I processed a mixed batch of film last weekend. This included the last of my exposed but not yet processed 4" x 5" sheet film from 2009. I checked my records and find that I still have over 400 sheets to go. This includes about 4 from 2010, about 50 from 2011, and lots from 2012 and 2013. There are even a few sheets that I have shot in 2014. I will continue to chip away at this backlog and try not to fall so far behind. It is difficult for me to remember what everything is when it comes time to checking my field notes, comparing them to the processed film, and attempting record some file data with the negatives when I put them away. Slowly but surely I am getting caught up on this backlog. I checked my files and found that I have shot nearly 6000 sheets of 4" x 5" black and white negative film since I bought my first view camera in 1996.
Most of this last batch included Efke PL25M, given N+1 development in Rodinal. This has become one of my favorite films, though for most subject matter I prefer normal development. This is a very slow film with a smooth tonal range, great mid-tones and nice contrast. Unfortunately it has now been discontinued, and there is nothing currently manufactured that comes close. Perhaps that will change in the future, though I am not holding my breath. I do have an inventory of at least a couple of hundred sheets of unexposed film in my freezer so I will be able to keep shooting it for at least a few more years.
Most of the film that I processed this time around included duplicate negatives of images that I had also shot on other types of film. There were four images in this batch that I found quite remarkable, and this particular film and developer combination seemed to yield results superior to what I had done previously with other materials.
This shot was taken in the summer of 2013.
It was taken while my cousin and her family were visiting from Germany.
It was shot down in the Red Deer River Badlands of southern Alberta.
This detail shot of an abandoned Buick Century was taken in 2012.
It was taken up in the Heartland area, northeast of Edmonton.
This image was taken on the Monochrome Guild Spring Photo Weekend in 2012.
This well known spot is in Banff National Park, at Second Vermilion Lake.
This was once a large pond behind a beaver dam but in recent years the dam has
deterioriated and the pond has drained away, leaving these stumps exposed.
The last one in this batch is an old abandoned house, taken in 2010.
Trees are beginning to grow up around this old house and overtake it.
It is located east of Edmonton, not far from Elk Island National Park
.
The batch also included a few negatives taken on some long expired Agfapan 25 film. This particular film reached it's expiry date almost 25 years ago, in 1990. Upon closer inspection I see that some of the negatives show some speckles on the emulsion that is probably mold or fungus attacking the gelatin. I think I have to throw away what remains of the open box that I have been working with the last couple of years and pull a sealed package [of the same vintage] out of my freezer and see if that is any better. Some of the images are fine, while others seem to be developing freckles. This is fairly evident in a previous post to my blog made a couple of days ago. These two images seem to be OK... though perhaps a little flat in the case of the landscape shot.
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