Need advice on developing BW negs.

[kjsphoto]

Hello everyone,

I was out shooting today using 120 TMax 100 film. I came across this old weathered lock on a wooden gate. The light was flat but I envisioned it with a snap to it and if I develop it normally it will be mud. I rated the film at 100 but I did bracket 3 shots from my base exposure, +1 n -1 because I wasn’t sure how to develop the image.

I am also using TMax developer because at the time I bought it I wasn’t aware of this killer site! Oh well. Do I over develop to snap it up a bit? What do I need to do, to give the negative more snap? I have it ready to process but wanted to ask here first before I dare pour the chemicals.

Thanks,

 

[Nige]

what about the rest of the roll... Do you care about that?

Another thing I'd take into account would be do I have extra grades (or filters) of paper to use knowing I'll be dealing with a flat neg. Alternative, scan it... that will fix it

 

[dr bob]

Hello everyone,

I was out shooting today using 120 TMax 100 film. I came across this old weathered lock on a wooden gate. The light was flat but I envisioned it with a snap to it and if I develop it normally it will be mud. I rated the film at 100 but I did bracket 3 shots from my base exposure, +1 n -1 because I wasn’t sure how to develop the image.

I am also using TMax developer because at the time I bought it I wasn’t aware of this killer site! Oh well. Do I over develop to snap it up a bit? What do I need to do, to give the negative more snap? I have it ready to process but wanted to ask here first before I dare pour the chemicals.

Thanks,

First, welcome to APUG. Second, your development depends on the tonal range of the subject. If it has a "normal" range of around 5 stops or so, then normal development will do. If it has a relatively low range, say 2-3 stops and you envision more, then try increasing your development time maybe as much as double to increase the contrast. Your bracketing was a good idea and it will help no matter what development you use as it controls the densities - not the contrast. Contrast is affected through development. Good luck and try posting some results for analysis.

 

[Konical]

I see no need at all to apologize for using T-Max developer. T-Max developer and T-100 film make for an extremely flexible combination with nearly grainless negatives in most cases. My "normal" time for T-100 roll film is 10 minutes in 1:7 mixture. If I had a flat lighting situation such as you describe, I'd probably increase the time to 11 or 12 minutes. Good luck.

Konical