Workshop ideas scratch patch

Seascapes of South Africa

Workshop ideas scratch patch

Seascapes of South Africa

TSITSIKAMMA NAT PARK

research info here

Workshop ideas scratch patch

Seascapes of South Africa

Workshop ideas scratch patch

Seascapes of South Africa

TSITSIKAMMA NAT PARK

research info here

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most readily available and accessible forms of creative expression, and many of us have used cameras since we can remember and have been old enough to hold one in our hands. Craig Fouché Photography offers workshops, either on a one-on-one basis or in a group format. I am here to show you how you can get the most out of your camera, by taking creative control of it an

most readily available and accessible forms of creative expression, and many of us have used cameras since we can remember and have been old enough to hold one in our hands. Craig Fouché Photography offers workshops, either on a one-on-one basis or in a group format. I am here to show you how you can get the most out of your camera, by taking creative control of it an most readily available and accessible forms of creative expression, and many of us have used cameras since we can remember and have been old enough to hold one in our hands. Craig Fouché Photography offers workshops, either on a one-on-one basis or in a group format. I am here to show you how you can get the most out of your camera, [pix_box type=” info”]most readily available and accessible forms of creative expression, and many of us have used cameras since we can remember and have been old enough to hold one in our hands. Craig Fouché Photography offers workshops, either on a one-on-one basis or in a group format. I am here to show you how you can get the most out of your camera, by taking creative control of it an[/pix_box]by taking creative control of it an most readily available and accessible forms of creative expression, and many of us have used cameras since we

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can remember and have been old enough to hold one in our hands. Craig Fouché Photography offers workshops, either on a one-on-one basis or in a group format. I am here to show you how you can get the most out of your camera, by taking creative control of it an most readily available and accessible forms of creative expression, and many of us have used cameras since we can remember and have been old enough to hold one in our hands. Craig Fouché Photography offers workshops, either on a one-on-one basis or in a group format. I am here to show you how you can get the most out of your camera, by taking creative control of it an

Develop Color Film At Home by Amy Berge

Written by Amy Berge

After writing this article, I realized I forgot the most important piece. It’s so important that it deserves its own preface!

YOU DO NOT NEED A DARK ROOM TO DO THIS. You don’t even need a lot of space. You just need a sink and a changing bag. Once you get your film in the tank in your changing bag, it is light tight and can be worked with in daylight. The investment to do this is relatively minimal, will pay for itself before you know it, and the developing process is so much easier than you might think. So please read this article with the idea that you, too, can develop your own film at home!

Why I Decided To Develop Color Film At Home

In January of 2017, I took the plunge into developing my own black and white film (you can read about developing your own black and white film here), but the idea of conquering C-41 color film weighed heavily on my mind. I was afraid of C-41. People said it was difficult, it was something I had never done, and I have a local lab that will do it in a few hours for a few dollars, so what was the point of trying anyway?

But my local lab won’t push film, and most labs won’t develop film soup so as not to ruin the chemicals or other customers’ film (read more about film soup here). Not only was the idea of having more creative freedom within the film world alluring, but, maybe more importantly, like many other film photographers, I consistently operate under the fear that something I love will disappear. Whether it’s fear your favorite film will be discontinued or your local lab will stop processing, we all have a fear of someone else taking away our opportunity to shoot this medium that we love. THIS. This is what drove me to learn how to do it myself.

As a good Millennial, I immediately turned to YouTube for instruction. If you want to learn it, it’s on YouTube, right? Right. After watching a couple of videos I felt empowered; it didn’t seem so different from developing black and white, and I already had a lot of the tools I needed, including basic know-how for film developing.

Without delay, here’s how I develop C-41 at home:

How To Develop C-41 Color Film

Supplies:

Links are included to the products I use:

1. Paterson Tank and Reels – Same one I use to develop black and white film. – (Adorama: Paterson Photographic Universal Tank)
2. Funnels – I use a separate funnel for the chemicals so I don’t cross-contaminate. – (Amazon: Nopro Plastic Funnel)
3. Plastic beaker for measuring water when the chemicals are mixed – This is the same one I use for developing black and white. – (Amazon: SEOH Plastic Beaker Set)
4. Thermometer – I bought a two-pack, but, lately, I have only been checking the temp of the developer since the blix has more latitude. I also labeled which thermometer is for which chemical so I don’t cross-contaminate. – (Amazon: Home Brew Stuff 12″ Dial Thermometer)
5. Basin for heating up bottles – (Amazon: Sterilite 12qt Dishpan)
6. 3 opaque bottles – The size will depend on what kit you buy. I have the kit that makes 1L chemicals, so I bought the 1000ml bottle. – (Adorama: Photographers’ Formulary 1000ml Plastic Bottle)
7. C-41 kit – The kit will contain developer, blix (a combination of bleach and fixer), and stabilizer. There are lots of kits out there, but I have used the one from Film Photography Project. They also sell a 2L kit! – (Film Photography Project: FPP C-41 Development Kit)
8. Timer – I use the Massive Dev Chart app for this, which is also what I use for black and white film. This app doesn’t have a C-41 setting, but I found a way to hack one. The instructions linked don’t have the correct times for manual developing, but gives you an idea how to edit the settings.
9. Scissors for cutting the 35mm off the end of the spool and for evening out the tab – I stated this in my last tutorial, but I use safety scissors because me with sharp objects in an opaque bag is a recipe for blood. (Amazon: Blunt Tip Scissors)
10. Church Key for opening up a 35mm film canister – (Amazon: Bottle and Can Punch Opener)
11. Changing bag for getting the film onto the reels – (Amazon: Film Changing Bags, Adorama: Large Changing Bag)

Your kit will recommend gloves, mask, and goggles. Do I use them? No, but that’s because I’m a risk-taker (JK, I’m actually a rule-follower.) I’m honestly just too lazy to stock them, but I’m sure it actually is smarter to heed their advice and take these precautions. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ (Find gloves, masks, and safety glasses on Amazon)

C-41 Color Film Developing Process:

The good news is that you will receive instructions with your chemical kit! The other good news is that C-41 (with blix) is all the same developing time and the same process so what I outline here should match what your instructions say.

Mixing Chemicals

Some people say C-41 is easier than black and white, and I kind of get that because you mix your chemicals once and keep reusing them until they’ve run their course. (Basically when you stop liking your results is how you know they’ve run their course. It will be a gradual decline so it’s up to you to decide when your results are less than ideal, at which point you’ll mix fresh chemicals.)

Before mixing my chemicals, I mark all my bottles and caps with a D, B, or S (developer, blix, stabilizer) so that the caps will never cross-contaminate the bottles. I also mix my chemicals completely backwards; I start with the stabilizer, then do the blix, and finally developer. The developer is the most critical, temperature-wise, so I do that last so when all the chemicals are mixed I can start developing my rolls without fear that the temperature has dropped too much.

Stabilizer: This is the easy one since it can be at room temperature. For this one I pour all 1000ml of water into a bottle, then funnel in the stabilizer, cap it, shake it up, and set it aside.

Blix: It’s most common to find chemical kits (for manual use) where the bleach and fixer are joined in a single step (hence the name “blix”). Some purists refuse to combine these steps, but it’s relatively difficult to find kits that will ship in the mail with the bleach and fixer separate.

For this step, I get my water up to 110º and pour 800ml of it into the bottle. I then funnel in the packets marked Blix A and Blix B, cap it, shake it up, uncap it, and add the remaining 200ml water. Then, I cap it, shake it up, and set it aside.

Many of the guys on YouTube remark how this is the “nasty stuff.” And it is. But if you ever highlighted your friends’ hair with Frost and Glow back in the late 90s/early 2000s, then this smell will be reminiscent of your teen years, pulling strands through the highlighting cap, trying to achieve that perfectly chunky look a la Britney that we all strived for.

Developer: I get my water up to 110º and pour 800ml water in one of my bottles. I then funnel the developer into the bottle, cap it, shake it up, and open it to funnel the remaining 200ml of water into the bottle. Then, I cap it, shake it, and set it aside.

Developing

Now that your chemicals are mixed, you can go right into developing your rolls!

If you’re working with chemicals that were previously mixed and cooled back down to room temp, you will need to heat up the developer and blix to 102º. I do this by placing the capped bottles into a basin and running hot water into the basin. Some people use a sous vide (find on Amazon), but so far the basin method has worked fine for me. Once I start warming up the bottles, I load the film onto reels, and, by the time I get back, my chemicals are just about at 102º. I keep separate thermometers and funnels for my developer and blix because you never want fixer to get in the developer; it will kill it like it’s its job…which it is.

Once your chemicals are up to 102º, you’re ready to start!

1. Pre-Soak: (1 min) Fill your developing tank up with 102º water and let sit for one minute, pour out.
2. Developer: (3.5 minutes) Pour in developer and agitate with the agitation stick for 10 seconds. Place cap on the developing tank and invert tank four times every 30 seconds. Funnel the developer back into its bottle.
3. Blix: (6.5 minutes) Pour in blix and use same agitation scheme as above. (Note: there is NO rinse cycle between developer and blix!) Funnel the blix back into its bottle.
4. Wash: (3 min) Rinse film, while still in the developing tank, under running water (between 95-105º)
5. Stabilizer: (30 seconds) Pour in stabilizer, agitate for 15 seconds, and let sit for 15 seconds. Funnel back into its bottle.

You’re now ready to take the film off the reel, squeegee (I use the two-finger method…some people don’t squeegee at all), and then hang your film to dry for a few hours or overnight. I hang mine on a line in the basement with a binder clip (find on Amazon) at the top and one at the bottom to weigh the film down so it dries straight.

