I found a couple of negatives I shot 2 years ago stashed in a box of rejects. I may have initially thought these negatives too contrasty or improperly processed. However in the darkroom I was able to pull out the details using split grade printing and a bit more skill than I had in the past. I ended up using Grade #00 and #2 contrast filters with most of the work being done with the #00 low contrast filter. The exposures under the enlarger were 1:15 long with filter #00 and 15-30 seconds with #2 filter. Dodging some areas with #2 and burning in at top of images due to flare for an additional 15seconds with the #00 filter. The water on the lower falls required the long times while the foliage needed almost none. I did not record my EVs for this shot but I am betting there was a 7-8 stop range and/or processing error in the negatives boosting the contrast.

The images are the upper and lower falls of Helton Creek in North Georgia. There is a long dirt road to get to this location and often only wide enough for one car, though you meet many coming and going as it is partially a residential area and camp ground. Once at the falls it is an easy 1/4 mile hike with gentle slope and rock steps. The lower falls are usually shot from the right side as there is a rock formation that juts out into the creek. I think this was the first place I had used my 65mm lens on the Ikeda Anba which required racking the bellows all the way back. The upper falls have a viewing platform so a strait on shot is easily achieved. I am thinking this pair would be nicely framed as diptych if I could match the contrast and general tonality of shadows.

Technical: Ikeda Anba 4×5 Delta 100, HC-110 68* 1+63 for 12mins (N). Lower falls f32, 3seconds, 65mm. Upper falls f22, 1second, 135mm. Printed on Ilford MGFB warm tone using Ilford Multigrade developer for 2 minutes. I will not likely tone these as they have lovely mixes of black, midtone greys, and pure whites.

Variations
I reshot the falls in December 2017 and had one piece of film left so took advantage of the low water level which allowed me to get more mid stream on the lower falls. I also used a longer 135mm lens which gave me a different composition. While the black and white image was nice, I really like the image split toned in dark sepia/brown better. The image was overprinted and bleached back partially, then toned in Thiourea 20:40:500, fixed, and then dipped into dilute selenium for archival preservation. There are still some black tones in the shadows rather than being 100% brown tone.