Developers choices

[TareqPhoto]

1. Don't stop developing film. Just don't draw conclusions that are based on too little fact.
2. Desired time = something you have to figure out. Manufacturers will tell you a certain development time that works according to how they expose film - in a laboratory, a highly controlled environment.
You are in the real world with a light meter that is different from theirs, a camera that is different from theirs, and lighting conditions that is different from theirs. So it is not likely that your desired development time is the same as theirs. It is meant to be a starting point.
3. It is a fact that if you have too much contrast in your negative, you developed it for too long. Just develop it less time next roll you shoot. This is a mechanism you will learn to judge as you gain more experience.

Don't be discouraged by a failure. Learn from it.

OK, i got it, so for any developer, i have to shoot about 10 films or enough numbers to know about the best developing process with time and/or temp for certain film, then i will have my own list for each developer with different film for the acceptable or better results?

 

[Thomas Bertilsson]

Yes. Exactly. That will give you a good start.

And as your experience builds to 100 rolls, and 1,000 rolls, you will know more and more about your materials and how to manipulate them to achieve the very best results you can have.

OK, i got it, so for any developer, i have to shoot about 10 films or enough numbers to know about the best developing process with time and/or temp for certain film, then i will have my own list for each developer with different film for the acceptable or better results?

 

[TareqPhoto]

Yes. Exactly.

Cool, tomorrow i will order 2-4 packs of different B&W film and i will use one developer with one film until i master it as you all telling me, then move to another and keep going.
Thanks!
Digital is cheaper

 

[TareqPhoto]

Bad "GOOD" news, that Delta 100 roll was the end of my TMAX developer, now i have to use a toss to choose my next developer.

 

[TareqPhoto]

So, what do you think about this one?

 

[Thomas Bertilsson]

Or, a lot of packs of the same film would teach you even more. One film and one developer is how you learn the most.

I willingly put my own failure to learn in public for everyone else to learn from. I failed to learn because I focused too much on the film when I should have been focusing on the pictures.
The good pictures came when I stopped using many films and many developers and reduced it down to just one film and one developer.

Please don't make the same mistake I made.

Cool, tomorrow i will order 2-4 packs of different B&W film and i will use one developer with one film until i master it as you all telling me, then move to another and keep going.
Thanks!
Digital is cheaper

 

[removed account4]

Good to learn, Delta 100 with TMAX dev is not match fine, didn't like the results, so contrasty, and the worse is that i did manipulate digitally and it became wonderful, so now i know that Delta film with TMAX developer don't match as combo for better results.
Thanks again!

tareq
if your film is too "contrasty"
there are a a few different things you can do to reduce the contrast.
shorten the development time ( but be careful less than 5 minutes = uneven development )

reduce your agitation ..
how are you agitating your film ?
sometimes if you agitate too much or to vigorously you get contrasty film
if you agitate 5 seconds every 30 seconds or 10 seconds every minute
maybe do 1 or 2 or 3 fewer agitations in the middle.

cool down your developer mix it with water cooled down by ice ...

if you are using some sort of rotary processor sort of thing
you need to REDUCE your development time by quite a bit.
i agree with thomas 1 film and 1 developer you will learn the most
how to make your film do what you want.

good luck
john

 

[MattKing]

Tareq:

Your energy and enthusiasm is admirable.

It may be time, however, to step back a little.

If you are constantly switching films and developers, you probably won't ever be happy about your results.

If I were you, I would do the following things:

1) look at your results so far, and the results that others have shown you, and get a feeling for what you like;
2) among those choices, determine which of the developers and films are most readily available to you and convenient for you to obtain, store and use;
3) from those, come up with one developer and, at most, two films and mention that combination here;
4) most likely, we will tell you that that combination will work fine; and
5) shoot a bunch of photos and develop them, making sure that you keep track of your experiments and the results;
6) most importantly, have fun!

Two points of clarification - you probably cannot choose anything really bad if you choose one of the combinations already mentioned, and T-Max developer isn't only for T-Max film (although it works well with them).

