wacky alternative B&W processing recipes.

[alan doyle]

hello,
i have just started doing my own processing and am looking for new or old recipes,chemicals food stuffs times etc.
the more bonkers the better,nothing too dangerous as i do not want too die.
also difficult things like donkey urine might be a lot of trouble to get.
please do not tell me to just get a bottle of rodinal,even a cut and paste recipe would be great.
many thanks

 

[Aurum]

For food type processing, google either Vitamin C (Ascorbic Acid, and actually quite sane) or caffinol.

Caffinol is basically coffee and washing soda. It can give some quite unexpected results (and sepia tone your negs as well)

 

[gainer]

For several recipes using mostly stuff you can get at drug or food stores, visit www.unblinkingeye.com and look for "Non-chromogenic Antiscorbutic Developers for B&W Film."

 

[Venchka]

Not exactly alternative. Simple. Cheap. Effective. GOOGLE knows. Barry's Two Bath Developer.

 

[removed account4]

d23 it is cheap and easy and works great!

if you have some
print developer hanging around
dilute it a bit and let your film steep in it
for a good 25-30mins.

i did that for about a year, before steeping
it in both caffinolC and print developer mixed together
the cafinol C doesn't need to be mixed exactly to recipe
i just eyeball it and then add a few oz of print developer ...

 

[nworth]

This was referenced in a previous APUG post that I can't find now. It has a lot of very old photographic formulas for both what is now standard processes and what would now be known as alternative processes.

http://books.google.com/books?id=ioNOAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=scientific+american

 

[steven_e007]

Something I was always curious about was 'physical development' - where you plate silver onto the negative in a bath of Silver Nitrate (I think...it's been years since I read it) using a battery and electrodes - never tried it, but it certainly sounded pretty wacky. It used to appear in the BJP annual, I think. Very early editions, anyway.

 

[dr5chrome]

I always wanted to try it.. I did a study on the properties of rosemary, that you can actually take the extract out of this plant, then add traditional accelerators [carbonate] then develop film.
..is that considered 'wacky'?

I have 2 very large plants, but never the time.

dw

 

[fotophox]

http://www.frugalphotographer.com/info-formulary-coffeedeveloper.htm

 

[alan doyle]

ha ha...mr dr5 chrome man has finally given us the secret chemical behind his excellent work.
crushed rosemary,with a hint carbonate.

i was hoping for a better recipe than the one below, i got an image but also quite a lot of contaminating residue.
also the baboons blood was a problem finding.






1 WITCH. Thrice the brinded cat hath mew’d.
2 WITCH. Thrice and once, the hedge-pig whin’d.
3 WITCH. Harpier cries:—’tis time! ’tis time!
1 WITCH. Round about the caldron go;
In the poison’d entrails throw.—
Toad, that under cold stone,
Days and nights has thirty-one;
Swelter’d venom sleeping got,
Boil thou first i’ the charmed pot!
ALL. Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn, and caldron bubble.
2 WITCH. Fillet of a fenny snake,
In the caldron boil and bake;
Eye of newt, and toe of frog,
Wool of bat, and tongue of dog,
Adder’s fork, and blind-worm’s sting,
Lizard’s leg, and owlet’s wing,—
For a charm of powerful trouble,
Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.
ALL. Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn, and caldron bubble.
3 WITCH. Scale of dragon; tooth of wolf;
Witches’ mummy; maw and gulf
Of the ravin’d salt-sea shark;
Root of hemlock digg’d i the dark;
Liver of blaspheming Jew;
Gall of goat, and slips of yew
Sliver’d in the moon’s eclipse;
Nose of Turk, and Tartar’s lips;
Finger of birth-strangled babe
Ditch-deliver’d by a drab,—
Make the gruel thick and slab:
Add thereto a tiger’s chaudron,
For the ingrediants of our caldron.
ALL. Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn, and caldron bubble.
2 WITCH. Cool it with a baboon’s blood,
Then the charm is firm and good.

then stand develop @ 20c for 60 mins.
rinse and repeat.

 

[ntenny]

I always wanted to try it.. I did a study on the properties of rosemary, that you can actually take the extract out of this plant, then add traditional accelerators [carbonate] then develop film.

No kidding? I have a huge plot of overgrown rosemary in the yard; this might be fun to try. Any idea what the active agent is, or a hint as to general quantities to start with?

By the way, I also have access to an ample supply of donkey urine if anyone wants it. Local pickup only, no shipping.

-NT

 

[removed account4]

an apugger named darkroomexperimente was experimenting
with rosemary as a developer ...

