I got an email from these guys who are just starting up a bussiness supplying quality photo doodads...

There first few offereings look really nice (I guess they are literally JUST getting going).

If they ahve more along these lines it could be nice stuff (I'm alrady thinking of getting their contact printing frame).

The second email had jpegs attached - if you want to see the goods, I'd suggest people email them.

This isn't a for sale add either!

(no link to the business - just think it looks worth supporting):

Fine Art Photo Supply is a new company in Rochester, NY. Much like the old Zone VI Studios, we are a company marketing photographic merchandise and we are photographers ourselves. I have been involved in photography since 1972 (just after I quit my high school basketball team!); and my wife Vicki, who handles the administrative end of the business, has done lots of color commercial photography: 2 books, and over a dozen magazine articles (including 4 covers).

Back when I started photography, there was no such thing as "Fine Art Photography". Now, with the advent of digital photography, and the ease at which it can handle informational photography - advertising, newspaper, commercial, etc - the niche of the silver image photographer is a much larger part of the "traditional" market. That is, there are now photographers who practice traditional methods because they prefer that process, much like stone lithographic printmakers and oil painters - the Fine Art Photographer. This is the market we will serve.

Fred Picker was an influence on my life and work, mostly because I felt he truly understood what photographers do, think, and feel. His company seemed to be the only institution devoted to a serious group of photographers who were dedicated to fine work. Not only were the products special, there were the wonderful newsletters, which I think discussed serious black and white photography in a knowing and true manner. Through Fred Picker, I saw photography as not just a serious study, but almost as a religion. Nothing but the most absolute commitment would do. I thank him for that.

My experience with big photographic companies is that they sometimes sell products they don't have much practical experience in using. Our wonderful neighbor, Eastman Kodak, can quote me all sorts of scientific information on any of the many fine products they sell; but it's all laboratory data. They can't tell me how to use HC-110 as a compensating developer, or in a practical sense if hardening fixer inhibits wash time, or even what a proper wash is. They can't tell you about shadow or high value detail, or the "atmosphere" of a certain film and developer combination. A favorite answer to many of my questions seems to be, "we have no data for that." Please don't misunderstand; Kodak makes some marvelous products, and their quality control is without peer. They simply aren't photographers. They are manufacturers.

Picker's company was unique in that it was run by people who really understood how photographic materials worked - how to get the best out of them for the most expressive results. He was a very serious, practicing photographer, so it was easy to trust what he said about the processes involved: washing prints, printing methods and products, camera and lens choice, exposure and development, etc.

This is what we intend to do at Fine Art Photo Supply as well. For serious photographers we will make serious products. We will also make available practical information on photographic processes and procedures, and if we don't know it we'll find it out; not laboratoryspeak and tech-talk, but usable information.

Thanks,

Anthony Guidice

If you would like us to E-mail you some photographs and information about our initial products, please contact us at lakewwx@frontiernet.net (the company is so new, we're using our home e-mail for now).

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Thank you for your response!

In addition to these items, we are also working on photo chemicals - Print developer and a very unique Fixer; the first Exposure Records that document placing the high value as high as possible; Vicki found a great design for a focusing cloth that really keeps the light out - we are looking into a way to make that too... if you have any ideas about products you'd like to see or have us make - tell us!

I'm Anthony Guidice, my wife is Vicki. We are here if you'd like to call 9am - 6pm Eastern Time. My daughter Sarah answers the telephone sometimes too. Give us your mailing address and we'll send you a newsletter once they are printed (yes, very much like Zone VI!).

Telephone - 585/865-4793

We'd like Fine Art Photo Supply to be your company too.

Anthony

WaterSaver Print Washer

I’ve used this print washer in my own darkrooms since 1982. I must have tried all the washers on the market at one time or another—Patterson, Zone VI, Darkroom Aids, at RIT we even had an old East Street Gallery Washer! What I found out about print washers was true for all of them.

Prints need time and water to wash well. Not bubbles, jets of water, directional feed, drainage from the bottom of the tank, or even water exchange.

I made the original WaterSaver Washer because I found that a 1 hour and 15 minute wash—with the water changed once - achieved an archival wash. I sold the other washers, which used too much water, and just used this one.

With the WaterSaver, you mark the time after the last print of your printing session is inserted. One half-hour later, you exchange the water in the tank for fresh water. You run the siphon while the tank fills at the same rate. You need to watch it to keep the rate steady—but it only takes 10 minutes. In another ½ hour or so, the prints are archivally washed. These are the exact results achieved in my darkroom with 75 degree water (the same water Kodak uses!). You’ll need to test for your own conditions, but it should be somewhere around this time.

