Not only have I had to return to my job, after a long and wonderful Chrismas break, but now the weather has also taken a turn for the worse. The days are mostly sunny and clear, but short, and somewhat ideal for photography, except for the temperature. Daytime highs have been around -20C the last few days, and there has been a breeze that makes if feel even colder... Overnight the temperature has dropped down as low as about -30C...!!
Being trapped indoors a lot at this time of year this is typically when I catch up on some of my photo notes, my printing, and some of my testing and evaluation. When I say that I am testing a new developer this may sound very technical, but actually it is very subjective. Initially when I first start working with a film that is new to me, I will carry out some rather technical darkroom testing. This involves exposing several pieces of film through a step tablet, and then developing them for various times. The resulting negatives are measured with a densitometer. These density values are then plotted onto graphs which are analyzed to yield exposure and development guidelines. I wrote a rather detailed and involved blog post about this back in March of last year. Here is a link to that blog post if anyone is interested in referring back to it....
http://robertspohl.blogspot.ca/2014/03/darkroom-work.html
I don't actually do that sort of testing very often... only once or twice every couple of years. Once I have undertaken this sort of testing it provides me with a starting point that I then fine tune through trial and error, and subjective evaluation.
Recently I posted that I intend to do some experimentation with Kodak 400 T-Max... and I will over the coming months. This past year I have experimented with Kodak 100 T-Max. This has not involved anything particularly out of the ordinary. I just continue with my regular routine of exploring this wonderful world that we live in. I really enjoy exploring new places, returning to old favorites, and just experiencing nature and some man made places under various lighting conditions, and at various times of year. Sometimes I make some photographs, and sometimes I do not... When I decide to do some experimentation I simply work with my known film and developer combination and make a photograph as I normally would. But, then while I have the camera set up I will make a couple of duplicate negatives. These duplicates may be rated at a different film speed, and are designated to receive development with an alternative developer. When I get back home and unload my film holders these extra sheets of film are set aside with other test shots intended to receive the same development. When I eventually accumulate enough of these test shots I will set up and process a batch of this film in the developer I wish to evaluate. It has taken me most of 2014 to accumulate a couple of batches of Kodak 100 T-Max negatives that I want to try in two alternative developers. Over this recent holiday season, and in light of the recent cold weather I have now found time to process all of these batches of film and compare them. I have not yet attempted to print any of these negatives. So far I have simply scanned them and compared the scans. These scans are very straightforward and have received very minimal digital adjustment. They are simply adjusted to a similar brightness level so that they can be compared. This comparison is very subjective and non technical and simply involves my personal preferences and opinion of the qualities of these images. The differences can be very subtle. It is not that there is anything wrong with what has been my standard developer in the past. And in fact these negatives can be much further manipulated and controlled in printing. It is just that there may be something that is subtley better, at least in certain lighting conditions. It is through years of experience with all sorts of different subject matter at different times of year and under different lighting conditions that I am able to fine tune what works best for me. Here are some examples...
This first set of three images is an old house up in Lamont County. These were taken on April 6th 2014 at about 2:00PM in the afternoon. I used my Ebony SV45TE 4x5 Camera with a Schneider Super Symmar 110mm lens. I used a #11 Yellow-Green Filter. The film was Kodak 100 T-Max. The light was rather flat with an overcast sky. The lowest values were the window openings, which fell about 3 stops below middle grey. The highest values were in the sky, which extended up as much as 4 stops above middle grey. The brick, the cedar shingles and some of the weeds fell on about middle grey. The scene was metered with a Pentax digital spot meter. All three images were exposed the same, though the film speed was adjusted to suit the intended development.
The image on the left was exposed at ISO64 and processed in Ilford Perceptol, diluted 1:3, with constant agitation, for 16:00 minutes at 22C. This has been my standard developer in the past and I am attempting to establish whether or not one of these other options yields a better negative.
The center image was exposed at ISO50 and processed in a home-made developer called 510Pyro, diluted 1:100, with normal agitation, for 6:15 minutes at 24C. This developer was created by an American photographer named Jay DeFehr. It is a Pyro based developer that imparts a proportional stain into the emulsion.
