Pushing For Reasons Other Than The Extra Stop?

[piffey]

I was reading on different darkroom workflows and came across one for a photographer I respect. They said that they shoot 400 film rated at 800, but developed at 1600. I'll often times push to 800/1600, but always rate/expose/meter at whatever I'm going to develop at later on (rate at 800, develop at 800).

I was planning to develop my latest two rolls shot at 800 at the times for 1600, but wanted to ask those with more experience beforehand if this will result in unusable negatives (wouldn't be heart broken, but have a few shots I'm really excited about on one roll). Is it largely film/developer dependent? I typically shoot HP5 developed in DDX since I push to 3200 sometimes. I know this photographer typically shoots TriX and develops in D76. Would pushing in development just add more contrast, but maintain the same amount of detail with just a single extra stop? Are there reasons to push in development other than just to gain that extra stop?

 

[Gerald C Koch]

Using an EI of 800 for an ISO 400 film is just within the latitude of the film. Extending the development time would achieve greater contrast. I would guess the photographer is seeking a particular look. Ralph Gibson did something similar many moons ago.

 

[piffey]

Using an EI of 800 for an ISO 400 film is just within the latitude of the film. Extending the development time would achieve greater contrast. I would guess the photographer is seeking a particular look. Ralph Gibson did something similar many moons ago.

Interesting. I wasn't familiar with Ralph Gibson's work, but it has a very similar feel. Thanks for the reply! Follow up question: Any other notable photographers with a non-standard development technique that was integral to their work? I'm just beginning to learn how flexible black and white film is as I've always just developed at time and shot at box speed before I found this forum.

 

[jimjm]

Daido Moriyama comes to mind.

 

[KidA]

I did the same thing with a shoot I did for an edgy musical artist. Rated at 800, pushed two stops in dev. Results were as expected, higher contrast and more grain, which is what I wanted. Developer was HC-110 with HP5.

 

[jimjm]

I have read that his "look" came from underexposing and extreme overdeveloping the film. Check out "Stray Dog".

 

[markbarendt]

wanted to ask those with more experience beforehand if this will result in unusable negatives

Short answer is they will be usable.

The negative would be usable developed normally or pushed. The only thing that changes are the adjustments you might dial in when printing.

 

[baachitraka]

I may do it to enchance the grain but I will develop them normally and go for lith printing.

 

[baachitraka]

At cost I don't want to sacrifice the negatives.

 

[Gerald C Koch]

An example of the look the following image is one of my all-time favorites. It is of the famous jazz musician Dexter Gorton. Gordon was taking a smoke break at the Royal Roost in 1948 when it was taken by Herman Leonard. The cigarette smoke is an integral portion of the image. Resolving the smoke is a feat in itself. The photograph is a striking example of what can be done in poor light situations.

https://images.search.yahoo.com/yhs/search?p=jazz+dexter+gordon+photos&hspart=att&hsimp=yhs-att_001&imgurl=http://media.cleveland.com/ent_impact_people/photo/dexter-gordon-saxophone-herman-leonardjpg-dec73c618388bdd6_large.jpg#id=2&iurl=http://media.cleveland.com/ent_impact_people/photo/dexter-gordon-saxophone-herman-leonardjpg-dec73c618388bdd6_large.jpg&action=click