And you’re done! People, this is literally IT. And since all C-41 film gets processed for the same amount of time, you can use these directions for every film stock (unless you’re pushing your film.) It also goes incredibly fast. I was so used to the slow pace of black and white processing that the first time I did C-41, I actually felt panicked. (Note: This is ridiculous. There’s actually nothing to feel panicked about.)

Helpful Videos For Developing C-41 At Home

If you are more of a visual learner, here are the videos that helped me get started:

1. Home Developing Color Film at lomography.com
2. Develop Color Negatives At Home from Film Photography Project on YouTube

How To Push Film During Developing

Pushing film is a process of adjusting developing times to compensate for underexposure. It also tends to add more contrast and color saturation to your images. To push your film, simply increase the developing time by 25% for each stop pushed. (Everything else stays the same). So if you want to push your film one stop, you’d multiply 3.5 minutes by 1.25 and develop for 4.4 minutes (the math major in me needs to point out that 4.4 minutes IS NOT the same as 4 minutes 40 seconds. It’s 4 minutes and .4 minutes. To convert the .4 minutes to seconds, multiply by 60 to get 24 seconds. So you would develop your film for 4 minutes 24 seconds) Likewise, if you want to push two stops, you multiply 3.5 minutes by 1.5 to get 5.25 minutes (or 5 minutes 15 seconds).

   

 

   

 

How To Cross-process Film

One of the ways I wanted to experiment with film was by cross-processing. Basically cross-processing is a technique that involves taking color negative film, which is usually processed in C-41 chemicals, or taking slide film, which is usually processed in E6 chemicals, and using the opposite chemicals to process them. So, if you wanted to cross-process, you’d process your color negatives in E6 or your slide film in C-41. The most common type of cross-processing involves taking slide film and developing it in C-41. This will give the developed film high contrast and fun color shifts.

Whether or not cross-processing ruins your chemicals is up for hot debate on the internet, but from what I could tell, more people said it doesn’t ruin your chemicals. So I went with the majority and assumed it would be a totally great idea to use my fresh, new C-41 chemicals to cross process some Fujichrome Provia 100F. It was January, and I needed some experimentation in my life. Winter was already seeming long, my creativity was waning, and I needed to mix things up.

When I pulled my Provia off the spool I was giddy because I could see images! I more than half expected it to be blank or messed up somehow. After waiting what seemed like forever for it to dry (Related: is anyone looking to get rid of a film dryer?) I finally scanned my negatives and was elated with the results. High contrast! Color shifts! My creativity was flowing!

That month, I developed a couple other rolls, and the color seemed off. My chemicals weren’t ruined, per se, but things weren’t how they usually were if I had gotten them developed at my local lab. I wasn’t sure if this was just how the kit developed negatives, or if I had actually ruined my chemicals by first using them to cross-process. Because hope springs eternal, I decided to order another kit for a fresh start. I mixed up the new kit, and I was nervous to develop my first couple of rolls. What if the results were still funky? What if it was all user-error and I’d never be able to develop a normal roll of film? (I’m dramatic like that.) But guess what? The results were exactly what I would have hoped for!

   

 

   

 

How To Develop Film Soup

Before I dumped out all the cross-processing chemicals, I knew I needed to get one final hurrah out of them by using them to develop some film soup. Film soup is a process of soaking a roll of film in materials, such as dish soap or lemon juice, before developing to create color shifts and artifacts on your film. (If you want more details about film soup, check out this article here!)

I soaked my film in water that had been brought to a boil, along with some freshly-squeezed lemon juice (only the finest for my film), and Rockin’ Green laundry detergent (find on Amazon) (in lavender mint scent, because I do kinda wonder if different scents would have different effects). My plan was to let it dry for a couple weeks but HOW DOES ONE WAIT A COUPLE OF WEEKS? So approximately 4 days later, I developed my film. It was still a little wet and sticky, but I got it on the reel without too much hassle, which was my only real concern with not letting it dry for a couple of weeks.

Once again, experimentation wins, and I am definitely a fan of how the soup turned out. I think the lemon juice may have stripped it of more color than I would’ve liked, but I’m trying to embrace the unexpected. Next time, I plan on using some detergent and baking soda…the options are limitless with film soup!

   

 

While I’ll still bring film to my local lab, now I have freedom to push my film, cross-process, do film soup, or anything else my experimentation leads me to. And if my local lab stops developing film (fingers crossed that this NEVER happens), I will know that as long as chemicals are being made, I can go on shooting film. :::insert huge sigh of relief:::

If even a small part of you has toyed with the idea of developing your own film, listen to me, JUST DO IT. It is not difficult, relatively inexpensive, and will allow you to experiment with film on a whole other level.

And as always, let me know if you have any questions!

Another amazing article, Amy! Thank you so much for sharing with us! You can check out Amy’s other Shoot It With Film articles here, including a b&w home developing tutorial and a Kodak Ultramax film review!

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Develop Film at Home! A Step-by-Step Guide

One of the most intimidating aspects of working with film today is accessibility and availability of resources for processing. With professional labs becoming rarer and rarer in most parts of the world, except for major urban centers, one of the remaining options for the photographer pining to shoot film is to develop one’s own. The good news is, however, that developing film at home is incredibly easy, requires few tools and little space, and gives you superior results and control over what many labs could ever offer.

The Tools You Need

Assembling a basic kit of black-and-white film development supplies is easy, and should take up about as much room as the proverbial breadbox. For popularity’s sake, we’ll stick with roll film for the bulk of this article, although there are unique options for sheet film photographers, as well.

Developing Tank  A tank is the vessel used to hold your film and chemistry in place, and prevent light from exposing the film during the developing process. The Paterson tank system is an industry standard for plastic tanks, and comes with everything you need besides reels. For purists out there, stainless-steel tanks for roll film are also of a standard size, and offer increased durability and temperature retention. Whichever way you go, keep in mind that plastic reels must be matched with plastic tanks, and stainless-steel reels must be matched with stainless steel tanks.

   

 

Reels  The second component for developing your film is a reel, or more than likely, reels. Tanks can be purchased to accommodate multiple reels simultaneously; you develop several rolls of film at once. Plastic reels are, in the author’s opinion, easier to load due to the ratcheting system used to spiral film around them. Stainless steel reels are a bit trickier to master but, when coupled with a steel tank, require less chemistry for processing.

   

 

Chemistry  In the most basic sense, you only need developer, fixer, and water.

   

 

Graduates  Specialized and accurate graduates, or other measuring vessels, are a must. It is essential to measure the proper amount of chemistry for developing, and equally essential to get your dilutions correct when mixing chemistry. It is recommended to have at least two or more graduates of varying sizes—small ones are more accurate, larger ones obviously hold more chemistry, and multiples are needed so you do not cross-contaminate developer and fixer solutions.

   

 

Storage Bottles  Depending on the number of chemicals you end up using, working and stock solutions should be kept in labeled storage containers for easy access and to prolong their working life. The size of the container is dependent on the chemistry you are using and how often you will be developing film.

   

 

Film Clips  Seemingly frivolous, film clips, in my experience, truly do work better than clothespins when air-drying your film.

   

 

Thermometer  A thermometer is another essential, and it’s important to get a separate one for your film-developing needs.

   

 

Stop Watch or Timer  Dedicated cooking timers, stop watches, or any clock with a legible second hand will help keep track of developing times, for greater consistency.

   

 

With this list in mind, take a look at Bjorn’s Film Developing Kit for a basic, all-inclusive bundle to start developing film at home.

The Process

After you’ve acquired everything you need to develop, the fun part begins. Beyond the developing kit itself, there are a few other things you need for processing: a completely dark room (or a changing bag, if necessary), a sink with running water (make sure the faucet is high enough to accommodate your tank underneath), and a clean, dust-free place for your film to dry when you’re finished (I dry my film in the bathroom, hanging from a metal coat hanger that, itself, hangs from the shower-curtain rod). If this is your first time developing film, it is worth sacrificing a roll of unexposed film to practice loading your reels; depending on the type of reels you have, make sure you can load your film comfortably and easily with your eyes closed the entire time.

   

 

Loading  After spending time familiarizing yourself by loading a practice roll in light and dark, move to your completely dark space and configure your equipment: have your tank and, if applicable, center post, funnel, and lid all laid out, along with your reels. I like to also keep a pair of scissors in my back pocket to trim the film from the spool or remove film leaders, as well as pry open 35mm cartridges if necessary. Once set, turn out the lights and wait a few moments for your eyes to adjust, which will allow you to spot if any light is creeping into your loading space. Go through the process of either ratcheting or rolling your film onto the reels, put them into the tank or onto the center post, attach the lid or funnel, and make sure all of your film is secure before turning on the lights or leaving the light-tight space.

Developing Preparation  With your tank loaded, move over to the sink you will be using and lay out all of the chemistry you need in premeasured amounts. Depending on the developer you will be using, prepare enough chemistry using the recommended dilution on your developer bottle. The tank you are using will dictate the amount of chemistry needed. One important thing to note during this stage is temperature—most of the time, it is recommended to work with liquids between 68-70°F / 20-21°C. Use your thermometer to ensure the water you are mixing with developer is this temperature, to produce consistent and accurate results. If the water temperature is hotter or colder, the film’s contrast could be greatly affected and developing times will change. If you haven’t already, prepare your fixer according to its specified dilution, and make sure to not have any fixer come into contact with your developing solution—do not mix fixer first and then use the same vessel to mix developer, for instance. Additionally, prior to beginning the process, make sure to note development time for your film. A good starting point will be listed on the box in which your film came, or possibly on the bottle or package of developer you are using. In any case, these times are called “starting times” and can be adjusted as you learn more about how you personally like to expose and print/scan your film.

