On a stroll around a local antiques market, I happened upon this old air pressure gauge against a rustic old petrol sign outside of a motorcycle museum. A depiction of a bygone era of motoring.
The photo was shot on HP5 film at box speed of 400 ASA. Developed in Xtol and printed on Ilford RC Pearl paper.
After a couple of test strips, I printed the first image (bottom). I felt there was more to bring out in the old sign behind so printed a second time and exposed the background for an extra 5 seconds. As you can see, there is much more detail this time but I feel that the pressure gauge now gets slightly lost as doesn’t stand out enough.
So, now that both prints are dry, I think I prefer the version without the burnt in background. Although I really like the grunge and drama of the darker one, the pressure gauge is the main focal point and I prefer it to not get lost in the image.
Maybe I could produce another print at some point that is somewhere in between. Watch this space…
The Final Print
Thank you for reading this post. I hope you enjoyed it and I would love to hear from you in the comments below.
The Silver Skeleton 
Nice work, A few times I have printed several versions of a darkroom print to try to get just the look I want; then when they are dry I can’t tell the difference between them!
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Ha! Yes I have been there too. Thanks for checking the article out Kevin
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