense for me to go to school to work on my project. I had a lacrosse game today and I had to be ready at noon. Therefore, I decided that I would not have a lot of time to work on my project before I had to get ready for the game. Since I took today off I do plan to work tomorrow (Sunday). I grabbed my film camera from school so I would be able to take pictures from home. I am also taking pictures at home to have a change of scenery from the Proctor landscape. I look forward to getting back into my photography project tomorrow.

  5/14/21 Friday Written at 2:05 pm I got to work today at 8:00am and started with taking more photos. I got a new camera today because the lens on the camera I was using broke. I took pictures all morning and completed another roll of film. At 12:35 I took a lunch break and returned to work at 1:15. Today I did not feel the need to practice rolling film. Instead, I went right into rolling and actually was able to roll two films in a short amount of time. I put the films together in a large canaster because I hope to develop them together for a speedier process. I ended the day at 2:20pm which means I worked for 5.66 hours today. I have attached an image of my new camera down below.

  5/13/2 Thursday Written at 7:42pm I arrived at school today at 8:45 am to begin my Black & White Photography. Today, I ended my work at 2:15pm and completed 5.5 hours today. In the morning, I developed my film that I rolled the previous day. Unfortunately, my negatives did not show up once I was done with the developing process. I was sad but this did not stop me from continuing my work for the rest of the day. I still had a few clips of film left in my camera and decided to go outside and take pictures. I mostly took pictures of close-up plants and flowers but I also took a few portraits of people. Once I used all of my film I wound it and took it out of the camera and put in a new roll of film. I additionally practiced rolling film in the dark so I would be ready to roll my film that I took pictures on.

  5/12/21 Wednesday Written at 6:50 pm Today I enjoyed a sleep-in and got to work at 9:00 am and finished the day at 12:45 for a total of 3.75 hours. I did not complete as many hours today since I had to end earlier for my Global Citizenship Concentration exit meeting. Today I did more practice rolling film in the dark. Once I was confident with my final product I rolled the film that was in camera. I did not take the next step in developing the film with the chemicals because the chemicals need to be changed. Since I could not develop the film I decided to take more pictures with the film I placed in the camera. I made sure to not take all the pictures I have in storage with my camera because I wanted to take more pictures of my family when I got home. I have attached an image of what camera I am using down below. I am looking forward to tomorrow when I can start to develop my film.

  5/11/2l Tuesday Today I started my senior project work at 8:00 am and finished at 2:15 pm for a total of 6 hours and 15 minutes today. I finished all the film on my camera by taking more pictures. I wound up the film that was in the camera to remove it. I removed the film and put it away into my locker. Before I go ahead and roll the film with pictures on it I wanted to practice a couple of times. The rolling process takes place in the dark since the film cannot be exposed to light prior to chemicals. I practiced with different film many times in the dark. The rolling of film is crucial to how the negatives turn out. I have to make sure there are no tears or wrinkles in the film. Since I haven’t practiced this skill in a while I wanted to make sure that I have mastered it before I move onto the film from my camera. I also loaded a new roll of film into my camera for future use. Once I finish rolling the film from my camera I have to mix chemicals together and then do a procedure. T

  5/10/21 Today I got a late start to working on my senior project since I got my second dose of the vaccine. I arrived at school to work on my project at 10:00 am and ended the day at 2:15 pm to have a total of 4 hours and 15 minutes on my project for the day. I accomplished a lot in only one day. I began with picking out a film camera and making sure all the functions worked. I also got all the other supplies I need for the project, like a folder for my negatives and lots of film. I rolled the film into the camera and started taking pictures. I took a variety of pictures today from flowers to portraits, to bubbles. I used most of my film and have only a few pictures left to take for tomorrow. I am looking forward to taking more pictures tomorrow and rolling my film to get it ready for the chemicals.