jeudi 4 novembre 2004

Mix & Match... Films and Developers Considering there are around two dozen black-and-white film emulsions available from Agfa (alas, by 2005 no more), Fuji, Ilford, Kodak and some lesser known European firms... and that they also produce around two dozen different film developers in both powder and liquid forms, is it any wonder that traditional photographers are continually tempted to try new "wonder combinations" in order to get that "something extra" out of their equipment and technique for their creative art. The combinations become vastly greater when one factors in the hundred or more commercially available developers available from many niche-producers including Wolfgang Moersch to name just one - and admittedly a very fine photographer and printer. The good news is that nearly every developer will work with nearly every film. The bad news is that it will take a lifetime in the darkroom to try each combination. Sooner or later, I hope, most of us realise that the manufacturers know what they are talking about on those small pieces of paper that come free with their products. They know what works best... if your results do not come up to scratch, there must be something wrong with your technique rather than the manufacturer's researches, descriptions and final instructions. Because there are so many variables in photography it is best to eliminate as many of them as possible. By constantly changing films and developers more variables are introduced. But finding the right combination and refining it through practice does at least enable you to produce predictable results. Conventional photography is based on silver-gelatin films. The grains of silver salts are relatively small in slow films and larger in faster films. If you make exposures in bright light with slow-speed film you will see smooth tonal gradation. If you make exposures in low light with fast-speed film you usually see the grain. There are different reasons why grain in a print should or should not be visible. Some photographers and critical viewers dislike seeing it... for others it is the essence of the medium. There are instances when it is valid... and subjects for which it is generally unacceptable. However, you should be practised enough to produce photographs under extreme conditions of lighting from good to bad, with guaranteed results. That is why it's advisable to have two good film and developer combinations in your armoury. Classic Combinations I have two favourite combinations which I first used 25 or so years ago; Ilford FP4 in ID-11 diluted 1+1, and the same company's HP5 in ID-11 undiluted stock solution. I have tried many other combinations in-between but usually come back to these two basic "classics" for their known effects and for the results I want. Ilford's ID-11 has to be mixed-up from a two-part powder pack. I use commercial bottled water (Volvic... always on hand as I drink it a lot) for all powdered developers because it is better than filtered tap-water in consistency. Before use I take the "strong edge" off the freshly mixed 2.5 litres of developer by adding half a litre of the old developer stock solution to the fresh mixture. Ilford ID-11 developer can be reused with extended development times for each additional throughput of film, or it can be diluted 1+1 or 1+3 and used as a "one-shot" developer... that is, used once and then thrown away. The development times for one-shot use are correspondingly longer, although constant, and there is a plus with an increase in sharpness. This is particularly true for FP4, (and especially with the new FP4 Plus)... the extended time with diluted developer resulting in a compensating action, allowing full development of shadows without blocking-up the highlights. Extra care has to be taken with extended development because of the increase in agitation cycles which can over-develop the film. Also, a possible decrease in tank / chemical temperature can result in under-development of the film. There are different recommendations for tank agitation, most of which are too vigourous in many people's opinions. As long as there is a small airspace in the developing tank, three gentle inversions at the end of each minute is enough for a film to be adequately developed without the developer becoming exhausted. Too much agitation leads to an increase in grain size and contrast... too little and the film may be under-developed and possibly streaky. Tank Agitation Don't use a rotary processor for developing fine-grain films; the continuous agitation is generally too vigourous to produce easily printable negatives with most developers... except the tanning developer PMK Pyro which I'll write about another time. On the other hand, if you want a grainy effect, continuous agitation will help produce it. The difficulty here with modern films is that they are so good their grain is difficult to see. The old Ilford HP3 and HP4 films produced a striking grain pattern when over-exposed and over-developed, but with the recent HP5 Plus emulsion the grain is harder to reveal and print. It's impossible to duplicate someone else's methods and expect identical results. The only way to find out what your equipment, materials and methods do is to test them. Don't do this on an important subject... try it on something easily repeatable. A very simple film speed / development technique is to expose most of a roll of 36-exposure film to various subjects in good lighting conditions. At some point also expose a few frames of the film to an 18% Grey Card... if you don't have one find either a mid-toned brick wall, area of grey stone, patch of darkish skin, or average weathered wood. Make a few exposures of one or more of these objects with the lens out of focus. You are not looking for detail... just an even mid-tone. Developing your film according to the manufacturer's dilution, time and temperature. When dry, you should just be able to read clear black text on white paper, in good light (as above) of the test exposures of the out-of-focus mid-tone subjects. As I said before, you really have to experiment to find your own preference. The important thing is not to search forever using every combination possible. By all means try a few, then concentrate on two. By doing this you will be in greater control and able to repeat the desired effects whenever you want. Captions - top photo: Avebury Stone Circle, Wiltshire taken on llford FP4 film developed in ID-11 at 1+7. The fine grain of this combination has captured the smooth texture of the weathered stone. By chance I met Fred Picker of Zone VI Workshop on one of my many visits there... and learnt how to be respectful by not questioning him too much whilst he was under the dark-cloth photographing! ;-( Middle photo: Portrait of one of my daughters - now married with her own family and commercial website creation company Indyzign in Ontario, Canada. This was taken on Ilford HP5 developed in ID-11 at 1+1. This combination is ideal for informal portraits and candid pictures allowing a shutter speed fast enough for fast hand-held camera work. 9:11:38 PM    comment []