Tests show that even without any water exchange, an archival wash is achieved in about 2½-3 hours.

Hypo needs to "leech" or soak—out of prints. A violent rush of water, shaking and jerking, bubbles, etc. won’t help. Nor will draining the water from the bottom of the tank (although that’s what the WaterSaver Washer does). HT-2 applied to test prints show the same result at the top, middle and bottom.

Won’t any archival washer do this? Yes. But ours is less expensive and uses less water. The kit includes Plexiglas separators, separator guides and siphon hose all ready for installation. You supply the tank. Any regular 10-gallon aquarium (fish tank) works beautifully. Doing this saves you money. The discount stores and Pet Supply houses can sell it to you for much less than we can (We’d have to warehouse it, pack it, etc). I found one in Wal-Mart for less than $9.00. This tank is better anyway—it’s made of glass, not Plexiglas that can scratch. You can contact us if you have trouble finding one, but you won’t. They’re everywhere. It holds 24-8x10 or 12-11x14 prints. The cost for the kit parts from Fine Art Photo Supply is $123.90 plus $9.00 for shipping.

Save money, and have a beautiful looking machine to wash your prints, and use less water doing it.*

Water Saver Washer (WSW-1)…………………..$123.90

Please add $9 for shipping.

NY State residents add 8% sales tax.

We also have a 5x7 model available for 5x7 sheet film & 5x7 prints. Call or e-mail for details

*about 20 gallons. The Cascade washer is said to use less. Prints fixed in Kodak Fixer (Sodium Thiosulfate, hardening) will take longer to wash in any washer.

Kustom Contact Print Frame

I think this is the best contact print frame on the market. This design evolved after several prototypes. It is beautiful and works effortlessly.

The frame is made of solid walnut with a natural oil finish. The corners are butted and spline jointed which is much stronger construction than the miter joint, which can slip. I think it looks nicer too.

The first prototype used steam bent wooden springs. The final design uses laminated wood springs made of beech. Laminated springs, unlike steam bent, hold their "spring" indefinitely. Wood won’t splinter the channels in the frame like metal springs will, and are a pleasure to use.

These contact print frames are over-sized for plenty of extra glass surface even when printing an 8x10 negative. The deep finger holes let you open the piano-hinged back, and the platen is faced with extra thick felt. The wood springs allow plenty of even pressure.

Kustom Contact Print Frame (KPF-1)............$140.00

Please add $9 for shipping.

NY State residents add 8% sales tax.

Fine Art Photo Tacking Iron

This tacking iron has a less-expensive mechanical thermostat rather than an electronic thermostat, which I think is redundant. I’ve been using a prototype of this tacking iron for a year now and it has performed flawlessly.

Unlike our more expensive competitor’s tool, the tip of our tacking iron is tapered to slip easily between the print and the dry mount tissue. The heated iron – the business end - is Teflon coated, and the handle is made of wood.

Fine Art Photo Tacking Iron (TI-1)……….$26.00

Please add $6.00 for shipping

N.Y.S. residents please add 8% sales tax

-- Tim Atherton (tim@KairosPhoto.com), May 25, 2002

Answers

I just wanted to point out that I talk to the guys down the street at Professional Imaging (Kodak) all the time, and they are all really good guys - Pete, Kevin, Bruce, Tom; I'm sure they'd tell you I drive them crazy asking for answers they don't have. With so many products having so many different properties, I imagine it's impossible for the Kodak folks to give information other than lab data they have. What are they supposed to say - we prefer this film, or this developer, or this paper? They can't. They will tell you it's best to test and find which product you prefer. If I sound a little too critical of them, I apologize for that. A good fellow photographer who works there, wrote this morning and pointed that out.

I've used Kodak stuff since the early 1970's and have never had a problem. They are a first rate company with first rate brains and I'm proud to have them in my town.

Now if I can only get a straight answer out of them...

Just kidding!!! == Anthony

-- Anthony Guidice (Lakewwx@frontiernet.net), May 26, 2002.

Fine Art Photo Supply now has it's own email address: FineArtPhotoSupply@frontiernet.net. Website & Newsletter are in progress!! Email us if you have anything specifically you are looking for. We are developing some new products now, but would love input from Large (or other) Format users.

-- Vicki Guidice (FineArtPhotoSupply@frontiernet.net), May 30, 2002.