Testing Film for the look you want

Hey everyone!

I am ready to start doing testing with film / dev combos to start getting me closer to what Im seeing in my head.

I've stuck with the T-Grain films (tmax 100 and delta 100) with stock d-76 for about a year I guess. Developed about 30 or so rolls and not deviated much besides trying to give a little less or more agitation to boost or lower contrast. I'm ready to move on and get a different look out of the same film.

Heres my plan so far:
Shoot my 100 speed film at ISO 50 and ISO 200 and develop shorter or longer to get the right density to the film. Make prints of each.
Develop each speed in D-76 1:1 - Make prints of each.
Develop each speed in HC110 - Make prints of each
Develop each speed in Rodinol - Make prints of each
Pick the print that comes out closest to my taste and then refine from there...

I think this should give me a very wide range of looks to chose from and will take about 8 - 10 rolls of film. Is there anything I'm overlooking or anything I probably don't need to do that wont give me much of a change? Was there a system you used to get to where you found your preferred method of developing to get the look you wanted? I know practice and experiment, but I like a more systematic approach sometimes.

A lot of people think testing is a waste of time and you should just go shoot and see how you like what you get. I personally think that side by side testing is worth the trouble and time. Pick one subject or shot and shoot it the same with all your different combos and print everything and see by comparison what one combo tends to do vs another.

Yes there's a happy middle approach, some initial testing is worthwhile, particularly to find your own personal speed index & development times for a particular film / developer combination.

I'd suggest you shoot at 100 ISO then bracket by 2 stops either way in half stop increments.. If your using 35mm just shoot, take the camear into the darkroom and in the dark open the camera back wind on 2 frames and cut the film only processing what you've exposed that way you can probably do 3 development tests per film.

Ian

synj00 said:

I think this should give me a very wide range of looks to chose from ...

Click to expand...

Frankly, I'm not sure. Yes, developers can alter the curve of a film, and have various effects on the perception of sharpness. TMAX films in particular are more susceptible to these alterations. But HC-110 and Rodinal will give you rather similar results.

If you're committed to shop for looks, your variable should be film choice, not developer. Films have different spectral responses, characteristic curves, grain, microcontrast, etc that are the real reason for a particular "look."

Pick a few films from different manufacturers, use D-76 1+1 or XTOL 1+1 for control, and you will be able to see useful differences.

THEN start refining your choice. When you have a really interesting film, you can be more picky about developer and refine it to your taste.

What do you want that you aren't getting ?

Have a look in mind and you'll find how to make it.

Increasingly, I've found that testing can be helpful. Yes, you can just shoot and make corrections on the fly, but you won't have the controlled, quantitative information you get with tests. You also stand the chance of messing up some valuable shots. But you do spend a fair amount of time and film doing tests.

Your plan looks basically good. I especially like the idea of making prints. You may find you like one developer much more than another, and then you can shorten the tests by just using it. I have a couple of suggestions. Be sure to select some standard scenes, so you can meaningfully compare the results. Choose stuff with a wide range of tones. Bracket exposures. Different developers give different film speeds. If contrast is off, retest with an adjusted developing time. I've found it useful to take a couple of shots of a step tablet on a light table as part of my tests. It tells you things that photos of a scene can't easily show. But the standard scenes are extremely valuable for the general look and printing qualities.

Forgot to add: what's even more important to your "look" than developer, more important than film, is.... Light!

Light properly, and you can do (almost) anything. Films and developers are there just to help you get a few inches closer.

While playing with exposures and development times, you are playing with contrast and grain only! Are these two, contrast and grain, the single variables defining what you see in your head? Somebody mentioned the film bringing its specific curve, etc. I would add the lens, with its specific MTF. Lenses can give you differences as big as changing between brands of film. But most of all counts the light! – I see now, "mhv" mentioned it too, while I was writing these. I cannot understand how would you shoot 8-10 rolls on the same light – and not any light, but the one you mostly love. Finally, there also are the filters: these can dramatically change the mood of the picture.

To resume, I would say there are two classes of factors influencing the final print’s aesthetics: in the first class I would put the artistic factors, and in the second class I would put the technical ones. But don’t ask me, which are where? I am still looking for answers here. But, for example, the light, the lens, and the filters I include for sure to the artistic factors. Exposure and development compensation belong IMO to the technical ones. But I don’t know yet where to put the films and the developers – I recline to go for the artistic class again. In fact, these are personal choices, there is no rule to go for, and it is very good to be so.

Finally, there also is a question of what kind of experiments you are doing. The systematic ones (the real experiments) are for confirmation goals, while exploration experiments (which more rigorously are called experiences) are for discoveries. Both, experiments and experiences, have their role at a certain time. What I understand is that you did your experiences (discoveries) in the past year, and now you moved to experiments (confirmations). I think you are on the good way, from this point of view. Just do not forget: once the present experiments ended, play again with new experiences.

Personally, I think there is also a link, on one side between experiences (discoveries) and the artistic class of factors, and on the other side between experiments (confirmations) and the technical class of factors. What I mean, is that during experiences your variables are the artistic factors, while during experiments the variables you are playing with are the technical ones.

With these clarifications (helping you, I hope, to position yourself and to make choices), I wish you good luck!

Once you truly pin down the proper exposure and development time for each film/developer combination I suspect you will find different developers will change things very little. I would tend to look to different papers and their processing rather than changing film developers in order to get a new look. Print color, contrast, presentation, bordering and sizing can change the look of a photograph dramatically. Finally, if I were to begin testing a new 100 speed film and developer my E.I.'s would run from 25 to 100. I have not had much luck uprating from the box speed but then again that is for the "look" I prefer. If you move forward with your testing I would be interested in hearing if and how the developers change your look.

The OP might find it useful to read Steve Simmonds excellent article on testing film speed & developing time. It was printed in View Camera Jan/Feb 2006, but it's also available on-line in the free archives of the magazine's website, scroll down the page and you'll find it.

It's very similar to how I did my initial zone system tests 20+ years ago

Ian

Thanks for the suggestions, everyone one of them has true merit. I especially like the point about confirmation goals and goals for discovery. I suppose I'll be doing a bit of both. And BELIEVE ME I know that the fun never stops and we never truly stop learning. At least I dont plan on it hehe ;-) Thanks everyone.