The Birdie
Boutique, an old Craftsman Style bungalow turned into a bird pet store, in Durham, North
Carolina. When first moving to Durham, my fiancée mistook the (now
removed) sign on the front saying "Birdie Boutique" to read "Bridal
Boutique". She insisted on going in - and was shocked to discover
parrots, not bridal supplies! The photo was taken in December
of 2015 with a Minolta X-570 35 mm SLR equipped with a 50 mm f/1.7 Minolta MD lens
on Ilford FP4+ film. The negative was enlarged optically with a
Beseler 23CIIXL enlarger and a 50 mm f/2.8 Schneider Componon-S lens on Ilford
Multigrade FB Classic Double Weight Fiber Base silver gelatin photo
paper. Processing was done archivally using Kodak chemistry, with a
final toning with Kodak Rapid Selenium Toner, treated with hypo clearing
agent, and washed in an archival washer.