Well I did say I was going to be away this week, but as usual, my plans changed. So while I'm stuck at my computer today, I thought I'd upload this portrait.

Shot in Pushkar, a sacred city in Rajasthan, in January of this year, I made a black and white print of it this week which I felt was very beautiful. So this spurred me onto loading the negative into my trusty Coolscan 9000 to see what it looked like in colour. It was a complete shock to see all those vibrant colours in the lady's clothing. Such a different interpretation from a black and white print. If I can manage it at some point, I'd love to scan the black and white print - there's hints of silver in the highlights which I feel are not possible with inkjet prints.

I feel I'm moving into the realms of traditional black and white printing. There's something organic about this process and many friends who have seen the results so far have commented that there's 'something special about a real black and white print'. I agree.

Shot on 645 Contax with 80mm lens at f4, it has a nice shalow depth of field - the background is nicely isolated. I love Portra film, it does tend to have a warm tone to it - slightly reddish, but hey - that's the beauty of film, each one has its own character and it would be folly to fight it.