Fantasy Landscapes

Have been researching all afternoon on my annual leave and have discovered the following wbesite:

http://www.ephotozine.com/

it's very helpful and informative and has given me some ideas which i now need to develop - unsure how! 

Double Page Spread!

Editorial Page

My Final Editorial Page!

Film Developing 08.03.11

      Depending on the ISO will decide the development time.

      20 degrees centigrade for the chemicals, if it’s hotter the development is quicker and this increases the contrast, whereas if the temperature is cooler the development is slower

      Mix the water to the right temperature first and then add the developer/fixer to top up.  Always mix water than you need as it’s easier.

      Developer – to cover 1 spiral you require 10fl oz and there are 2 spirals in each canister would need twice the amount.  To mix it the ratio is 9 parts water to 1 part developer (18fl oz of water and 2fl oz of developer).  Use an apron and goggles to protect yourself against the chemicals.  They are also surgical gloves if you have sensitive skin.

      Mixer – to mix the fix the ratio is 4 parts water to 1 part mixer (16fl oz of water and 4fl oz of fix)

      Once you have got the developer and mixer ready, you are ready to develop the film.  Your pour the developer into the canister first so take the lid off and pour it in as quick as possible.  Put the top back on securely and flip the canister up and down to agitate the developer to cover the film for the first 30 seconds and then for 10 seconds every minute of the development time.  (We checked the development time and it was 6.5 minutes for our 400 ISO film – we were using a new brand of film so we averaging out times between the brands listed).

      Once the developer has reached the allotted time, swirl the chemicals around the canister, take the top off and pour them down the sink.  Rinse the canister out under the tap and then pour in the fix.  Put the cap back on and agitate the chemicals again.  Fixing is normally twice as long as the developing time but allow longer (you can under fix the negatives with not enough time so they will appear to be ok but then after a few hours they start to fade, but you cannot over fix).

      You can reuse the fix mixture so save it into a bottle and label it.

      After fixing, pour out and leave the canisters under the tap for at least 20 minutes to wash.  

      The negatives are then taken off of the spools and hung to dry in the drying cupboard for about 20 minutes.  Always use tongs with rubber edges to squeeze excess water off (to prevent any water marks).

      Once dry, ensure the work space is clear and dry and free of dust so you can lay the negatives on the table whilst you cut them and put them into the wallet to prevent any scratches or dust gathering on the negatives.

We all took turns in the above process each doing our own part.  I didn’t want to touch the chemicals this time due to skin issues but it was interesting to watch and see us all work as a team (whilst people were doing this we were concentrating on the time to ensure the agitation stages were completed).  However, there was a minor incident when one of the canisters wasn’t secured properly and the spools fell out whilst rinsing after the developing stage.  Marc was concerned that these 2 films might not come out but they were quick to react and put return them to the canister.  At first glance when the negatives were being hung up to dry, it appears they might be ok.

I helped Marc hang them up to dry and it was little bit exciting to see the negatives to know that was our work that we had produced.  I helped to cut them into 5 or 6 negatives in order for them to go into the protective wallets whilst others put them in the wallets.  It’s quite tricky as you don’t have much room between each negative for any error!  I can’t wait until next week when we have time to print.

Film Printing 15.03.11

To start with I worked with Sarah to produce some contact prints in order to be able to see the other negatives easier than holding them up to the light.  This would then help us determine what photos to print from the negatives.  To put the negatives in the contact print frame was a little tricky because you couldn’t really touch them unless you were holding them by the edges so you didn’t ruin the negative.  Once the negatives were in the frame, the darkroom was changed to the red light conditions so we could set the enlarger up to the settings we required.  This enabled us to see the light from the enlarger in order to establish the aperture, the focus and the size of the photo.  Once this was all set up I turned the light off on the enlarger and took the photograph paper out of the box.  I put this paper in the contact print frame and then closed the frame so the negatives were sitting on top of the paper and exposed the negatives for 10 seconds.

The paper was then placed in the developer for 1 minute, the stop bath for a rinse and then the fix for 10 minutes.  After a couple of minutes it was possible to take the contact print out into the hall in order to have a look at it to determine which photos might be printed and then upon returning to the darkroom it would need to be returned to the fix.  After the fix, you rinse the photo for 10 minutes and run it through the dryer. 

I also produced a test strip.  This is where you set the exposure for 3 seconds at a time and cover up some parts of the paper until it has been exposed.  You then move the cover down and expose for another 3 seconds until all the paper has been done so you can establish what exposure is correct for the photo you are about to print.

From this test strip I worked out that I wanted an exposure of Agy’s photo of between 9 seconds (slightly too light) and 12 seconds (slightly too dark).  I opted for 11 seconds and I was pleased with the result.  For the photo of Steve, because it was darker I opted for 10 seconds and again I was pleased with this result.  The focussing of the enlarger was the trickiest part to work out but I think I was successful on this.  (you couldn’t focus it on the paper with the light on so you had to use the board as the guide).

As you place the photos in the developer and wait for the image to start to appear, there is something magical about watching your work appear before your eyes.    I loved watching and waiting and completing the whole process.  You don’t realise how quick the time passes until you have to stop printing because of the times required for developing and then start packing up.  Once you have done it you just repeat the process for the next print and it is relatively simple as long as you are concentrating.