I'm encouraged by the fact that I've managed to make a little more time for photography lately. Since July when my cousins family visited from Germany, I have been able to get out with my big camera a little more regularly. Some shooting out around Nordegg back in August and more recently the trip down to Drumheller with the Monochrome Guild provided some opportunites. I have been accumulating stacks of film holders in my darkroom that need to be unloaded and then reloaded with fresh film. This includes all the images I have taken in the 2019 calendar year, plus a few from the end of 2018.
This is a rather tedious chore. Each film holder is double sided, and holds a sheet of film on each side. The exposed film needs to be removed from the holder, in total darkness, and temporarily stored in a light proof box with other sheets of the same film that require the same development. I probably work with something like 10 different kinds of film, and some of these require development adjustments to provide suitable contrast. So needless to say there are a lot of film boxes in my cupboard. I save these until I accumulate enough of a particular type to justify a batch for development. I usually aim for about 20 sheets at a time. This makes best use of the time and chemistry required for processing and washing.
Once the exposed film has been removed from the holders and stored away, fresh unexposed film needs to be loaded, again in total darkness. At that point I also write up a note sheet for each holder. That sheet records the identification number of the film holder, the type of film that was loaded, and when it was loaded. When I expose that film I use this sheet to record information about the image that I am taking. Date and time, location, lens, filters, exposure and any notes about how it should be developed.
Over the last three evenings I unloaded and reloaded all of these film holders. I didn't count exactly how many there were but somewhere in the range of 60 to 70 of them.... So I now have some space cleared in my darkroom and can try to actually find time to develop some of the stuff that I've unloaded. I also have a good stock of loaded film holders and won't have to repeat this process for a while. I think I have something in the range of 225 film holders, so when they are all full of fresh film, this is over 400 sheets. Normally this would be about a year of shooting for me but the past couple of years my life has been so busy that I have shot less than half my average quantity. Sure hope that I can get back on track over the next year or two. Here is a snapshot of that big pile of loaded film holders in my darkroom, and all of the accompanying note sheets.
This is a rather tedious chore. Each film holder is double sided, and holds a sheet of film on each side. The exposed film needs to be removed from the holder, in total darkness, and temporarily stored in a light proof box with other sheets of the same film that require the same development. I probably work with something like 10 different kinds of film, and some of these require development adjustments to provide suitable contrast. So needless to say there are a lot of film boxes in my cupboard. I save these until I accumulate enough of a particular type to justify a batch for development. I usually aim for about 20 sheets at a time. This makes best use of the time and chemistry required for processing and washing.
Once the exposed film has been removed from the holders and stored away, fresh unexposed film needs to be loaded, again in total darkness. At that point I also write up a note sheet for each holder. That sheet records the identification number of the film holder, the type of film that was loaded, and when it was loaded. When I expose that film I use this sheet to record information about the image that I am taking. Date and time, location, lens, filters, exposure and any notes about how it should be developed.
Over the last three evenings I unloaded and reloaded all of these film holders. I didn't count exactly how many there were but somewhere in the range of 60 to 70 of them.... So I now have some space cleared in my darkroom and can try to actually find time to develop some of the stuff that I've unloaded. I also have a good stock of loaded film holders and won't have to repeat this process for a while. I think I have something in the range of 225 film holders, so when they are all full of fresh film, this is over 400 sheets. Normally this would be about a year of shooting for me but the past couple of years my life has been so busy that I have shot less than half my average quantity. Sure hope that I can get back on track over the next year or two. Here is a snapshot of that big pile of loaded film holders in my darkroom, and all of the accompanying note sheets.
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