 

[TareqPhoto]

Or, a lot of packs of the same film would teach you even more. One film and one developer is how you learn the most.

I willingly put my own failure to learn in public for everyone else to learn from. I failed to learn because I focused too much on the film when I should have been focusing on the pictures.
The good pictures came when I stopped using many films and many developers and reduced it down to just one film and one developer.

Please don't make the same mistake I made.

I meant to buy 2-4 packs of one film but more than film, i mean 3-4 films, each with 2-4 packs

 

[TareqPhoto]

tareq
if your film is too "contrasty"
there are a a few different things you can do to reduce the contrast.
shorten the development time ( but be careful less than 5 minutes = uneven development )

reduce your agitation ..
how are you agitating your film ?
sometimes if you agitate too much or to vigorously you get contrasty film
if you agitate 5 seconds every 30 seconds or 10 seconds every minute
maybe do 1 or 2 or 3 fewer agitations in the middle.

cool down your developer mix it with water cooled down by ice ...

if you are using some sort of rotary processor sort of thing
you need to REDUCE your development time by quite a bit.
i agree with thomas 1 film and 1 developer you will learn the most
how to make your film do what you want.

good luck
john

I work on agitation issue, i tried to do either for each time i develop, once with 5 seconds first then in 30sec interval, another time with 10min then 1min interval, i do invert 4-5 times, but also not sure if fixer will have an affect as well, i always fix for 5 minutes, so i will see if agitation will give me different results.
I will try to reduce the time [or increase it] due to the final result i get from the film with a developer, but as you all said, i need to do more test with one film and one developer on almost fixed conditions if possible

 

[TareqPhoto]

Tareq:

Your energy and enthusiasm is admirable.

It may be time, however, to step back a little.

If you are constantly switching films and developers, you probably won't ever be happy about your results.

If I were you, I would do the following things:

1) look at your results so far, and the results that others have shown you, and get a feeling for what you like;
2) among those choices, determine which of the developers and films are most readily available to you and convenient for you to obtain, store and use;
3) from those, come up with one developer and, at most, two films and mention that combination here;
4) most likely, we will tell you that that combination will work fine; and
5) shoot a bunch of photos and develop them, making sure that you keep track of your experiments and the results;
6) most importantly, have fun!

Two points of clarification - you probably cannot choose anything really bad if you choose one of the combinations already mentioned, and T-Max developer isn't only for T-Max film (although it works well with them).

I think i have to wait until the winter, where i can shoot more to test more.
I was using more about 8 TMAX films with TMAX developers, all gave me results even different but due to different exposure and timing and so, i printed 2 shots from them in the darkroom, great result, so the roll look like it is normal or fine but with silver darkroom printing i managed to get excellent results, is that meaning that my developing are good enough? that print from normal neg, i have better look neg and i liked the results more than that normal one, will i get better print then?
I made that standard after i saw some rolls which i don't like much but when print they came out great, and i have better negs and i feel they are not good, am i so hard on myself? or i just feel that when i like the developing results then it must be great and if i don't like it then it is bad even i can get great prints out of them.

 

[TareqPhoto]

Also i want to tell honest, who can tell if the print is good or not? I saw some prints they call it "ART" i don't like it, i saw another work that i really like but they are less level than those artwork, so is that giving me wrong opinion or view about what is art and what is not? And when i look at many work here i may not like the result and even i feel i can do better but then i find out that mine is not good as the one i don't like due to others opinions maybe, so if i keep testing and i get many results i like out of it and you telling me it is still not good enough, then what i have to learn, art or something else?
Honestly, i like all the results i've done so far except those where i had bad bad exposure from beginning or those with OOfocus shots, other than that i like all the other shots, maybe i think they are not good or you think they are not good but they are good somehow.

 

[TareqPhoto]

Anyway, here is another 2 shots of that last roll i did [Delta 100], my younger daughter

Dead Link Removed

Both images i did tweak to desire look, so the original direct scan didn't justify it enough maybe.

