Success with Mistakes

Funny sometimes how mistakes lead the way to a better result. Two cases in point this week. I had loaded some Bergger 200 in a Grafmatic over a week ago. Out shooting, I forgot and thought I had loaded FP4. I usually shoot this at 100, and BPF at 160. When it occurred to me that this was not the case (as evidenced by the unopened box of FP4) I was near panic. Looking at the massive dev chart, I found a comparable for ID11 @ 80. A little adjustment, and I am impressed with the performance. These were informal portraits, and the general density and definition of the outdoor subjects was superb. Something to be repeated.

I read some weeks back about someone who had inadvertantly left their Efke 25 in an 30 minute stand process with Rodinal. I liked the look of the prints they posted from the negs, and duplicated the process. This resulted in perhaps the best looking negs I have gotten to date from the 25. So mistakes can lead down positive paths.

What similar stories do some or you have?

Well I was developing a roll for a friend, and ended up really screwing the development up (overdevelopment I think, really dark negatives?). Anyways, on one of the shots, ended up having to really boost the contrast. The result was a very grainy, 1800's-early 1900's looking photo. And from the objects in the shot, you couldn't tell if it was taken in 1906 or 2006. Definitely not something I'd do on purpose again, but the result was interesting.

Patrick, I'm a firm believer in mistakes leading to knowledge. As long as you are able to learn from a mistake, I wouldn't say it is a mistake. I hear about film speeds from different folks, but still tend to "overexpose" both efke 25 and 100. The 25 I shoot at 12 or even 6 in some cases, and the 100 I shoot at 25 in many cases. I just like the tonality I get from pushing these two up the film's curve into the srtaight line section. Tonality and gradation seem to be better with this procedure, so if I can run it slower, I will. tim

P.S. In contact printing with azo, it's the only way to fly!