scott_kinkade

<p>Hey, I'm a conservative guy, military background, usually side with the police or "authorities" in these matters. But I'm tired of these stupid news stories about people taking photos and then "disappearing." Either photography is prohibited in an area or it's not. If it's not, then it's pointless to go up to someone and bother them for taking photos. If it is, then point to the sign saying that it is and ask them to stop (and in those cases you're usually in a controlled area anyway, where someone has actual authority to enforce the prohibition.)</p>

<p>Question to ponder: what does someone normally do when they are finished taking photos, whatever the purpose? That's right: leave the area!</p>

<p><em>i have visions of the movie "spies like us"</em></p>

<p>I use a device similar to the Radical Vertical Impact Simulator for agitating my developing film.</p>

<p>I recommend that whatever process and chemicals you select, stick with them for several rolls unless something is clearly not working for you. Get familiar and consistent with your one technique, then you can start to experiment when you have a specific new thing to try.<br>

<br /> I'm fairly new to developing myself, but I can tell you that it's the number one thing that keeps me interested in taking pictures on film. Good luck and have fun!</p>

<p>Hi Stephany...<br>

As long as you are talking about developing film only, as opposed to making photographic prints, a changing bag is definitely the way to go. With a little practice, it's quite easy to load your developing tank in the bag. Once the lid is on the tank, you can take it out of the bag and do the whole thing in normal light.</p>

Wesley, why are you talking about buying an $800 camera in the same thread where you asked if a Seagull would suffice? Your requirements for a camera are very common. The advice given here fits those requirements. You should be able to find a very nice camera, delivered to your home in Korea, for less than $200 U.S.<div></div>

Hi Njeri...<BR><BR>

 

Of the guides offered so far, I prefer Randall's first link. The basic process for a beginner can be much simpler than many guides will tell you.<BR><BR>

 

Remember that all you need for chemistry are developer and fixer, with a washing aid (such as Photo Flo) being an optional but highly recommended and cheap third chemical. For hardware all you need are a changing bag, thermometer, and a tank with spools. I left out a couple common sense household items like measuring cups, water, and line to hang your negatives.<BR><BR>

 

My basic steps are<BR><BR>

 

1 - Load tank<BR>

2 - Develop<BR>

3 - Stop (with water)<BR>

4 - Fix<BR>

5 - Rinse (with water and washing aid)<BR><BR>

 

Keep it simple at first! After you do it a few times you'll figure out any additional stuff you want to improve YOUR process.

I second the Ilford wash method: fill developing tank with water and invert 5 times; change water and invert 10 times; change water and invert 20 times. You're done!

 

Water stop also works for my process and may for yours as well.

Thanks Phil!

 

I shot all these at 400...no pushing. The night shots were done on a tripod, and I held the shutter open for probably 8-10 seconds or so.

 

Cheers,

Scott

Handheld, no flash...<div></div>

My son, 2 at the time, always runs toward me when I have a camera. It's tricky.<div></div>

Notice the climbing road midway up the left edge...I saw a street musician up there later, and I regret that he didn't appear in this picture!<div></div>

Another...<div></div>

Fellow members...

 

Almost two years ago I was just starting to play around with medium format

photography (and film processing,) and I posted here asking here for advice on

B&W film for an upcoming trip to Prague. I received a number of helpful

responses, and it was probably rude of me to not post some pics when I got back!

So here are a few, all shot on HP5+ with a Yashica-Mat 124, processed in D-76,

and scanned with an Epson flatbed. Many thanks for the advice and good reading

over the last two years!<div></div>

Mr. Dainis...

 

I would like to point out that the levity that you stepped in to prevent was posted in conjunction with good, relevant advice to the original post. I'm a bit surprised that a bit of joking between community members, in and among the photography talk, would be frowned upon.

 

Unfortunately, I felt compelled to respond to your admonishment but I have nothing to add to the thread, so I will not take offense if you delete this post.

 

Cheers,

Scott 1:9

Luke...

