mild "Photographer's Heart Attack"

[veriwide]

I was developing film the other night and had one of my "photographer's heart attacks". I'm sure you'll all understand.

I was tray developing some 8x10 film. It was for a class project, and like they all seem to do, there was no time for errors. Arista .EDU Ultra developed in Rodinal 1:25 for 5 min. Then move on to Photographer's Formulay's TF4 fixer for a 20 cycles through my 4 sheet stack of film, then turn on the light. I moved over the fixer tray...and I see clear film, CRAP!!!

Quickly I think back over everything, did I stop the lens down too far, did the shutter fire at all, are the batteries in my meter going south, I could not have forgotten to pull the darkslide on all four shots, is the film bad, the rodinal? Just before I start to panic I pull each sheet from the fixer, and the images appear before my eyes, there is a god.

Those of us experienced with TF4 fixer know how is comes out of the container milky and clears up over time. I use a white enamel tray for fixer so I can see the image in the tray. In this case, I had not allowed the fixer enough time to clear. I saw the milky white fixer in a white tray, and just a hint of the edge of the sheets of film. My mind saw clear film.

I hope I am not the only one prone to these little heart attacks. Let us hear about yours.

 

[BradS]

Yeah, the other night after five hours of shooting for my first real paying photo outing, I'm at home developing the film. I've got two rolls of film in the tank and I'm filling beakers with stop, fix and hypo clearing agent on the counter between agitations. I've completed a few agitation cycles...I'm thinking, "six minutes"...should be about done now. I look up at the wall clock and...did I start at 9:45 or 9:50?

 

[Denis P.]

Just yesterday I went to develop 4 LF negs (4x5) in my Jobo setup...
Poured in the soak, let it run for 5 minutes, then poured in the developer. Heck, the color doesn't seem right! (Rodinal is supposed to be yellowish...). S**t!!! I forgot to add Rodinal into the water when preparing the developer!
I just left the drum rolling with water sloshing inside while I quickly prepared another batch, this time making sure that I actually add the 5.5 ml of Rodinal...
Whew! Everything turned out fine (more or less). It just had a kind of looooong pre-wash stage (about 15 minutes).

Denis

 

[blansky]

I use those Jovo tanks expanded to hold 6 rolls of 6x6 and while agitating after pouring in the fixer one day, the tank came apart.

Ruined about half the film.


^%$^&^$#^*))*(&&^)+_++(*^&^$%$$^%&((%^$()(^bastard




Michael

 

[MurrayMinchin]

I know of what you speak...

I mix my own metol / glycin developer...it's basically Ansco 120 with glycin added to it. Because glycin doesn't keep well unless it's in solution, I order enough to make up about six months of stock solution at a time.

The batch I made last spring (all at once of course in a HUGE bucket) had a very faint cranberryish colour to it. I thought to myself, that's weird, it should be faintly honey coloured...

When I realized I had forgotten to add the first ingredient - the metol - to six months of stock solution I fell to my knees, pressed my forehead to the darkroom floor with my hands over the back of my head and screamed, "NO F*CK*NG WAYYYYYY!!!!!

Mercifully, metol will dissolve as the last ingredient

Murray

 

[David Brown]

Not really a heart attack, just a mild moment of "uh oh".

Tonight, I just finished processing two rolls of 35mm. I have a notebook in the DR where I keep tech data on everything, including developing times.

I had already started the timer when I realized I had set it for the time for Delta 3200. However, I was developing TMax3200!! Fortunately, I had that time in the notebook, and it is actually longer than Delta.

Whew ... Just added the time to the timer and all is well.

Hardly my worst screw-up. :rolleyes:

Cheers, y'all.

David

 

[athanasius80]

There was the time that I used Agfa Neutral WA instead of Rodinal because the bottles looked the same. I got faint images, just di dn't bother printing as they don't make grade 9 paper.

 

[vet173]

Take the film out of the presoak, then into fixer, then into developer. I'd like to have a story about how I saved them, but I don't think it would fly here.

 

[SuzanneR]

Maybe the second time I developed 120 film, I was using a stainless steel tank. Apparently I had the wrong lid on, becuase as I poured the developer out the lid just popped off, and both reels flew out of the tank!!! Arrgh!!!!!!

I just put them back in, did the water bath and the fix, and the negatives actually looked just fine!

Phew!!

 

[Soeren]

Take the film out of the presoak, then into fixer, then into developer. I'd like to have a story about how I saved them, but I don't think it would fly here.

Why not ? I'd like to know what to do next time I do that stunt.

 

[Monophoto]

There was the time I was processing some sheet film - I carefully unloaded the holders and transfered the film to my "slosher", and when I turned around to step over to the sink where the chemicals were waiting, I recognized that the safe light was on.

Or there was the time when i was developing film from that long weekend in Istanbul, and when I took the film out of the fix it looked awfully thin. Went back over the process, and eventually noticed that the new batch of HC110 concentrate that I had just mixed had this strange looking blob in the bottom of the bottle - I had not mixed it enough and the original syrup was lying at the bottom of the bottle, with essentially pure water above it.

Or the time at my sister's wedding when I found realized that the film had not complete attached to the take-up spool and was not advancing through the camera.

Or the time whe I had been given access to photograph at a circus, and was sitting literally on the boxes that defined one of the "riings" to change the film in my brand new Nikon FM2 - and in the excitement of the moment, shoved my finger all the way through the shutter curtain.

I am reminded of the immortal words of Mark Twain - "profanity offers a form of relief denied even to prayer."

 

[vet173]

Why not ? I'd like to know what to do next time I do that stunt.

My batteries ran down on the time machine and they don't make them anymore. Also I did not use all my silver bullets wisely.