Developing  Now, with your mixed developer at 68°F, and your mixed fixer to the side, you can do an optional, but recommended by the author, pre-wetting stage. Fill the tank loaded with film with 68°F water until it is full, and let the film sit for 1 minute. This step brings the film and tank to the temperature of the developer, can rinse off anti-halation layers, and some say it softens the emulsion layer of the film to be more receptive to the developer—the benefit I’m sure of is the temperature stabilization, but it’s become a habit of mine over the years and has always led to successful results.

After 1 minute, pour the water from your tank down the drain (don’t worry if the water turns a bright blue, dark purple, or some other color—that’s perfectly normal) and quickly, but steadily, pour in your mixed developer solution. As soon as your tank is full of chemistry, start your timer and begin agitating the film. Depending on the tank you are using, various agitation styles can be employed, ranging from total inversion agitation to simply using a spindle to rotate your film—I prefer to use a gentle inversion agitation method. Agitate the film continuously for the first 30 seconds, and then agitate for 10-15 seconds every 30 seconds thereafter. This agitation schedule is pretty standard method; however, it can be changed depending on processing method, developer type, or to alter contrast slightly.

Once you have finished developing, either pour the spent developer down the drain, if you are using one-shot developer, or return the developer to its bottle if it is reusable. Quickly fill your tank with 68°F water, empty it, fill again with water, and agitate continuously for 30 seconds to 1 minute. This step is functioning as a stop bath to halt the developing action, and is an alternative to using proper stop bath chemistry. In my practice, water has almost always been suitable for stopping developing action, and I’ve rarely felt the need to use a true stop bath. If you’re total developing time is 5 minutes or shorter, though, a proper acetic or citric acid stop bath can be used to more quickly stop the developing action to prevent overdevelopment.

After the stop bath step, empty your tank and fill the tank with your mixed fixer solution. Similar to the developer stage, I like to agitate continuously for the first 30 seconds, and then for 10 seconds every 30 seconds thereafter. Fixing typically takes about 5 minutes in total, a minute or so longer won’t hurt, but the total amount of time is not as crucial as the development stage. After fixing your film, make sure to return the solution to your bottle using your fixer-dedicated funnel or graduate, and save.

Now that the fixing is done, you are essentially finished with processing your film, and can now remove the lid from your tank; however, I would recommend keeping your film on the reels for the washing process. Many advocate for the use of a hypo clear or washing aid step to expedite the total washing time needed. Similar to stop bath, I feel this step is completely optional if you don’t mind spending a few extra minutes washing your film. My process for washing is to fill and empty the tank with cool ~68°F water three or four times, then slow the rate of the faucet and let the water continuously fill and overflow in your tank for approximately 10 minutes. After this rinse period, you can perform one more optional step, and this time I recommend it, which is the use of a wetting agent to prevent water marks from forming on your film during drying. After you’ve emptied the tank from the water rinse, refill it with a very dilute mixed solution of water and wetting agent, and let that sit for about 30 seconds or so. Afterward, you can now remove your reels from the tank, remove your film from the reels, and use film clips for hanging your film to dry.

Post Development  After development, let your film air-dry in a dust-free area for approximately 2 hours or so, until the film is completely dry. If any moisture is still present on the film’s surface, just be patient and wait for it to dry as opposed to trying to wipe it off. Once completely dry, I typically cut the film into strips using a pair of scissors, and file into negative sleeves. You’re all finished now, ready to scan or print your film.

   

 

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/explora/photography/buying-guide/develop-film-home-step-step-guide

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Traditional Darkroom Buying Guide

By Bjorn Petersen |

2 years ago

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The darkroom. Just thinking of it brings out the most nostalgic of feelings from all photographers, even if you learned in the digital age, and even if you’ve never even set foot in a traditional chemical darkroom. There is something so gratifying about the idea of hand-crafting your photographs from a physical negative, printing on real paper, and watching your images come to life in baths of chemistry. Without waxing too romantic about the whole idea, it is safe to say that even the most cutting-edge digital photographers would still experience a sense of glee to see photography transpire in its most historical and, arguably, authentic means. While traditional darkroom processes and spaces are certainly rarer now than ever before, it needs to be stated that the art of darkroom-based photography is not dead.

“…darkroom printing can be experienced by anyone with a keen interest, some spare room, and the desire to produce photographs in a manner that is unrivaled… to the current state of digital imaging.”

Darkroom printing and processing is intimidating, it is amazing, and it is a viable practice for contemporary photographers. Analog enthusiasts, students, and fine art photographers are the most common practitioners of a wet process; however, this is not to say that darkroom printing cannot be experienced by anyone with a keen interest, some spare room, and the desire to produce photographs in a manner that is unrivaled in many regards to the current state of digital imaging. If you’re just delving into film-based photography, setting up a darkroom to make your own prints can be as simple or as complex as you would like it to be. Working darkrooms can be built out of a small closet, a spare room, a basement, or nearly any other free space you might find in your home. They can be permanent fixtures or assembled when needed. They can be large or small, complex or simple. Much in the same way every photographer configures his or her computers, cameras, and other photographic means to suit a personal workflow, a darkroom can be designed around one’s needs, tastes, and space.

This buying guide will provide an introduction to the essential tools you will need to begin setting up your darkroom, including film development, chemistry, printing and processing, and some other considerations for the whole process.

Film Processing

Before we can dive into printing and the other aspects of a darkroom you may begin to think of initially, we should first take a look at the film-processing end of the traditional-process spectrum. Without well-developed negatives, you will not be making the fine art prints you are imagining. You can very easily develop your film in your bathroom or at your kitchen sink. If you’re planning on setting up a space for a darkroom, those can be ideal places for processing film due to the availability of a sink, access to water, and a dedicated space for working with chemicals.

Here’s a quick shopping list of everything you need: tanks, reels, graduated cylinders, chemistry storage bottles, chemistry, and film clips or another method for drying—all in all, not too bad. Now, delving a bit deeper, let’s look at tanks and reels.

Tanks and Reels

Dedicated instruments for processing your film, tanks and reels are vessels and coils or frames that allow you to immerse your film—either rolls or sheets—in the chemistry necessary to develop it. Split between two categories, there are daylight tanks and open tanks (or not-daylight tanks). As its name would suggest, a daylight tank allows you to develop your film safely in ambient light. On the other hand, an open tank, which is generally reserved for sheet film development, forces you to work in total darkness.

Daylight tanks are much more common and, outside of a professional lab, are the de facto standard for processing roll film. They are split between two categories—steel and plastic—and comprise a cylindrical tank, some form of a light baffle, and a lid that permits pouring chemistry in and out with the room lights on. Inside the tank, during development, are reels, around which your film is securely wound. The reels prevent the film from sticking to itself and ensure even development. Like the tanks can be constructed from plastic and steel, reels are also available in plastic or steel and must be matched to the tank material. Plastic reels go in plastic tanks; steel reels go in steel tanks. Plastic reels are typically easier for the novice to load since they incorporate a ratcheting mechanism that is often called an “autoloader.” Steel reels, on the other hand, are a bit trickier to load at first and require a bit more dexterity in the way of slightly arching the film width-wise, and manually spooling it around the reel. Plastic tanks have the advantage of simplicity, ease of use, and reels often can accommodate various sizes of roll film; steel tanks have the advantage of being more durable, require less chemistry for processing, and have better temperature stability.

For large format photographers, you can either develop your film in a daylight tank or in open tanks. Open tanks require you to work in total darkness, require multiple tanks for each chemical, and allow you to develop each individual exposure separately as opposed to “en masse” as you would with rolls of film that contain numerous exposures. Daylight tanks for sheet film are a bit easier to work with, since you can work in the light; however, they are a bit trickier to load than their roll-film counterparts. Additionally, sheet film can also be processed in developing trays, but we’ll cover those in the printing section.

Film-Developing Chemistry

A topic worthy of an entire encyclopedia itself, chemistry for developing your film is nearly as crucial as film itself. Especially in regard to developers, numerous options allow you to refine the look of your imagery by choosing specific chemicals and adjusting developing time, temperature, dilution, and agitation. Simply put, you should never underestimate the importance of film development. In the most general terms, black-and-white film developers are split between powder and liquid formulas. Both will become a liquid working solution at some point, though—it just depends on your preference for shelf life versus mixing protocol. Liquid developers are much easier to mix, can usually be mixed in smaller amounts, but tend to have somewhat shorter shelf lives. Powdered developers must be mixed with water in a certain manner, often requiring mixing with hot water and then waiting for your solution to cool before use, but they do have a nearly infinite shelf life when the package of powder is unopened.

Moving beyond this difference in preference, different film developers are available to achieve distinct effects and some are well-suited for certain films, certain processing techniques, or for certain printing methods. Some key examples include:

• Kodak D-76, which is almost like the Tri-X of developers due to its incredible flexibility, long history, and general application for use on nearly any black-and-white film. Just like Tri-X, this developer will almost always give you usable results, if not to the point of a drawback. Its lack of specialness is its specialness; it is the most popular film developer simply because it works.
• Kodak XTOL, which is essentially the T-Max of developers if D-76 is the Tri-X (yes, there is an actual T-Max developer; however, it is not nearly as versatile as XTOL nor comparative to D-76). XTOL is known for its fine-grain qualities and ability to provide extended shadow details.
• Adox Adonal, which is the new name for one of the most historic film developers of all time, Rodinal—a chemical that equally as many people love as others hate, Adonal/Rodinal is known for giving a crisply prominent grain structure, high sharpness, and being ideal for very long development times. Even though this is a liquid developer, it is known for having a nearly indefinite shelf life, even after the bottle has been opened.
• PMK Pyro, which is one of the best known of a class of pyrocatechol developers that “stain” the negatives during development and yield an extremely long tonal scale with high edge sharpness and film speed.