The image on the right was exposed at ISO200 and processed in Kodak X-Tol developer, diluted 1:1, with constant agitation, for 12:00 minutes, at 20C. This combination was suggested to me by large format photographer Leon Strembitsky. The advantage of this combination is that the film requires significantly less exposure, allowing faster shutter speeds and/or smaller apertures. I am curious to see if this reduced exposure supports adequate shadow values.
This next set of three images is an old timber bridge down in the southern Alberta badlands. These were taken on August 9th 2014 at about 7:30PM. I used my Ebony SV45TE 4x5 Camera with a Schneider Super Symmar 80mm lens. I used at #25 Red Filter. The film was Kodak 100 T-Max. It was a rather clear and crisp light on this summer evening with only a thin veil of clouds. The lowest values were in the background bush, at about 2 stops below middle grey. Some of the shadows on the timbers approached this value. The highest values were in the sky and on some of the highlighted timbers at 2-1/2 to 3 stops above middle grey. The scene was metered with a Pentax digital spot meter. All three images were exposed the same, though the film speed was adjusted to suit the intended development.
The image on the left was exposed at ISO64 and given my standard development in Ilford Perceptol, as outlined above.
The center image was exposed at ISO50 and developed in 510Pyro, as outlined above.
The image on the right was exposed at ISO200 and processed in Kodak X-Tol, as outlined above.
This next set of three images is of a piano at an abandoned Russian Orthodox Monastery up to the northeast of Edmonton. It was taken on September 7th at about 1:50PM. I used my Ebony SV45TE 4x5 Camera with a Schneider Super Symmar 80mm lens. No filter was used. The film was Kodak 100 T-Max. The light was very soft and muted here in the forest. The lowest values were in the opening at the base of the piano, which were placed about 3 stops below middle grey. The highest values were in the little patches of sky visible between the trees, which fell about 6 stops above middle grey. The next highest values were in the bush and the piano, at about 1 stop above middle grey. The scene was metered with a Pentax digital spot meter. All three images were exposed the same, though the film speed was adjusted. This time around the order is a little different.
The image on the left was exposed at ISO200 and processed in Kodak X-Tol, as outlined above.
The center image was exposed at ISO50 and developed in 510Pyro, as outlined above.
The image on the right was exposed at ISO64 and processed in Ilford Perceptol, as outlined above... my standard developer for this film.
This final set includes only two of the three previous combinations. For some reason I did not designate a third negative for processing in 510Pyro. Perhaps I was running low on film while I was out on this trip. These images are of the Ram River Canyon, below Ram Falls. This is out along the Forestry Trunk Road, southeast of Nordegg. It was taken on August 31st at about 7:00PM. I used my Ebony SV45TE 4x5 Camera with a Schneider G-Claron 210mm lens. A #25 Red Filter was used. The film was Kodak 100 T-Max. Though there was cloud cover, the ceiling was quite high and there was a fairly clear evening light. I didn't take a meter reading off the dark shadowed area in the foreground but based on other negatives exposed at the same time I believe that it fell at 3 or more stops below middle gray. The dark red filter would have reduced this value even further. The highest values are in the sky, at about 2 stops above middle grey. The scene was metered with a Pentax digital spot meter. Both images were exposed the same, though the film speed was adjusted.
The left image was exposed at ISO200 and developed in X-tol, as outlined above.
The right image was exposed at ISO64 and processed in Perceptol, my standard developer.
My initial impression is that my standard developer, Perceptol, is OK, but that the other two are better. The X-tol images are good, but the shadow values fall off a little. Perhaps it can not be rated as high as ISO200. An small increase in exposure and a slight reduction in development might yield an even better negative. The 510Pyro shows some promise as well but perhaps can stand a little less exposure, and a longer development time. Some printing of these negatives is in order to finalize this initial opinion. Further fine tuning will help to perfect this. Of course the differences are subtle and vary with the lighting conditions, and the filtration. It didn't help that a couple of these negatives were taken on some very outdated film that, although it was stored frozen, expired in 1998. This could yield a slightly flatter negative as compared to fresh film. If any blog readers would care to share an opinion, please feel free to post comments.
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