 

[srs5694]

Well, i think i must get a tool to do prints, without that i can never tell if my negs are good enough or not, and it seems scanning here is not a good idea to know about it for you, so can someone send me something to do printing? Or i have to wait i dunno how long until i can get something to print, so i should stop developing film now?

Check eBay (or a more local used marketplace, since most eBay sellers are halfway around the world from you) for used enlargers. In the US, at least, used enlargers sell for very small sums. You'll also need a dark room in which to set it up (ideally a dedicated darkroom, but a bathroom or laundry room might serve for temporary as-needed conversion) and a few other odds and ends -- trays, tongs, a print washer, etc.

If you can't manage to buy an enlarger, you can at least jury-rig one. See, for example, this article.

Note also that scans can be perfectly acceptable for judging negative development, but the question really is what the ultimate viewing medium will be. If you intend to view your photos on a computer, or make digital prints via a computer's printer, then you should judge your development by scans. If you intend to ultimately do traditional darkroom prints, then scans are less useful (but not completely useless) for judging negatives.

In my experience, scanners can do a better job at handling development extremes -- badly over- or under-developed negatives. This can also make it hard to judge development, since you might not see such dramatic differences in scans as you would in darkroom prints, when you vary development. OTOH, for negatives that are developed properly for making darkroom prints, I can almost always produce better results in a darkroom than I can with my scanner. This difference can make for some exciting or disappointing discoveries, since I scan before I print, and I use the scans to guide what I print. Sometimes a scan looks promising, but the negative turns out to be improperly exposed and it's hard to get a good print; and other times a scan looks humdrum but turns into a much better print.

 

[Shawn Dougherty]

You make your choice and then need to stick with one, at the most two developers, learn how they work with the films you use and hone the combination to give you great results.

Ian

You can't go wrong following that advice. I wish I had heeded it sooner, I'd be that much further ahead.

 

[Brandon D.]

Nice beautiful shot, you did a great job, but nothing can be more tricky than our lights.

In fact i love Ilford B&W films even before i develop anything, but i keep shooting with TMAX film to practice with developing first, then soon i will use Ilford film which i really like over some Kodak B&W films.

Well, thanks a lot!

Actually, before I got into doing this I was initially set on starting out using T-Max film. But, somehow I managed to talk myself into using Delta 100 instead, and I haven't regretted my decision yet. I'm sure I could've even shot that image on T-Max film, and it probably would've turned out really great. I mean, what's really to stop me? But, on the other hand, I have to ask myself -- why would I change something that has been working pretty well for me and has also allowed me to become better and better every time I shoot?

In the beginning, I thought that the film/developer combo I'd be using would be a big deal. Now, I'm seeing that it hardly matters at all once you get the hang of your process and learn to bend that process towards your needs. Now, I just think of film like an ordinary blank canvas. The canvas itself doesn't dictate whether or not the art is beautiful. Every canvas has strengths and limitations, and that's about as perfect as this gets.

This is reminding me of some of the things Ansel Adams preached about. He said that the negative is like the "musical score" and that the print is like the "musical performance." He said that the negative (like the score) just contains the information. The negative is just a starting point, and it took me a while to experience what he meant by that.

Ansel in action: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWhQGU2RYuM

 

[TareqPhoto]

Check eBay (or a more local used marketplace, since most eBay sellers are halfway around the world from you) for used enlargers. In the US, at least, used enlargers sell for very small sums. You'll also need a dark room in which to set it up (ideally a dedicated darkroom, but a bathroom or laundry room might serve for temporary as-needed conversion) and a few other odds and ends -- trays, tongs, a print washer, etc.

If you can't manage to buy an enlarger, you can at least jury-rig one. See, for example, this article.

Note also that scans can be perfectly acceptable for judging negative development, but the question really is what the ultimate viewing medium will be. If you intend to view your photos on a computer, or make digital prints via a computer's printer, then you should judge your development by scans. If you intend to ultimately do traditional darkroom prints, then scans are less useful (but not completely useless) for judging negatives.