This is by no means a comprehensive list. One of the most exciting aspects of developing your film at home is the chance to experiment with so many film-and-developer combinations.

In addition to a film developer, the other essential chemical needed for processing your film is fixer. Fixer, as its name would suggest, stabilizes your film after development and removes the unexposed silver halide to create a permanent image. Other chemicals commonly used during film development, which are optional but often highly recommended depending on your film type, include stop bath, to immediately terminate the process of development prior to fixing; hardeners, which are sometimes added to fixers if working with films with a softer emulsion; washing aids, or hypo clearing agent, which help to expedite the process of washing fixer from film prior to the final water rinse; and wetting agents, which help to minimize water spots or streaks forming on your film as it dries.

Accessories

Moving beyond the essentials for film development, a stable of odds, ends, and other helpful accessories can make the task of processing your film exponentially easier. Since most chemicals need to be diluted prior to use, and it is unlikely you will use all of your mixture at once, storage bottles are a convenient way to keep your working and stock solutions. Graduates are available in a wide variety of sizes and help with mixing certain quantities of chemicals to ensure consistent, accurate results. Film clips, which honestly do work better than clothespins, hang your film securely when air drying. A second clip is attached to the bottom of the roll holds it taut to prevent curling or clinging. Last, but not least, a proper thermometer is indispensable and will help you achieve that perfect 68°F during development, for consistent results.

Printing

With your film developed, you can now move on to the heart of traditional wet processing: printing. In a basic sense, printing mirrors the entire process of film photography up to this point; you are now taking what you have photographed and developed, and creating a recognizable image. The process of printing, just like shooting, involves a light source, a lens, focusing, exposure adjustments, recording to a light-sensitive material, and processing the latent image into a light-stable photograph. This entire series of events takes place in a darkroom. Darkrooms in old movies conjure images of a dim, red-lit room in which photographers manipulate wet pieces of paper with tongs and hang them on twine adorned with clothespins to dry. While possible, this is usually pretty far from the truth of the darkroom, which is more akin to a science lab engulfed in amber lighting, where you constantly oscillate between bright “white light” and the darkroom in order to evaluate your prints, load your negatives, wash prints, and perform finishing tasks. While still romantic, it is not nearly the sight one might expect.

As mentioned before, a darkroom can take shape in myriad ways, ranging from a temporary setup in your hall closet or bathroom to a full-fledged lab in your basement. Regardless of your configuration, there are a handful of procedures and tools to help you develop the most effective workspace.

Enlargers and Lenses

In most cases, the key component for printing a negative is an enlarger. With the exception of contact printing, an enlarger is the main component that allows you to produce prints of varying sizes from a negative. In the most simple terms, an enlarger contains a light source that illuminates a suspended negative and projects an image through a lens, which is focused on an easel, resting on a baseboard. A piece of light-sensitive paper is held flat in the easel and is exposed to the projected image, and then developed in chemicals to create a photographic print.

Much like a large format bellows camera, an enlarger is a precision tool that performs a very simple function in a very controlled, precise, accurate, and repeatable manner. Enlargers are available in a variety of sizes and with a variety of different features. It is good advice to look for an enlarger that accommodates the largest size film you expect to print, and if you are on the fence about whether you’ll be moving up to a 4 x 5 view camera at some point, it is safe to say that a 4 x 5″ enlarger would be the way to go, since it can easily handle any smaller film format, as well. If you’re a dedicated 35mm shooter, then a medium format enlarger will suffice and will allow you to save some space and reduce bulk in your darkroom setup. The size of an enlarger is based on the negative stage, which holds the largest-sized negative it can accommodate.

An enlarger’s head (that contains the light source, condensers, mixing chamber, diffusers, etc.) has a direct bearing on the final look of your prints. There are three primary types of heads currently available.

• Condenser  This kind of head incorporates a condensing lens beneath the light source and above the negative stage, which produces direct, collimated light. In turn, this will render a sharper, crisper, and harder look in your prints, at the cost of some forgiveness. Dust and scratches on your film will be more pronounced in the resulting print, and edge sharpness will be somewhat finer than with a diffusion head.
• Diffusion  The other main type of enlarging head, the diffusion head allows the light source to be spread omnidirectionally, which results in a softer quality. Diffusion heads are well-suited for negatives with more contrast, and will mute the appearance of dust and scratches compared to a condenser head.
• Dichroic  While mainly used for color printing, dichroic heads can be used for black-and-white printing and incorporate dial-in filtration for fine-tuning the color of the light source. For color, RA-4 printing, this lets you adjust your color balance; for black-and-white printing, the yellow and magenta filters can be used to adjust contrast values. Dichroic heads are available in both condenser and diffusion designs.

The next important component of an enlarger is the enlarging lens. Similar to your camera lens, an enlarging lens is used to focus the light projected through the negative onto the easel-ensconced photo paper and subsequent print. Enlarging lenses have different apertures and focal lengths, and are typically paired with the compatible film format being projected onto the photo paper. Based on the same principles of what constitutes a normal lens for a particular film format, based on the format’s diagonal measurement, a 50mm lens is commonly considered ideal for 35mm printing. Around a 75mm is good for 6 x 6cm printing, an 80mm is good for 6 x 7cm, and a 150mm is perfect for 4 x 5″. Just like the lenses for your camera, enlarging lenses come in various degrees of quality—some are apochromats, some are sharper than others, and some are designed for lower budgets and feature a simpler optical design. Also like regular camera lenses, when working with an enlarging lens, you usually want to focus using the brightest aperture and then close down to a middle aperture to avoid either wide-open softness or closed-down diffraction. Differentiating themselves from photographic lenses, enlarging lenses are flat field optics designed for consistent edge-to-edge sharpness and illumination; they tend to feature a stepless aperture dial that is illuminated for easier switching in the darkroom; and virtually all have an M39 screw mount to fit into standard lens boards.

Enlarging Accessories

In addition to the enlarger, a head, and an enlarging lens, there are additional accessories typically required to get the most out of your printing sessions. First and foremost is a darkroom timer. More than might seem obvious, a darkroom timer is pretty invaluable when it comes to printing. Besides the obvious (keeping time) it automatically shuts off the enlarger’s lamp once the time runs out, allowing you to focus your attention on burning, dodging, and obtaining repeatable results.

The second crucial accessory to printing is an easel, which is used to hold your paper in place—and flat—during printing. Easels are available in three styles—adjustable, borderless, and fixed borders. Adjustable easels are by far the most versatile, and feature individual blades that let you crop your imagery and set varying-width borders on your prints. Borderless and fixed-border easels are more useful for specific tasks. Regardless of which style easel you end up with, make sure it is capable of holding the largest size of paper on which you plan to print (prior to printing mural size).

Third in line of accessories is a unique tool called a grain focuser. Many find this tool difficult to use and others find it indispensable for making perfectly sharp prints, but in short, this mirrored magnifier is used to gain a clear view of the grain structure of your film to achieve sharp focus more objectively, versus viewing a dim image on the easel.

Finally, to round out your kit of printing tools, all black-and-white printers should invest in a set of multigrade printing filters. When working with variable contrast printing papers, these filters allow you to fine-tune the contrast of your print across 12 steps to compensate for overly contrasty or very low contrast negatives.

While we’re on the topic of enlarging, it is pertinent to introduce another technique: contact printing. Rather than making an enlargement of your negative, contact printing involves making a 1:1 print—exactly the same size as your negative. This is accomplished, quite simply, by placing your negative directly on top of the printing paper and exposing this negative-paper open-faced sandwich to light. This process has two common uses: for making contact sheets that give a quick overview of a roll of film, which are easier to judge than looking at the negatives themselves on a light box, and for producing finished prints from large format and ultra-large-format negatives. Photographers working with film sizes larger than 4 x 5″ often prefer, or just are not able, to make enlargements from such negatives, and subsequently make contact prints as their finished pieces. One tool to aid either of these situations is a contact printing frame, which holds the negative or negatives securely, tight and flat against the paper, to ensure the sharpest focus across the image.

Designing Your Darkroom Space

Backing up a bit, before you set up your enlarger you will need to configure the space for printing and processing. The essential components of a darkroom are a stable, flat, level place for your enlarger to sit and a platform, preferably a sink, for holding your trays for processing your prints. While a large, deep sink is ideal, a table or countertop is adequate as long as there is nearby access to running water. Another component to setting up a darkroom that cannot be overlooked is proper ventilation. Darkrooms can be set up in the tightest of confines or the most spacious of rooms, but in either instance, without ventilation, they can be among the most unpleasant spaces to spend more than a few minutes, while being potentially hazardous to your health. Consistent airflow to exhaust the fumes of the chemistry in your trays is crucial to enjoying surviving long printing sessions.

Additionally, in case the name darkroom wasn’t self-referential enough, a darkroom needs to be light-tight. Even though black-and-white printing permits the use of a safelight to see, the room should still be set up in a way that provides total darkness. Special seals and blackout cloth can be used to guard against light entering your darkroom, or for more permanent constructions, a revolving darkroom door allows you to enter and leave the darkroom without having to cover your paper or pack up all light-sensitive materials.

