The perils of travel...

mooseontheloose · Sep 22, 2015

...is coming back home to 100+ rolls of film to develop!

At best I can do 8 rolls a day, (2 rolls x 4 sessions) but the reality will be more like 4 with everything else I have to do. I usually shoot some colour which means I can drop it off at the photo store, but this trip was black and white only so I'm responsible for everything. I've never had such a backlog before - it's a little daunting!

eddie · Sep 22, 2015

A few years ago, I came home with 117 rolls. I ended up doing 12 a day, on weekdays, and 16-20 on weekends. For weekdays, I'd load 4 rolls the night before, and process in the morning. 4 rolls after work, and 4 more after dinner. Having so much (and taking so long) was fun, as a lot of the negatives came as surprises.

anikin · Sep 22, 2015

When I came back from a trip to NY and DC last month, I broke down and bought a bigger tank and extra reels. Otherwise I would still be processing
Have fun!

removed account4 · Sep 22, 2015

Rachelle:
you'll get it done
it might take a while ..
I do t have pix of a few years ago ..
something like 70 assorted rolls, and 50-100 sheets ..
it took time but like Eddie, eventually it got processed
have fun
john

Jeff Bradford · Sep 23, 2015

This is a perfect opportunity to perfect your developing technique. You will repeat it so many times, it will become instinct. Just don't pick up any bad habits.

Jesper · Sep 23, 2015

I would say that processing is the least of your worries. Just think about assessing, selecting and printing (unless of course they are all shot with the lens cap on).

Ian Grant · Sep 23, 2015

Have fun

That's why I often process while away, flying with a developing tank and chemistry.

Ian

Ricardo Miranda · Sep 23, 2015

Ah! I can only wish for you to have fun!

swittmann · Sep 23, 2015

Rachelle, now that's overwhelming - and so exciting! Cool! How long has your trip been?

I would love to see a shot of your bookshelf… some of the books I recognize/own myself. It seems to be a lovely collection you have there

Have fun developing all the rolls!

Xmas · Sep 23, 2015

I need to use the Patterson multi tanks the

5x will take 3x 120/220
8x will take 4x 120/220 and a 35mm

I think, as normally I only have limited numbers of 120/220 compared with 35mm

And you took our summer with you, it is colder here now. Waaaaaaaaaaaaah

Rick A · Sep 23, 2015

Looks someone is about to have a negative experience from the trip.

paul_c5x4 · Sep 23, 2015

mooseontheloose said:
...is coming back home to 100+ rolls of film to develop!

View attachment 117079

Another Vivian Maier in the making ?

vesper · Sep 23, 2015

I would consider buying a film developer, a good noritsu sells at about 1000

mooseontheloose · Sep 23, 2015

Jesper said:
I would say that processing is the least of your worries. Just think about assessing, selecting and printing (unless of course they are all shot with the lens cap on).

Don't say that! This was my first big trip with a rangefinder (Mamiya 6) so that's a real possibility (although for the most part I think I'm okay).

anikin said:
When I came back from a trip to NY and DC last month, I broke down and bought a bigger tank and extra reels. Otherwise I would still be processing
Have fun!

Well, I have 2 2-reel (120) tanks, and although I may load both tanks at the same time, I don't like processing two different tanks at the same time (too much room for error). A four-reel tank would help a lot, but they're impossible to find here.

swittmann said:
Rachelle, now that's overwhelming - and so exciting! Cool! How long has your trip been?

I would love to see a shot of your bookshelf… some of the books I recognize/own myself. It seems to be a lovely collection you have there

Have fun developing all the rolls!

Two weeks in Canada, five weeks in Europe. However all but 3 rolls are from Europe. As for the bookshelf - top shelf is mostly technique books, bottom two are monographs - a lot of Michael Kenna, plus some Kenro Izu, Vivian Maier, Nick Brandt, and more by Bill Schwab, Herman Leonard, Anton Corbijn, plus others.

paul_c5x4 said:
Another Vivian Maier in the making ?

Hardly! I really need to work on photographing people, one of my weak points. I went to Europe partly with that intent, but was sick/injured for a lot of the trip and it was hard to get into the right mindset for any kind of photography most of the time. (I realise that sounds ridiculous considering the number of rolls shot, but it's true. I'd probably have almost double the rolls if I had shot all that I had wanted to!)

gone · Sep 23, 2015

If you can afford to travel like that, if you can afford to buy 100+ rolls of film, you can afford to send it out. Why create your own suffering and then complain about it?

