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Process
Darkroom notes.
Notes on developing black and white film at home, stand development, and printing. Written for my own reference. Useful if you're doing the same thing.
The darkroom
I've had a darkroom in my house in Tampa for twelve years. Before that, I used a shared darkroom at a community arts center. Before that, I sent film out for processing and never printed my own work. The darkroom changed everything.
The darkroom is a converted bathroom. The enlarger is a Durst M605 with a 50mm Rodagon lens for 35mm and a 80mm Rodagon for medium format. The trays are 11x14 for most work, 16x20 for larger prints. The safelight is a Thomas Duplex Super.
In Florida, temperature control is the main challenge. The developer temperature needs to be consistent. In summer, the tap water here is 80 degrees Fahrenheit. I use a water bath to bring the developer to 68 degrees before processing.
Developing black and white film at home
What you need
Developing your own black and white film is not difficult. You need a developing tank (I use a Paterson Universal), a changing bag or darkroom for loading, a thermometer, and chemicals. The chemicals are developer, stop bath, and fixer. That's it.
I use HC-110 dilution B as my standard developer. It's a liquid concentrate that keeps indefinitely. Mix it 1:31 from the concentrate (or 1:63 for dilution H, which is more economical). Development time for HP5 at 68 degrees is 7.5 minutes with continuous agitation for the first 30 seconds and 4 inversions every minute thereafter.
Stop bath is diluted acetic acid. I use Kodak Indicator Stop Bath at 1:63. Thirty seconds with continuous agitation. Fixer is Kodak Rapid Fixer at 1:4. Five minutes for most films. Wash for 10 minutes in running water. Hang to dry.
Stand development
Rodinal 1:100
Stand development is a technique where you mix a very dilute developer, agitate briefly at the start, and then leave the film alone for an extended period -- typically 60 minutes. The developer exhausts in the highlights before the shadows are fully developed, which compresses the tonal range and gives you detail in both bright highlights and deep shadows.
I use Rodinal at 1:100 for stand development. Mix the developer, pour it into the tank, agitate continuously for the first minute, then leave it for 60 minutes. No further agitation. The results are consistent and the negatives are easy to print.
Stand development is particularly useful in Florida, where the high-contrast light creates negatives that are difficult to print conventionally. The compressed tonal range from stand development makes printing easier.
My standard stand development process
Rodinal 1:100 / 68 degrees F / 60 minutes / Agitate first minute, then stand / Stop bath 30 seconds / Fixer 5 minutes / Wash 10 minutes
Split-grade printing
Variable contrast paper
Split-grade printing is a technique for variable contrast paper where you make two exposures: one at grade 0 (soft) to establish the highlights, and one at grade 5 (hard) to establish the shadows. The two exposures combine to give you a print with full tonal range.
The advantage over single-grade printing is control. You can adjust the highlight exposure and the shadow exposure independently. If the highlights are too bright, reduce the grade 0 exposure. If the shadows are too dark, reduce the grade 5 exposure.
I use Ilford Multigrade IV RC Deluxe for most work and Ilford Multigrade Warmtone Fiber for prints I intend to keep. The fiber paper takes longer to process and wash, but the archival quality is better and the surface is more pleasant.
My standard split-grade process: grade 0 exposure until highlights are just visible, grade 5 exposure until shadows are correct, develop in Ilford Multigrade developer 1:9 for 90 seconds, stop bath 30 seconds, fix 3 minutes, wash 30 minutes for fiber or 4 minutes for RC.
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