Speaking of permanent installations, for photographers looking to really step up his or her darkroom game, a dedicated sink with special water and temperature controls really adds to the ability to hone one’s craft. Sinks are available in pre-built lengths or can be custom sized to fit nearly any working space, and can be ordered in metal or fiberglass constructions.

Regardless of whether you’re working in a sink, on a countertop, or on a staggered shelving unit, darkroom trays are essential for printing. Usually constructed from plastic, but also available in stainless steel, trays are the containers in which you keep your chemicals for developing and processing your prints after they have been exposed under your enlarger. A few suggestions for choosing trays: look for designs that feature a pouring lip for easy dumping of spent chemistry; grooved bottoms versus flat-bottomed trays, which make it easier to retrieve prints with tongs when moving prints from tray to tray; and select a tray size that is at least one standard size larger, or a couple of inches on each side, than the size prints you expect to be working with (i.e., look for 12 x 16″ trays if you will be printing on 11 x 14″ paper).

Papers and Paper Chemistry

Much like film and film developer choice, your selection in printing paper, developer, and toner can add a further layer of character to your final photograph. Also similar to film, the specifics of different paper types and how various developers interact with those papers, plus the techniques involving their use, could be an endless discussion unto itself. But to briefly cover the main points of darkroom-printing consumables, let’s begin with a primer on black-and-white printing papers. Those papers can be divided into two main categories—fiber-based and resin-coated—then further classified as variable contrast and graded, and finally broken down into various surface finishes, including glossy, matte, and several degrees of luster or semi-matte, depending on the manufacturer. The key decision, though, is choosing between fiber-based and resin-coated papers. Fiber-based paper, or FB, is a true paper and is the classic printing medium for fine art photographs and archivability. Resin-coated, on the other hand, is a polymer and is best suited for quick processing, washing, and drying. Fiber-based paper tends to have a longer tonal scale and deeper blacks, but on the downside, it is much more difficult to work with due to its increased washing and drying times, the fact that the paper curls when drying, and that prints are prone to the dreaded dry-down effect where they darken as they dry. Resin-coated papers are durable and very easy to handle, but have a distinctly more plastic-like feeling. RC paper is an ideal medium for learning the craft, whereas FB papers, when handled correctly, will truly make your prints shine.

Beyond the base type, the choice between variable contrast (VC) and graded papers tends to be an easy one: VC papers let you make use of multi-grade filters to control print contrast, whereas graded papers have a fixed contrast value and are a better fit for photographers capable of producing very consistent negatives. Finally, the surface finish is truly a personal preference, and can sometimes be used to suit specific subjects or themes in the images. Glossy papers tend to give the appearance of deeper blacks and cooler whites, while matte papers offer a softer, warmer appearance due to the minimized reflections and flatter contrast range.

Moving on to chemicals, the only differentiating factor between film and paper chemistries is the type of developer. The stop bath and fixer can be shared by the two mediums, albeit at different dilutions in some instances, saving you the trouble of stocking up on more chemistry than necessary. Paper developer, however, is distinctly different from film developer—you should work with the appropriate chemical for the two different processes. It is possible to use one for the other, but the results will always be best when using a specific paper developer for processing your prints. Some key examples include:

• Dektol is akin to D-76 in that it is the standard reference developer to which almost everything is compared. It is a classic formula that provides neutral tonality and is very economical and easy to mix.
• Amidol, available in a handful of further distinctions, is a classic paper developer championed by master photographer Edward Weston. This developer is known for producing immensely deep blacks and cool whites, and is especially well-suited for bromide papers.
• Ilford PQ is distinct due to its tendency to produce warmer image tones and creamier whites, and is especially ideal for maximizing the warmth of warm-tone papers.

You can also affect the look of your prints using a toner. Selenium, sepia, copper, iron, and gold are some of the most popular varieties and add a distinctive coloring to final prints and often increase the archivability of your finished prints. Toners can be diluted to different strengths to alter the amount of coloration, and each also reacts differently to various paper types. Toning is performed after the printing and processing stages, and works by binding with the silver of the emulsion to achieve greater print stability, in addition to a new look. Fiber papers are much more receptive to toners, but RC papers can be used, as well, with a slightly reduced effect.

Color

Until this point, the majority of the article has mainly revolved around black-and-white darkroom practices. This is because it is much more practical to do black-and-white printing at home and, arguably, it is a more creative process during the printing stages. Traditional black-and-white printing materials are still readily available, whereas traditional color chemicals and processing equipment are harder to come by, and often require purchasing in commercial quantities. With this in mind, though, B&H does carry the necessary chemicals for E-6 and C-41 color film processing and RA-4 color negative print processing, as well as RA-4 printing papers.

Unlike black-and-white printing, color printing in a darkroom requires you to work in absolute darkness—no safelights allowed. It is mandatory to work with a dichroic enlarger head to fine-tune your color balance, and you must wait until each print is fully complete before evaluating it to make any changes to your print settings. The RA-4 process, too, is not a creative process like black-and-white print processing, requires stricter temperature control, and is typically performed in dedicated processing machines or motorized drums, as opposed to trays.

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/explora/photography/buying-guide/traditional-darkroom-buying-guide

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How To Develop Black and White Film at Home by Amy Berge

Links to sites such as Amazon, Adorama, or KEH Camera may contain affiliate links to help support the site. If you like what we’re doing & want an easy way to support us, click one of those links before you do your shopping.

   

 

Intro

When I was a junior in high school, I took a photography class which kick-started my love of film and photography. Being a true late 90’s teen, analog was our only option, so in class we learned how to develop black and white film and spent our days in the darkroom making our own enlargements. The darkroom holds some of my BEST high school memories of being with friends and creating, all while listening/singing to some sweet alternative music on the radio.

But that’s the problem; we ONLY wanted to be in the darkroom, enlarging our prints and hanging out, and we did not want to “waste” our time developing our film. Being stuck in the classroom with our hands in a changing bag and putting film on a reel was for suckers. So how did we develop our film, you might ask? Well, after doing it by hand once (because it was an assignment to at least do it once), many of us would take our film to Ritz Camera and for $3 we got our developed film and a contact sheet. I was so relieved I never had to develop my own film ever again.

You can see where I’m going with this.

Fast-forward almost two decades, I’m shooting film again and wanting to get back to my black and white roots. But sending film out for black and white developing is not cheap. Black and white film is unlike C-41 (color film) in that the time to develop black and white film varies based on film type. All C-41 gets processed for the same length of time, so it gets run through machines in batches and is cheaper to develop. I desperately wanted to shoot black and white, but was honestly terrified to take the plunge. I remember it being kind of tricky and a major nuisance when I did it in high school (that one time,) and now I was going to VOLUNTARILY develop my film? After turning to some friends in an online community for help, I got a suggested list of supplies, watched some YouTube videos, and off I went to sink or swim. I made it my New Year’s resolution for 2017 to develop my own black and white film, and within the first few weeks, I had already developed my first roll.

Guess what? It’s embarrassingly easy to develop your own film. Apparently Teen-Me was super wack and should’ve stopped being lazy.

Developing my own black and white film has been SO freeing! I don’t have to send it out to a lab and be held captive; I can develop it the same day I finish up a roll; and I can push a roll of film if I want to! I shoot as much as I want because my costs are low! So, yeah, it’s pretty much the best.

If you’re on the fence, DO IT. It’s not as scary as you think it is. Not even half as scary. And you will love the freedom it gives you.

Developing Your Own Black and White Film

I couldn’t write about how awesome it is to develop black and white film without giving you the information to develop your own! Sooooooo I am including my materials and my process below!

First off, I need to address this common question: do I need a darkroom? No. Unless you’re doing enlargements, no darkroom necessary! You just need a changing bag to get your film on the reel and in the tank. Once it’s sealed in the tank, it’s safe from light and you can do all the rest in a lit room.

I swear to you, getting that darn film on the reel is the hardest part of the whole process. If you have a spare roll lying around, use it to practice getting film on the reel in daylight.

My Supplies:

Links are included to the product I use.

1. Plastic Beakers – I got the kind where the levels are raised and not printed on. I feared something printed on would wear away too easily. (Amazon: SEOH Plastic Beaker Set)
2. Funnel to put the fixer solution back in the bottle (item 6 on the list). (Amazon: Nopro Plastic Funnel)
3. Stirrer (Adorama: Chemical Stirring Paddle)
4. Developing Tank (Adorama: Paterson Photographic Universal Tank) – There are a lot of theories about the best tank, but this one works great for me. *** Paterson tanks have a reputation for being leaky. Note: they are NOT leaky, but you have to know the trick. Once you put the cover on the tank, burp it by gently lifting up a little flap of the lid until you hear the air escape. Once you do this, your tank is now tight and won’t leak. ***
5. Syringe for measuring developer (Adorama: Photographers’ Formulary 12ml Micro-Mixer Measuring Plastic Syringe)
6. Bottle for storing the fixer solution, which can be reused for a couple dozen rolls. (Amazon: Kaiser 500-1000ml Accordion Bottle)
7. Thermometer to try to get your temp as close to 68º as possible. (Adorama: Photographers’ Formulary 12″ Glass Thermometer)
8. Fixer (Adorama: Ilford Rapid Fixer)
9. Developer – There are lots of options for this, but I use HC-110 dilution b. (Adorama: Kodak HC-110 Black & White Film Developer)
10. Photo-flo – Apparently you can use a drop of dish soap instead of this, but I haven’t tried it. (Adorama: Kodak Photo-Flo 200)

Not pictured are a few items you’ll need to get the film on the reel:

1. Changing bag (Adorama: Large Changing Bag) – Why their photo has an ENTIRE CAMERA in the changing bag is beyond me. Note: you should take the roll OUT of the camera before putting it in the changing bag.
2. Church Key – For opening up the film canister. (Amazon: Chef Craft Bottle Opener)
3. Scissors – Which you probably already have, but I like to use a small, blunt pair inside the changing bag because I’m clumsy enough in broad daylight when I can see what I’m doing. (Amazon: Westcott Kids Scissors)
4. Clips for drying your film (Adorama: Stainless Steel Film Clips, Amazon: Trusty Binder Clips)
5. You’re also going to want to download the app Massive Dev Chart. It’s my guide to the times needed for each film. It also has a built-in timer as well as a brief rundown of the process to develop black and white film.