In my experience, scanners can do a better job at handling development extremes -- badly over- or under-developed negatives. This can also make it hard to judge development, since you might not see such dramatic differences in scans as you would in darkroom prints, when you vary development. OTOH, for negatives that are developed properly for making darkroom prints, I can almost always produce better results in a darkroom than I can with my scanner. This difference can make for some exciting or disappointing discoveries, since I scan before I print, and I use the scans to guide what I print. Sometimes a scan looks promising, but the negative turns out to be improperly exposed and it's hard to get a good print; and other times a scan looks humdrum but turns into a much better print.

OK, i can afford an enlarger but not now, so i hope by the end of this year i can have one, but it will be another big story about which one, i know if i ask this question then i will get many many answers of different enlargers, so i think i don't want now to get busy about which enlarger to get, and also i am looking for adding a large format to my collection, don't say i am not ready or how come, i know, but it doesn't do with my current development, and i just will buy LF for fun and fun only, nothing for serious, and for that reason i don't care much why i buy a large format, so before i buy an enlarger i have to add a LF then i will buy an enlarger that goes up to LF, i don't think i want to buy more then one even most of you did for MF and LF, but i may get another enlarger next year later if i will get one soon and feel i get its limit [that if i bought it for MF or smaller only and not for LF].

Honestly talking, i may work with digital better than darkroom printing, so if i have the best results for example for both the scan and the darkroom printing, i may do digital workflow better than my darkroom workflow, so i may feel that digital print is more appealing or acceptable then my darkroom printing, i saw digital prints and darkroom prints, it was really hard to tell which is which, and i don;t know when i can see the difference, i mean only if i print larger than 16x20 maybe? What about 8x10 size or A3? so i have to work more with darkroom prints and compare with digital work and see where i can get what i like more, and i know that darkroom printing is a fun and an art itself, but not all people like to go that route, i would like to go that route if i really can see i can get something unique and different better than digital, if not much different then i think it was just a fun to try film anyway, and i may print in darkroom if i want to go fully analogue for some works, and i am sure most of you did that and members here seems so happy with silver darkroom printing over digital, but also there are many people out there prefer digital over film, i heard many left film to go digital way even after years and years with film.
I also forgot to tell that the photographer who i met in Scotland and who is shooting only with film and no digital cameras he has told me i never print in darkroom and he is very happy with digital prints out of the scan, i am really wondering why he say that when he is a film shooter, even he is selling his works and they are so great as i can see on the computer, i want to buy one work and see how that digital scan he did from his film look.

 

[TareqPhoto]

Well, thanks a lot!

Actually, before I got into doing this I was initially set on starting out using T-Max film. But, somehow I managed to talk myself into using Delta 100 instead, and I haven't regretted my decision yet. I'm sure I could've even shot that image on T-Max film, and it probably would've turned out really great. I mean, what's really to stop me? But, on the other hand, I have to ask myself -- why would I change something that has been working pretty well for me and has also allowed me to become better and better every time I shoot?

In the beginning, I thought that the film/developer combo I'd be using would be a big deal. Now, I'm seeing that it hardly matters at all once you get the hang of your process and learn to bend that process towards your needs. Now, I just think of film like an ordinary blank canvas. The canvas itself doesn't dictate whether or not the art is beautiful. Every canvas has strengths and limitations, and that's about as perfect as this gets.

This is reminding me of some of the things Ansel Adams preached about. He said that the negative is like the "musical score" and that the print is like the "musical performance." He said that the negative (like the score) just contains the information. The negative is just a starting point, and it took me a while to experience what he meant by that.