Rick A · Sep 23, 2015

momus said:
If you can afford to travel like that, if you can afford to buy 100+ rolls of film, you can afford to send it out. Why create your own suffering and then complain about it?

What better way to remember the trip than to develop all the film and be surprised by the images. My favorite part of the trip actually is saying "what was this" or "when did I take that", then sitting back and remembering. Rachelle, sorry to hear you were not 100% physically on the excursion, but the memories should help make it all right.

mooseontheloose · Sep 23, 2015

momus said:
If you can afford to travel like that, if you can afford to buy 100+ rolls of film, you can afford to send it out. Why create your own suffering and then complain about it?

Who's complaining? I think you've completely misunderstood this post.

mooseontheloose · Sep 23, 2015

Rick A said:
What better way to remember the trip than to develop all the film and be surprised by the images. My favorite part of the trip actually is saying "what was this" or "when did I take that", then sitting back and remembering. Rachelle, sorry to hear you were not 100% physically on the excursion, but the memories should help make it all right.

Rick, that's what I like too - sometimes there are disappointments but there can be a few nice surprises too.

eddie · Sep 23, 2015

Rachelle- My 117 rolls were about 2 years ago. I still haven't printed all of the ones I marked for printing.

mooseontheloose · Sep 23, 2015

Eddie, I have that problem too, but with smaller batches from previous trips.

For some time now I've been thinking about creating different portfolios of work - people keep asking to see my photos, but what I have printed is a bit eclectic. So I went on this trip with the intent of creating more images for several different portfolios, but one in particular - hopefully I will be able to concentrate on printing those images over the Christmas/New Year break, and again over Feb/Mar when I'm on holiday once more (as I definitely will not have any money to travel again for some time!). After that, it will be about working on the backlog of photos I have taken over the past decade. Honestly, I have so much to keep me busy in the darkroom (for years!) that I would never need to shoot another frame of film. But where's the fun in that?

wy2l · Sep 23, 2015

Or you could have the film processed by a commercial firm.

The equation "time = money" is true...

mooseontheloose · Sep 23, 2015

I don't think so - I mean, I love photography, all aspects of it, even the processing. I don't mind doing it at all, its just in this case, there is a whole lot of it to do. If you look at comments made by people on this site, they'll say the same thing - do it yourself! Commercial processing is a lot more expensive than doing it myself, plus I've never had any local labs process my black and white film before, so would probably want to run a few rolls by them first, see what they do, etc...that takes more time and money. I saved and budgeted for my trip (and pretty much stuck to the budget) but I certainly don't have anything left over for the lab. I've got a stockpile of chemicals at home that I can use so..that's what I'm going to do. I figure I'll be doing good if I can get about 20 rolls done a week.

bdial · Sep 23, 2015

For 120, I think I'd prefer to work with a pair of 2 reel tanks than a single 4 reel.
You can practice with a couple of single reel tanks to get the hang of it. Start the second a minute or so after the first, during the development, agitate one then the other. When the first is done in dev. dump it an fill with your preferred stop, then do the second when it's time is up. From the stop on timing isn't critical so the only hectic part is managing the developer.
I've done up to 4 singles, sometimes with different films, once you get the choreography set in your head, it's not too hard.

Do make sure you keep track of which tank is which is which though.

TheFlyingCamera · Sep 23, 2015

THIS is where the investment in a Jobo would come in handy. I've got a CPP2, and one of the 25xx series tanks that will take 4 reels, each of which can hold 2 rolls of 120. IF you're a real glutton for punishment you can get a tank extender that would let you run 8 reels at a time, but that would probably require too much chemistry. You could do an extender and a single-reel tank that would get you ten rolls at a run. The CPP2 is a convenience, and a very nice one, but you could just get the tank and a roller base and a large tray to use as a temperature control water bath. This is how I'll be running my film from Italy when I get back. I'm figuring I'll have it all done in two to three weekends, with 70-ish rolls of Ektar 100 and 70-ish rolls of Tri-X.

sagai · Sep 23, 2015

mooseontheloose said:
...is coming back home to 100+ rolls of film to develop!

View attachment 117079

At best I can do 8 rolls a day, (2 rolls x 4 sessions) but the reality will be more like 4 with everything else I have to do. I usually shoot some colour which means I can drop it off at the photo store, but this trip was black and white only so I'm responsible for everything. I've never had such a backlog before - it's a little daunting!

Vvow !!!
Impressive!
Do not forget to share some images with us!

The perils of travel...

Membership Council

Privacy & Transparency

Privacy & Transparency