Developing Process:

Here’s my process in a nutshell to develop black and white film. Processes can vary, but as long as you’re consistent in your steps, you’ll have consistent results. The times for developing and fixing will vary based on film and on chemicals. The Massive Dev Chart will tell you exactly what times you need for those steps.

1. 1. Put the film on the reel in the changing bag. Make sure the tank is closed before opening up the bag. Check out this video for help.
   2. Using 68º water, agitate the film for a minute and dump out in the sink. (This step is debatable. I like to get my film to the right temp and rinse away anything unnecessary.)
   3. Pour the developer mixture into the tank and agitate for the first minute. Every minute thereafter, agitate for 10 seconds. Be sure to tap the tank on a surface to pop any bubbles that have formed after each round of agitation.
   4. Dump out the developer, and fill your tank with more of the 68º water to rinse off excess developer. (On Massive Dev Chart, this is called the stop bath. I have always used water for a stop bath and have never had an issue.)
   5. Pour in the fixer mixture. Agitate for the first minute, and then every minute thereafter agitate it for 10 seconds.
   6. Funnel the fixer mixture back into the bottle for reuse.
   7. Your film is now ready to see light! So feel free to open it up at this point.
   8. Fill up the tank with water and dump out a handful of times (I am not temperature specific here.)
   9. I then leave the film under running water for 10 minutes to be sure all the chemicals are washed away.
   10. Pour in a couple drops of photo-flo and dunk the reels up and down in it until you see bubbles.
   11. Take the film off the reels and squeegee with two fingers. (You can buy a squeegee, but I’ve heard too many horror stories of film getting scratched up this way, so I just use my hand.)
   12. Clip to some sort of line. I strung some string in my basement that I clip my film to. I also put a clip at the bottom so the film dries straight.
   13. Allow to dry overnight, and the next day you’re ready to scan!

Helpful YouTube Videos:

1. This video will help you get the film on a reel. *Note, this video says to turn off the lights. Please just use a changing bag. Most of us don’t have rooms in our house that are truly pitch black and you will end up getting light on your film
2. This video and this video will help you with the process to develop black and white film.

I am finding more and more people who are interested in developing their own black and white film, and my goal is this leaves you feeling empowered and encouraged!

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So, so much good info! Thank you, Amy!

Please check out Amy’s work on Instagram and her website, and if you have questions about how to develop black and white film, leave them below in the comments.

 

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How To Shoot Kodak Portra 800 by Jessica Love

Links to sites such as Amazon, Adorama, or KEH Camera may contain affiliate links to help support the site. If you like what we’re doing & want an easy way to support us, click one of those links before you do your shopping.

Kodak Portra 800 Overview: Kodak Portra 800 gives nice, saturated colors and loves to be overexposed. Try rating between 200 and 400 to avoid a muddy look. It’s also highly versatile and can be used indoors and outdoors, but preferably in lots of light. You can pick up some on Amazon here: Kodak Portra 800 in 35mm and Kodak Portra 800 in 120mm

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Kodak Portra 800 Film Review by Jessica Love

For me, choosing a film stock is like when you first get a digital camera and the number of POSSIBILITIES of HOW TO EDIT your photos hits you like crazy. In my first few months of shooting film, I shot and shot and shot, trying lots of different film stocks. I actually tried Portra 800 pretty early on and hated the results I got – muddy, grainy. I’ve since started rating it between 200 – 400 iso and love the results I get!

What To Expect From Portra 800

I find that I get super saturated colors and pretty great skin tones.

How To Shoot And Meter Portra 800

I meter around 200. I love it most on a sunny day and backlit. For some sessions, white balance and color tone are a struggle when shooting digital, but when I get my film back, I’m just amazed at how well this film does with light.

Where Portra 800 Performs Best And Where It Struggles

Portra 800 performs well in almost any situation. I shoot it inside on a bright day, outside in the sun, and backlit. I love it all!

It tends to struggle in low light. It isn’t a high ISO as the 800 might suggest. It needs to be overexposed quite a bit. Shooting it in lots of light will make you so happy with the results!

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Thank you so much, Jessica! Please check out Jessica’s work on Instagram and her website, and if you have questions about Kodak Portra 800, leave them in the comments.

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How To Shoot Fujifilm Acros 100 Film by Dawn Blomquist

Links to sites such as Amazon, Adorama, or KEH Camera may contain affiliate links to help support the site. If you like what we’re doing & want an easy way to support us, click one of those links before you do your shopping.

Fujifilm Neopan Acros 100 Overview: This is a low grain black and white film with great contrast. It often has a moodier look and strong blacks, especially if underexposed, but for a more clean and classic look rate it at 100 and meter for the highlights. Acros 100 likes a lot of light, but it does handle pushing well for a more contrasty look. Find it on Amazon here: Fujifilm Neopan Acros 100 in 35mm

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Fujifilm Neopan Acros 100 Review by Dawn Blomquist

I love using Acros because I feel it has more contrast in it than Ilford HP5 400 does.

   

 

What To Expect From Acros 100

This film typically creates a moody look (if it’s not pushed). I love the blacks, the shadows. I don’t do light and airy. Honestly, it really depends on what someone is looking for. If they want it lighter, it can be pushed (which in my case did create an airy b&w, not my norm).

How To Meter And Shoot Acros 100

Living in Washington has made me become more aware of light. I prefer to either overexpose for blown highlights, or underexpose for shadows and grain. I know that if I want to overexpose when there’s very little light, that I’ll need to shoot with a lower shutter speed and wide open. If I want to underexpose, I do the opposite. No hand held meter for me, I use the in-camera meter.

*Note from Shoot It With Film* If you want a cleaner more classic look from Acros, rate at box speed at meter for the highlights. It will have little to no grain and crisp contrast.

   

 

Where Acros 100 Performs Best And Where It Struggles

It performs best with lots of light. I used it for a Fresh 48 back in April, low shutter speed, didn’t rate at box speed, and had to push it. I’ve also shot it in full sun at Pike Place and loved how that turned out. It’s a lover of light. It struggles when it is overcast outside. That’s the only flaw I can think of.

   

 

 

   

 

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Thank you so much, Dawn! You can check out more of Dawn’s work on her website and her print shop.

You can pick up some Acros 100 on Amazon, and leave any questions you have about Acros 100 in the comments.

Check out all of our film reviews here!

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How To Shoot Kodak Ektar 100 by Melissa Summers

Links to sites such as Amazon, Adorama, or KEH Camera may contain affiliate links to help support the site. If you like what we’re doing & want an easy way to support us, click one of those links before you do your shopping.

Kodak Ektar 100 Overview: Ektar 100 is a bold and colorful film, perfect for bright sun. It is best rated at box speed and metered for the mid tones. With too much overexposure, you’ll see a red color shift in Caucasian skin tones. Ektar handles pushing well for some extra bold colors, especially if you are not contending with skin tones. Find it on Amazon here: Kodak Ektar 100 in 35mm and Kodak Ektar 100 in 120mm

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Kodak Ektar 100 Film Review by Melissa Summers

This is my first year of really diving into film, so I have been experimenting with a lot of different stocks.  Kodak Ektar 100 has been one of my favorites.  I love the clarity and punchy colors that come alive on Ektar.

At first I was a bit hesitant. As a digital shooter, I feared using a film in bright sunlight.  I was used to waiting for overcast days and nice spots of open shade.  While Ektar will allow you to shoot in those situations, I find that some of the best results for color come right out in the bright sunshine.  My first try with Ektar was over the summer on a trip to the beach:

What To Expect From Ektar 100

I consider Ektar to be my “going on an adventure” film because of the bright colors and playful style that Ektar lends to my photos.  My primary use for this film is documenting weekend outings.  These are usually local expeditions near my home, but I occasionally make a trip to a nearby city or countryside to capture some architecture or still life.

How To Meter And Shoot Ektar 100

The absolute best results with Ektar typically come from setting the ISO/ASA at 100 (box speed) and developing normally.  Skin tones can be tricky with Ektar and under these conditions the film must be evenly metered to get the tones right or else you will get reddish look on the skin.  I shoot 35mm film with a Nikon F100, and I use the internal spot meter to make sure it is balanced or just slightly overexposed.  I have had good results over exposing as long as it is not a face/portrait.

I have also been experimenting with rating Ektar at 400 and push +2 stops in developing. The results are some amazing colors plus some fun contrast:

Where Ektar 100 Struggles

Ektar often struggle indoors, so, in these winter months, if I have Ektar loaded in my camera, I don’t get to shoot indoors much. I don’t strive for a light and airy feel, but if I did, Ektar might not be the right choice. My style is fun, a little bit quirky, and colorful, so Ektar is perfect for me.