Ansel in action: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWhQGU2RYuM

Honestly speaking, all what i need is time to practice and experiment with patience, in my country it is not possible i can master film at its best or it is cheap, here it is very expensive to do film and at the end i can't get most what i need of film here, i use online orders which can be awful all the time for money wasting on shipping and waiting long time and not sure if some film will be fine all the time waiting moving from one place to another under different temps, so i will try to shoot whatever film i can afford and see, all the TMAX i did shoot came out not as developing [not sure with printing], and all the scans were not bad, but i didn't like most of the results because of 1 reason, "OOF", i think even with printing i will never fix this problem, so i think before i have a problem with developing or printing i have to solve the problem of focussing, this is the only thing that making me not liking most of my negs, i even printed 2 shots in the darkroom during a workshop and both were bad bad prints whatever i try to do, even the instructor said i love it as it is blurred or OOF, I believe that all films and all developers can do the job if i really know how to work with each as i drive a car, each car needs time to learn how to drive it then you can drive even blindly, so i think you all taking your time on each develop or film to know how they work at best you can get out of them, i really wish if i can spend years as you did, but i will see as i just started for how long i can stay with film coming from digital.

 

[RobertV]

The Tmax developer has been designed for modern type emulsions. But the developer works fast (Delta 100 Tmax 1+4 6:00 min. 20C ) and contrastly which means in higher temperatures maybe too fast and contrastly. The developer times are pretty short with Tmax developer so when developing under 4-5 minutes it's going to be a problem.

Further the exposure of Tmax films must be accurate. Classical cubical emulsions have more margin and especially with the very hard and contrastly light in your country you will have to make a choice in the iso 100 range films.

When the contrast in light is over 6 F stops you have to overexpose your film (e.g. 1 F stop) and 10-15% shorten your developing times to make it possible to fit everything in the film curve.

About your results so far: You can send me some negatives and I can measure the density back on my densitometer and give you information back. A print I can also make for you so that you have an idea what you're doing so far.

I can only agree with the advise to stick with less film and a type of developer more suitable for higher developing temperatures.

Best regards,

Robert

 

[TareqPhoto]

The Tmax developer has been designed for modern type emulsions. But the developer works fast (Delta 100 Tmax 1+4 6:00 min. 20C ) and contrastly which means in higher temperatures maybe too fast and contrastly. The developer times are pretty short with Tmax developer so when developing under 4-5 minutes it's going to be a problem.

Further the exposure of Tmax films must be accurate. Classical cubical emulsions have more margin and especially with the very hard and contrastly light in your country you will have to make a choice in the iso 100 range films.

When the contrast in light is over 6 F stops you have to overexpose your film (e.g. 1 F stop) and 10-15% shorten your developing times to make it possible to fit everything in the film curve.

About your results so far: You can send me some negatives and I can measure the density back on my densitometer and give you information back. A print I can also make for you so that you have an idea what you're doing so far.

I can only agree with the advise to stick with less film and a type of developer more suitable for higher developing temperatures.

Best regards,

Robert

Hey Robert,
How can i send some negs to you? I want to have that densitometer as well if it will help a bit, and TMAX developer finished with that Delta 100 roll, so if i will shoot film again then i have to choose another developer now than TMAX, i think i will choose D-76, because the XTOL if i use it now it will not last long as i don't shoot much nowadays and also the weather is hot, so i will keep it for the winter time, ID-11 is similar or same as D-76 so i will keep it later after i experiment with D-76.

 

[Brandon D.]

Honestly speaking, all what i need is time to practice and experiment with patience, in my country it is not possible i can master film at its best or it is cheap, here it is very expensive to do film and at the end i can't get most what i need of film here, i use online orders which can be awful all the time for money wasting on shipping and waiting long time and not sure if some film will be fine all the time waiting moving from one place to another under different temps, so i will try to shoot whatever film i can afford and see, all the TMAX i did shoot came out not as developing [not sure with printing], and all the scans were not bad, but i didn't like most of the results because of 1 reason, "OOF", i think even with printing i will never fix this problem, so i think before i have a problem with developing or printing i have to solve the problem of focussing, this is the only thing that making me not liking most of my negs, i even printed 2 shots in the darkroom during a workshop and both were bad bad prints whatever i try to do, even the instructor said i love it as it is blurred or OOF, I believe that all films and all developers can do the job if i really know how to work with each as i drive a car, each car needs time to learn how to drive it then you can drive even blindly, so i think you all taking your time on each develop or film to know how they work at best you can get out of them, i really wish if i can spend years as you did, but i will see as i just started for how long i can stay with film coming from digital.

