Developing B&W Film

[steve_lacey]

 

 

<p>Andrew -- First let me say how great it is to see someone go into black and white negative processing and learn photography from there. You have been getting some great responses on the basics here but I will put in a few extras for them.<br>

Before I add my 2¢ worth --- For a really great guide to BW film processing get the Ansel Adams book "The Negative". I have used is over and over for years and still can find subtleties of processing or something new to try to refine my development. It has lots of detail technically, but is easily understandable by the beginner. Here's the link to Amazon so you know which book I am talking about: http://www.amazon.com/Negative-Ansel-Adams-Photography-Book/dp/0821221868/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1246821996&sr=1-1<br>

Ok, since film development is a chemical reaction, everything you do for development, you can control to make it consistent. Keep a record of everything you do each time and break it down to: Film ( your exposure should have been noted somewhere else and this one rule is important=expose for the shadows and develop for the highlights ), developer ( this controls the negative overall ), dilution ( controls contrast, grain increases with more dilution, sharpness-more dilute, detail in shadows vs highlights ), temperature, agitation ( gets fresh chemicals to the emulsion so the reaction is even throughout--as you progress you will learn that the developer reaction for the highlights slows down or becomes more exhausted faster than the shadows because it has more to process, this can be used for even more control but the agitation frequency is less=you need to gain an "eye" for contrast and detail first which takes time and repetition ). Once you can get consistent with the same repetitive development and the negative comes out consistent, you can change one factor -- this is usually the development time to change the contrast for proper density to print and for detail or for effect. Until you can actually judge how the negative density looks (it may be thin - very little density or thick meaning the darkest part will be the highlights but difficult to print through) by holding it up to a light, you really need to do test prints on #2 paper. Once you start making these dev changes, see the difference in the print. This is after all why you control the negative in the first place... to print an image that you like subjectively which includes the technical and the subject matter. Ansel was the master at this and so a great teacher.<br>

Small tank development temperature needs to be as consistent as possible. Once you pour in the developer, the combination of agitation and surface temp of the tank can change the temp as it is processing. To check this, measure the temp after the dev to see how much it has changed. To minimize this get a tray or bowl a put water in it that is the same temp as the dev to keep the tank in when not agitating. This will keep it more consistent.<br>

Doing the small test strips can be important as reference materials and records to refer back to and see how your processing is changing. Keep these well labeled. Don't forget to keep the test prints with the same neg strips. This will help you SEE what is going on as your negatives change. If you would like to get more technical - to help your dev - get a gray scale strip or page to shoot for testing your exposure and processing. This will speed up the learning about contrast even if it take more time to do. You can see the grain better this way for comparisons. Personally, I always shoot extra frames( full roll if possible ) on a subject to use as a test strip(s) for processing before I process the important images. Even with all my experience, it still can help make the image better.<br>

You may be a little frustrated in the beginning because there is so much to absorb but once you get the basics ( repetition ), the fun will just increase when you see what you can do. Last but not least is having a friend(s) you can to share the whole process with. You will learn faster and have more fun and will imagine more and more possibilities as time goes on.</p>