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Links to sites such as Amazon, Adorama, or KEH Camera may contain affiliate links to help support the site. If you like what we’re doing & want an easy way to support us, click one of those links before you do your shopping.

Written by James Baturin

   

 

Everyone has heard a version of the cliche, “A photograph is a moment in time captured for eternity.” With long exposure photography, the opposite is true: A long exposure photograph is eternity captured for a moment. This is what intrigues me about it, and why I do it. The way it shows the effects of the passage of time in a singe frame gives it a quality of mystery that is, I think, profound and wonderful. Many photos taken using this technique have an almost dream-like quality, and, indeed, the images it produces cannot be seen in ordinary reality. Our eyes can see only moments in succession, one at a time, one after the other. In a long exposure photograph we glimpse an answer to the question of how the world would look if we could see all moments at once. And I think that’s pretty awesome.

The following is a few thoughts from my experience with long exposure photography. The process takes some time and effort, and will force you to slow down, to pay attention, and be patient, but I think these are qualities any good photographer needs, especially when shooting film.

   

 

What Is Long Exposure Photography?

Any photograph taken with a shutter speed of 1 second or more can be considered a long exposure. The resulting image shows the effects of the passage of time in a single frame, which means the final image will be very different from what you see when you compose your shot.

Long exposures require you to engage your imagination, and anticipate what the effects of time and movement will be. Some effects will be somewhat predictable: a wind-blown sea can appear mysteriously calm, fast moving clouds can appear as white streaks across the sky, and a crowd of people might appear as ghosts haunting a city square. But there are always things you won’t be able to account for, no matter how imaginative you are, and this increases the sense of anticipation and excitement I have when developing a roll of long exposures. When your exposure times are minutes (or even hours!) you never know what will make its way into the frame during that time, and how it will affect the final photograph.

   

 

Supplies Needed For Long Exposures

When it comes to long exposure film photography there are only three things that are absolutely necessary:

1. A fully manual film camera with a “bulb” shutter speed setting – The “bulb” setting is typically a “B” on the shutter speed dial, and allows the shutter to be open for as long as it’s held.
2. A tripod – With long exposures, any camera shake will show up in the final image. A sturdy tripod is a must. (View tripods on Amazon)
3. Shutter Release Cable/Remote – In bulb mode, you need to hold the shutter open for as long as the exposure takes place. The shutter release cable/remote allows you to do this without touching the camera itself, so there’s no camera shake when the shutter is triggered. Older cameras use mechanical cable releases, while newer cameras have wireless remote options. (Amazon: Mechanical Shutter Release Cables. Wireless Shutter Remotes)

With these three items, you’ll be able to do some long exposures, but only in low light and at night.

4. Neutral Density (ND) Filters – Long exposures in broad daylight will require you to get your hands on special filters, called neutral density (ND) filters, that reduce the amount of light getting through the lens during an exposure. (I use B+W brand filters. You can find them on Amazon here: B+W Neutral Density Filters)

A note about ND filters: ND filters are available in a number of different densities, and can be stacked in combination to achieve the desired reduction of light. In short, the greater the density of filter(s), the longer the exposure you are able to make.

For daytime long exposures, I almost always use some combination of 3 stop, 6 stop and 10 stop ND filters (for a maximum of 19 stops). This combination of three filters is ideal for it’s versatility, but unfortunately good quality filters aren’t cheap, and this might be a problem for someone just starting out. If you can only afford one I’d start with buying a 10 stop filter, or a 3 and a 6 stop if you can afford two. Two filters gives you more versatility as you can use them individually or in combination to filter up to 9 stops.

   

 

What To Look For When Planning Long Exposures

What am I looking for when I go out to shoot long exposures? I think the most effective long exposure shots contain a combination of two elements:

1. An element of constant movement such as water, clouds, or people.
2. A strong, stable and unmoving subject.

A long exposure photo that lacks either of these elements tends to be deficient. If every element in the photo is moving the eye lacks a solid counter point to balance the simplicity and/or negative space, and, without movement, the long exposure becomes unnecessary as a normal exposure would produce the same result. Rocks, piers, and docks standing firm against a rough body of water makes good subjects, as do towering skyscrapers against the backdrop of fast moving clouds across the sky.

   

 

Calculating Exposure

One of the most challenging and unpredictable aspects of long exposure photography is calculating exposure. Exposure can be tricky enough when a photo is being exposed for a fraction of a second, and there isn’t a light meter around (that I’m aware of) that can give you a proper reading once you’ve added ND filters into the mix.

Luckily, experienced long exposure photographers have posted charts and resources online for this very purpose (BWvision Long Exposure Guide and Chart). I would suggest printing one off and keeping it in your camera bag for reference when you go out to shoot.

These charts don’t take into account every factor for calculating exposure, but they do give a really helpful starting point. They work by giving you a long exposure time based on a light meter reading under normal conditions relative to the amount of ND filters you are using. But even with these helpful charts, there is still a lot of guesswork and trial and error involved. As much as I refer to them almost every time I shoot, I think I’ve learned the most about long exposure through all of the underexposed and unsuccessful attempts I’ve made.

As I said before, long exposures do take more time and patience, but if all the calculations are bogging you down and stealing the joy that creating an image brings, then don’t be afraid to try a more intuitive approach. Even an “unsuccessful” photograph can prove to be a “success” you didn’t expect. Some of my favorite long exposures were an uncalculated afterthought at the end of a shoot to finish a roll. Some have simply been the result of a curious question: “How would it look if I tried_______?” Sometimes I’ll try the same composition using different lengths of exposure to see how different amounts of time convey the sense of movement in each. Sometimes it doesn’t work out, but I’ve also been pleasantly surprised by the unexpected. Take your time, enjoy the process, enjoy the place; be attentive to it and what it’s giving you. Take good notes, and learn from the mistakes that you’ll inevitably make. The resulting images for me are worth the extra effort.

   

 

Reciprocity Failure And Choosing A Film

When shooting long exposures with film, there’s one more factor that affects exposure to be considered. It’s called “reciprocity failure,” which is basically a fancy word that means the longer film is exposed to light, the less sensitive to light it becomes. This means that a long exposure shot is going to need more exposure than initially calculated (i.e. from what the chart says).

It took me a number of rolls of film and some research to figure out why most of my long exposures were underexposed, and reciprocity failure was my hidden culprit. To complicate the fact, each film stock is affected by it differently. Film manufacturers will have information on reciprocity failure for each specific type of film, but I recently discovered an app called “Reciprocity Timer” that calculates long exposure times for a good selection of major film types, taking reciprocity failure into account. My exposures have been much more accurate since. If you don’t have access to the app, as a general rule it’s a lot harder to overexpose a long exposure than to underexpose, especially if you’re exposures are over 1 minute. For most films, if you’re initial exposure calculation is 2 minutes you could safely expose for 3 or even 4 minutes to get a proper exposure and account for reciprocity failure.

That being said, any B&W film will work for long exposures, and which you decide to use will largely come down to personal preference. In my experience, I really like shooting with Fuji Acros 100 (Amazon: Acros 100 in 35mm and Acros 100 in 120mm) for two reasons: 1) It has a very high resistance to reciprocity failure, meaning long exposure times will be much shorter than other films, and in general easier to calculate; and 2) Long exposures tend to increase the grain in an image, which may or may not be desirable depending on the look you are going for. Fuji Acros has a very fine grain.

For those looking for more long exposure inspiration, here are some of my favorites: Michael Kenna, Rolfe Horn, Alexey Titarenko, Darren Kelland

Remember to be patient, and enjoy the process!

   

 

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Thank you so much, James! You can see more of James’s amazing work on Instagram, and leave any questions about long exposure film photography below in the comments!

Check out all of our tutorials on experimental film photography here!

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most readily available and accessible forms of creative expression, and many of us have used cameras since we can remember and have been old enough to hold one in our hands. Craig Fouché Photography offers workshops, either on a one-on-one basis or in a group format. I am here to show you how you can get the most out of your camera, by taking creative control of it an

most readily available and accessible forms of creative expression, and many of us have used cameras since we can remember and have been old enough to hold one in our hands. Craig Fouché Photography offers workshops, either on a one-on-one basis or in a group format. I am here to show you how you can get the most out of your camera, by taking creative control of it an most readily available and accessible forms of creative expression, and many of us have used cameras since we can remember and have been old enough to hold one in our hands. Craig Fouché Photography offers workshops, either on a one-on-one basis or in a group format. I am here to show you how you can get the most out of your camera, [pix_box type=” info”]most readily available and accessible forms of creative expression, and many of us have used cameras since we can remember and have been old enough to hold one in our hands. Craig Fouché Photography offers workshops, either on a one-on-one basis or in a group format. I am here to show you how you can get the most out of your camera, by taking creative control of it an[/pix_box]by taking creative control of it an most readily available and accessible forms of creative expression, and many of us have used cameras since we

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Develop Color Film At Home by Amy Berge

Written by Amy Berge

After writing this article, I realized I forgot the most important piece. It’s so important that it deserves its own preface!

YOU DO NOT NEED A DARK ROOM TO DO THIS. You don’t even need a lot of space. You just need a sink and a changing bag. Once you get your film in the tank in your changing bag, it is light tight and can be worked with in daylight. The investment to do this is relatively minimal, will pay for itself before you know it, and the developing process is so much easier than you might think. So please read this article with the idea that you, too, can develop your own film at home!