 

If you want an irregular shape, it may make more sense to have the whole image printed, then crop the print by cutting away what you don't want.

 

If you have already cropped a digital image and saved the cropped version over the original (not recommended,) then you may want to use your software to change the "canvas size" back to the original size, even though the extra areas will be blank. The important thing here is not so much the size as the shape: if you give someone a non-standard shape to print, then you may not be happy with the decisions they make about how to fit it into a standard print. If they try to fill up the paper they are working with, then they will crop even more from your photo.

 

If you are using Photoshop, then probably your best bet is to crop by setting a standard size (shape!) in the crop tool, probably 4X6, 5X8, or 8X10. Note that these are all slightly different shapes.

Harry, I should point out that you didn't start getting the snarky responses until you responded with sarcasm to a simple answer to your simple question, and it's difficult to interpret your question as anything other than, "How do I make a proper exposure with my camera?"

 

At any rate, remember that "setting the ISO" is a function that relates to light meters rather than to cameras. Even in the case of an automatic camera, the ISO setting is used to control the camera's response to a particular reading by the built-in light meter. When there is no light meter, there is no need for an ISO setting, and it falls to the photographer to make a proper exposure.

Allow me to both play semantics and nitpick in the same simple post:

 

- Unless you have an automatic camera, all you are really doing when you set the ISO is changing the aperture and and shutter speed RECOMMENDATIONS that your camera gives you for a given amount of light. You are not really over-riding anything...you're just telling the camera what type of film you have, so its light meter can make a recommendation.

 

- The point about shooting the whole roll at one ISO is not so much the shooting as the developing. You can easily shoot a roll at many different ISOs; it is much more difficult to DEVELOP at many different ISOs. On a digital camera, each frame is a completely separate process, so each frame can be produced with whatever settings you choose.

I graduated from college in 1989, so I'd estimate that your film is no older than about 6 years.

Enric...

 

There's a decent chance your cameras will come with empty spools in them. In fact, you may want to verify that they don't have FILM in them before you open them up.

Just to be clear: crank clockwise until it stops, then crank counter-clockwise until it stops.

 

I think it's about a half or three-quarters turn either direction, based on memory.

<i>there is very little difference in negative size between 6x4.5 and 6x6...</i><BR><BR>

 

6X6 is 33% bigger...I guess one can decide for oneself whether that is a big difference or not. I don't know anything about 6X4.5, but I do know geometry!

Hi Roman...

<BR><BR>

That's a beautiful portfolio!<BR><BR>

 

Maybe it would help to restate what your actual question was: <i>"Do you think I'll be satisfied with the scan results I'll get from this flatbed? I know they will be subpar to a dedicated film scanner but by how much?"</i> It is clear that you understand that a flatbed scanner will not do as good a job as a dedicated film scanner, so pointing that out will not help you. But it <i>is</i> possible--easy, even--to get nice results from a flatbed. Whether the results are acceptable to you probably comes down to how big your prints are and how discerning you are. But they <i>will</i> look good.<BR><BR>

 

Consider this: you are interested in the "process" of shooting and handling medium format film...but you are not doing it, because of this question. Why not try it and see?<BR><BR>

 

My 3 cents.

I'm curious...in what type of photography class is one expected to show up with an "alternative process" print without any sort of instruction about how to do it?

Hi Alex.

 

The Yashica A is in the well-populated family of Yashica twin lens reflex cameras. They are all very widely used even today. If you google "Yashica A" you can spend all day reading about it and its siblings. Hopefully you have one and will enjoy taking some pictures with it!

Perla...<BR><BR>

 

To answer your question simply and directly: <a href="http://verba.chromogenic.net/archives/2005/04/become_your_own.html">this site</a> has a complete list of materials--with links to buy online--for developing black and white film. The whole thing is less than $60 US (don't know where you live or what shipping might cost from this particular store, though.) No darkroom is needed for the film only. If you also want to make prints, that's another procedure entirely.<BR><BR>Good luck!