Haha, well, I haven't exactly spent years on this. I'm actually sharing my experiences with you because I'm still a newbie unlike many people here (who are more experienced than us but who are basically giving you the same advice I am giving you). Like you, I've practically just started, I'm still in the testing phase, and I also started with digital. I'm giving you my perspective as someone who has probably only developed about 10 batches of film at the most. It's just that the little experience I do have has gone a really long way for me.

As you know by now, most the sentiment on this forum will usually be about establishing a pretty consistent developing process/system. Of course many of us will run into availability issues, temperature issues, and many other issues that are largely out of our control. But, we can't expect everything to be in our favor, and some things just have to be accepted as imperfect. Yet, there are usually ways around most problems. If I sense an availability issue coming up, then I do my best to save up a bunch of money and purchase what I need in bulk (e.g., suddendly discontinued film). It's very much about anticipation, preemption, and staying ahead of the ball. To keep my water bath from overheating (past 20C/68F), I keep ice cubes nearby that I can drop in and keep the temperature cool and consistent. If it cools down too much, then I can add warm water to bring the temperature back up. Some people might not prefer that way of doing things, but it works quite well for me.

...

As far as developing is concerned, I honestly wouldn't worry so much about the out-of-focus issue. It's just an external issue. If your images are out of focus, then it's probably not because you're not developing them correctly. Once you get to the point where your shadows, your highlights, and your midtones are right where you want them to be, you'll feel more confident about developing. Developing is more about exposure and contrast so that's what I'd pay more attention to.

Like you, I've ran into a lot of external (but frustrating) issues ever since I started developing. For starters: A) I learned that my camera naturally jams every so often, B) I discovered that there was a piece of tape that had got stuck in the window of one of my film backs which showed up in several rolls of film before I finally discovered it, C) I learned that a part of the shutter in one of my cameras was broken, and D) I just learned that a piece of wiring on one of my steel reels is scratching frame #3 on my negatives, and so on and so on. That doesn't even include the list of mistakes I've made while practicing the development process itself. I doubt very many people have had a perfect time with this, even the most successful photographers.

It was just last week when I was sitting there debating whether or not I had the sanity to continue developing my own film. Eventually, I decided that A) I still had a lot to learn and that I was just going to have to suck it up and put in the work to iron out all of the bugs, B) I can be very happy that I have already learned a whole lot with very little experience in this short period of time (in spite of my frustration), and C) once all of the bugs get ironed out, then the end result will probably be well worth all of this effort.

 

[TareqPhoto]

Haha, well, I haven't exactly spent years on this. I'm actually sharing my experiences with you because I'm still a newbie unlike many people here (who are more experienced than us but who are basically giving you the same advice I am giving you). Like you, I've practically just started, I'm still in the testing phase, and I also started with digital. I'm giving you my perspective as someone who has probably only developed about 10 batches of film at the most. It's just that the little experience I do have has gone a really long way for me.

As you know by now, most the sentiment on this forum will usually be about establishing a pretty consistent developing process/system. Of course many of us will run into availability issues, temperature issues, and many other issues that are largely out of our control. But, we can't expect everything to be in our favor, and some things just have to be accepted as imperfect. Yet, there are usually ways around most problems. If I sense an availability issue coming up, then I do my best to save up a bunch of money and purchase what I need in bulk (e.g., suddendly discontinued film). It's very much about anticipation, preemption, and staying ahead of the ball. To keep my water bath from overheating (past 20C/68F), I keep ice cubes nearby that I can drop in and keep the temperature cool and consistent. If it cools down too much, then I can add warm water to bring the temperature back up. Some people might not prefer that way of doing things, but it works quite well for me.

...