Why I Decided To Develop Color Film At Home

In January of 2017, I took the plunge into developing my own black and white film (you can read about developing your own black and white film here), but the idea of conquering C-41 color film weighed heavily on my mind. I was afraid of C-41. People said it was difficult, it was something I had never done, and I have a local lab that will do it in a few hours for a few dollars, so what was the point of trying anyway?

But my local lab won’t push film, and most labs won’t develop film soup so as not to ruin the chemicals or other customers’ film (read more about film soup here). Not only was the idea of having more creative freedom within the film world alluring, but, maybe more importantly, like many other film photographers, I consistently operate under the fear that something I love will disappear. Whether it’s fear your favorite film will be discontinued or your local lab will stop processing, we all have a fear of someone else taking away our opportunity to shoot this medium that we love. THIS. This is what drove me to learn how to do it myself.

As a good Millennial, I immediately turned to YouTube for instruction. If you want to learn it, it’s on YouTube, right? Right. After watching a couple of videos I felt empowered; it didn’t seem so different from developing black and white, and I already had a lot of the tools I needed, including basic know-how for film developing.

Without delay, here’s how I develop C-41 at home:

How To Develop C-41 Color Film

Supplies:

Links are included to the products I use:

1. Paterson Tank and Reels – Same one I use to develop black and white film. – (Adorama: Paterson Photographic Universal Tank)
2. Funnels – I use a separate funnel for the chemicals so I don’t cross-contaminate. – (Amazon: Nopro Plastic Funnel)
3. Plastic beaker for measuring water when the chemicals are mixed – This is the same one I use for developing black and white. – (Amazon: SEOH Plastic Beaker Set)
4. Thermometer – I bought a two-pack, but, lately, I have only been checking the temp of the developer since the blix has more latitude. I also labeled which thermometer is for which chemical so I don’t cross-contaminate. – (Amazon: Home Brew Stuff 12″ Dial Thermometer)
5. Basin for heating up bottles – (Amazon: Sterilite 12qt Dishpan)
6. 3 opaque bottles – The size will depend on what kit you buy. I have the kit that makes 1L chemicals, so I bought the 1000ml bottle. – (Adorama: Photographers’ Formulary 1000ml Plastic Bottle)
7. C-41 kit – The kit will contain developer, blix (a combination of bleach and fixer), and stabilizer. There are lots of kits out there, but I have used the one from Film Photography Project. They also sell a 2L kit! – (Film Photography Project: FPP C-41 Development Kit)
8. Timer – I use the Massive Dev Chart app for this, which is also what I use for black and white film. This app doesn’t have a C-41 setting, but I found a way to hack one. The instructions linked don’t have the correct times for manual developing, but gives you an idea how to edit the settings.
9. Scissors for cutting the 35mm off the end of the spool and for evening out the tab – I stated this in my last tutorial, but I use safety scissors because me with sharp objects in an opaque bag is a recipe for blood. (Amazon: Blunt Tip Scissors)
10. Church Key for opening up a 35mm film canister – (Amazon: Bottle and Can Punch Opener)
11. Changing bag for getting the film onto the reels – (Amazon: Film Changing Bags, Adorama: Large Changing Bag)

Your kit will recommend gloves, mask, and goggles. Do I use them? No, but that’s because I’m a risk-taker (JK, I’m actually a rule-follower.) I’m honestly just too lazy to stock them, but I’m sure it actually is smarter to heed their advice and take these precautions. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ (Find gloves, masks, and safety glasses on Amazon)

C-41 Color Film Developing Process:

The good news is that you will receive instructions with your chemical kit! The other good news is that C-41 (with blix) is all the same developing time and the same process so what I outline here should match what your instructions say.

Mixing Chemicals

Some people say C-41 is easier than black and white, and I kind of get that because you mix your chemicals once and keep reusing them until they’ve run their course. (Basically when you stop liking your results is how you know they’ve run their course. It will be a gradual decline so it’s up to you to decide when your results are less than ideal, at which point you’ll mix fresh chemicals.)

Before mixing my chemicals, I mark all my bottles and caps with a D, B, or S (developer, blix, stabilizer) so that the caps will never cross-contaminate the bottles. I also mix my chemicals completely backwards; I start with the stabilizer, then do the blix, and finally developer. The developer is the most critical, temperature-wise, so I do that last so when all the chemicals are mixed I can start developing my rolls without fear that the temperature has dropped too much.

Stabilizer: This is the easy one since it can be at room temperature. For this one I pour all 1000ml of water into a bottle, then funnel in the stabilizer, cap it, shake it up, and set it aside.

Blix: It’s most common to find chemical kits (for manual use) where the bleach and fixer are joined in a single step (hence the name “blix”). Some purists refuse to combine these steps, but it’s relatively difficult to find kits that will ship in the mail with the bleach and fixer separate.

For this step, I get my water up to 110º and pour 800ml of it into the bottle. I then funnel in the packets marked Blix A and Blix B, cap it, shake it up, uncap it, and add the remaining 200ml water. Then, I cap it, shake it up, and set it aside.

Many of the guys on YouTube remark how this is the “nasty stuff.” And it is. But if you ever highlighted your friends’ hair with Frost and Glow back in the late 90s/early 2000s, then this smell will be reminiscent of your teen years, pulling strands through the highlighting cap, trying to achieve that perfectly chunky look a la Britney that we all strived for.

Developer: I get my water up to 110º and pour 800ml water in one of my bottles. I then funnel the developer into the bottle, cap it, shake it up, and open it to funnel the remaining 200ml of water into the bottle. Then, I cap it, shake it, and set it aside.

Developing

Now that your chemicals are mixed, you can go right into developing your rolls!

If you’re working with chemicals that were previously mixed and cooled back down to room temp, you will need to heat up the developer and blix to 102º. I do this by placing the capped bottles into a basin and running hot water into the basin. Some people use a sous vide (find on Amazon), but so far the basin method has worked fine for me. Once I start warming up the bottles, I load the film onto reels, and, by the time I get back, my chemicals are just about at 102º. I keep separate thermometers and funnels for my developer and blix because you never want fixer to get in the developer; it will kill it like it’s its job…which it is.

Once your chemicals are up to 102º, you’re ready to start!

1. Pre-Soak: (1 min) Fill your developing tank up with 102º water and let sit for one minute, pour out.
2. Developer: (3.5 minutes) Pour in developer and agitate with the agitation stick for 10 seconds. Place cap on the developing tank and invert tank four times every 30 seconds. Funnel the developer back into its bottle.
3. Blix: (6.5 minutes) Pour in blix and use same agitation scheme as above. (Note: there is NO rinse cycle between developer and blix!) Funnel the blix back into its bottle.
4. Wash: (3 min) Rinse film, while still in the developing tank, under running water (between 95-105º)
5. Stabilizer: (30 seconds) Pour in stabilizer, agitate for 15 seconds, and let sit for 15 seconds. Funnel back into its bottle.

You’re now ready to take the film off the reel, squeegee (I use the two-finger method…some people don’t squeegee at all), and then hang your film to dry for a few hours or overnight. I hang mine on a line in the basement with a binder clip (find on Amazon) at the top and one at the bottom to weigh the film down so it dries straight.

And you’re done! People, this is literally IT. And since all C-41 film gets processed for the same amount of time, you can use these directions for every film stock (unless you’re pushing your film.) It also goes incredibly fast. I was so used to the slow pace of black and white processing that the first time I did C-41, I actually felt panicked. (Note: This is ridiculous. There’s actually nothing to feel panicked about.)

Helpful Videos For Developing C-41 At Home

If you are more of a visual learner, here are the videos that helped me get started:

1. Home Developing Color Film at lomography.com
2. Develop Color Negatives At Home from Film Photography Project on YouTube

How To Push Film During Developing

Pushing film is a process of adjusting developing times to compensate for underexposure. It also tends to add more contrast and color saturation to your images. To push your film, simply increase the developing time by 25% for each stop pushed. (Everything else stays the same). So if you want to push your film one stop, you’d multiply 3.5 minutes by 1.25 and develop for 4.4 minutes (the math major in me needs to point out that 4.4 minutes IS NOT the same as 4 minutes 40 seconds. It’s 4 minutes and .4 minutes. To convert the .4 minutes to seconds, multiply by 60 to get 24 seconds. So you would develop your film for 4 minutes 24 seconds) Likewise, if you want to push two stops, you multiply 3.5 minutes by 1.5 to get 5.25 minutes (or 5 minutes 15 seconds).

   

   

How To Cross-process Film

One of the ways I wanted to experiment with film was by cross-processing. Basically cross-processing is a technique that involves taking color negative film, which is usually processed in C-41 chemicals, or taking slide film, which is usually processed in E6 chemicals, and using the opposite chemicals to process them. So, if you wanted to cross-process, you’d process your color negatives in E6 or your slide film in C-41. The most common type of cross-processing involves taking slide film and developing it in C-41. This will give the developed film high contrast and fun color shifts.

Whether or not cross-processing ruins your chemicals is up for hot debate on the internet, but from what I could tell, more people said it doesn’t ruin your chemicals. So I went with the majority and assumed it would be a totally great idea to use my fresh, new C-41 chemicals to cross process some Fujichrome Provia 100F. It was January, and I needed some experimentation in my life. Winter was already seeming long, my creativity was waning, and I needed to mix things up.

When I pulled my Provia off the spool I was giddy because I could see images! I more than half expected it to be blank or messed up somehow. After waiting what seemed like forever for it to dry (Related: is anyone looking to get rid of a film dryer?) I finally scanned my negatives and was elated with the results. High contrast! Color shifts! My creativity