As far as developing is concerned, I honestly wouldn't worry so much about the out-of-focus issue. It's just an external issue. If your images are out of focus, then it's probably not because you're not developing them correctly. Once you get to the point where your shadows, your highlights, and your midtones are right where you want them to be, you'll feel more confident about developing. Developing is more about exposure and contrast so that's what I'd pay more attention to.

Like you, I've ran into a lot of external (but frustrating) issues ever since I started developing. For starters: A) I learned that my camera naturally jams every so often, B) I discovered that there was a piece of tape that had got stuck in the window of one of my film backs which showed up in several rolls of film before I finally discovered it, C) I learned that a part of the shutter in one of my cameras was broken, and D) I just learned that a piece of wiring on one of my steel reels is scratching frame #3 on my negatives, and so on and so on. That doesn't even include the list of mistakes I've made while practicing the development process itself. I doubt very many people have had a perfect time with this, even the most successful photographers.

It was just last week when I was sitting there debating whether or not I had the sanity to continue developing my own film. Eventually, I decided that A) I still had a lot to learn and that I was just going to have to suck it up and put in the work to iron out all of the bugs, B) I can be very happy that I have already learned a whole lot with very little experience in this short period of time (in spite of my frustration), and C) once all of the bugs get ironed out, then the end result will probably be well worth all of this effort.

Thank you very much for your post!

Really very interesting to read, but anyway, as i expected, all will tell me to work with one developer or film to get to know it better for consistent results and then when it is became i understand it a bit then i do it again with another film and developer and so on, also all or many of you faces different issues in developing/printing route, so i don't have anything to say or add, i will force myself to work with one film and one developer, i know it will take time, and i will stop due to some reasons for few months [until November] then i will keep continuing.

I don't know why i am different than my friend who is shooting film for a bit longer time than me [not so long] and he didn't develop his B&W until he took a workshop including me about "darkroom: developing, printing", and not sure if he is doing it now, but from all the results i saw i really like most of his work and even he was saying he was after some looks but he is so happy with what he did, so is he really doesn't care much how his film should look or he doesn't matter much about developing and to spend time to understand the developing, even he told me he will go to that center where we took the workshop an he will print more, so how he will do that if he is not understanding the concept of developing or as i said he doesn't really care how his developing look, i think because he sends his film to the lab and he accept all the results came out from the lab then he didn't try to DIY and get his style or consistent, i will meet him and ask him how he is doing with film so far, he is shooting film more than me even he is working for projects with his film but i didn't hear him once saying that developing was not good or it was fine this time or so, just get whatever from the neg and send to the lab for scanning and printing, i forgot that he also bought a scanner, so it means we both don't really got interested in much about to perfecting developing as we can and then mastering the printing, but i will try to do it now so it will help me to do film better way.

Thanks Brandon, show me something you did to see how you are going with it so far.

 

[archer]

Dear Tareq;
I admire you for your desire to learn this fascinating craft of film photography,in all its aspects, from photographing to processing and printing and will tell you that most of us started the same way and experimenting with different developers and films was part of the joy of learning. We, in the West, where photography was born, have been fortunate because the supply of materials has been so readily available for more than a century. You may find, that because of the difficulties and expense of procuring the materials of film photography, that you will work more carefully and learn more quickly, from pure necessity and I wish you the best on this journey into learning.
Denise Libby

 

[TareqPhoto]

Dear Tareq;
I admire you for your desire to learn this fascinating craft of film photography,in all its aspects, from photographing to processing and printing and will tell you that most of us started the same way and experimenting with different developers and films was part of the joy of learning. We, in the West, where photography was born, have been fortunate because the supply of materials has been so readily available for more than a century. You may find, that because of the difficulties and expense of procuring the materials of film photography, that you will work more carefully and learn more quickly, from pure necessity and I wish you the best on this journey into learning.
Denise Libby

OK, thank you very much, Denise!!!

 

[TareqPhoto]

When you choose a developer, which dilution do you choose if it comes with 2 or mote different dilutions options? I know the different dilution will lead to different time for developing, what else it gives? And your choice is based on what, experimenting/results or something else?