(there was a url link here which no longer exists)



john

 

[dr5chrome]

..will have to dig up the text I have. I had no idea some one here had discussed it..

dw

an apugger named darkroomexperimente was experimenting
with rosemary as a developer ...

(there was a url link here which no longer exists)



john

 

[ntenny]

Chasing links from the earlier thread (through the article on alkaptonuria), I found that someone actually applied for a patent on a mint developer:
Dead Link Removed

The first claim is really broad and would seem to cover any developer using a terpene or related compound as a reducing agent---can there really be no prior art in this respect? I haven't read the description in enough detail to know if it gives any practically useful guidance on how to get from plant to developer.

-NT

 

[removed account4]

..will have to dig up the text I have. I had no idea some one here had discussed it..

dw

i can see it now ..

"my chromes look awesome but i keep wanting to eat them "

 

[Christopher Walrath]

ha ha...mr dr5 chrome man has finally given us the secret chemical behind his excellent work.
crushed rosemary,with a hint carbonate.

i was hoping for a better recipe than the one below, i got an image but also quite a lot of contaminating residue.
also the baboons blood was a problem finding.






1 WITCH. Thrice the brinded cat hath mew’d.
2 WITCH. Thrice and once, the hedge-pig whin’d.
3 WITCH. Harpier cries:—’tis time! ’tis time!
1 WITCH. Round about the caldron go;
In the poison’d entrails throw.—
Toad, that under cold stone,
Days and nights has thirty-one;
Swelter’d venom sleeping got,
Boil thou first i’ the charmed pot!
ALL. Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn, and caldron bubble.
2 WITCH. Fillet of a fenny snake,
In the caldron boil and bake;
Eye of newt, and toe of frog,
Wool of bat, and tongue of dog,
Adder’s fork, and blind-worm’s sting,
Lizard’s leg, and owlet’s wing,—
For a charm of powerful trouble,
Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.
ALL. Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn, and caldron bubble.
3 WITCH. Scale of dragon; tooth of wolf;
Witches’ mummy; maw and gulf
Of the ravin’d salt-sea shark;
Root of hemlock digg’d i the dark;
Liver of blaspheming Jew;
Gall of goat, and slips of yew
Sliver’d in the moon’s eclipse;
Nose of Turk, and Tartar’s lips;
Finger of birth-strangled babe
Ditch-deliver’d by a drab,—
Make the gruel thick and slab:
Add thereto a tiger’s chaudron,
For the ingrediants of our caldron.
ALL. Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn, and caldron bubble.
2 WITCH. Cool it with a baboon’s blood,
Then the charm is firm and good.

then stand develop @ 20c for 60 mins.
rinse and repeat.

Ummmmmmm.

Is this for film or paper?

 

[gainer]

My late wife, Rosemary, used to develop film.

 

[Denis K]

hello,
... the more bonkers the better,nothing too dangerous as i do not want too die.
many thanks

I read in a turn of the century Photo-Era magazine that a Frenchman recommended adding Picric Acid to a developer to significantly improve the image quality.

I looked into trying it until I found out that Picric Acid is an explosive much like TNT and that a number of people have died while using it in the lab. However, if you feel particularly brave you might give it a try. It just might give your photographics that explosive quality you're looking for.

Denis K

 

[Steve Smith]

Any idea what the active agent is, or a hint as to general quantities to start with?

Rosmarinic acid: http://www.phytochemicals.info/phytochemicals/rosmarinic-acid.php



Steve.

 

[neelin]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/16449896@N00/3633398977/

nothing too dangerous as i do not want too die.

How about water from the river?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/16449896@N00/3633398977/

It would be interesting to see Edwin Land's notes of the things he experimented with when he was trying to formulate the original Polaroid process. How about a 21st century Vitamin C - P.Gainer Fruit Roll up camera, take a photo, peel-off the developer patch/camera & eat it

robert

 

[Steve Smith]

Here's another on you could try: http://www.cmaj.ca/cgi/content/full/172/8/1002



Steve.

 

[Kirk Keyes]

I looked into trying it until I found out that Picric Acid is an explosive much like TNT and that a number of people have died while using it in the lab. However, if you feel particularly brave you might give it a try.

Really, don't try this. And if you run across old bottles of picric acid, do not even touch them. Call you local fire department and leave the immediate area. Old picric acid is notorious for being unstable and it is not something that should be handled by the general public.

That said, I've used fresh picric acid to make metal etching solutions. The old bottles, we called the fire department and they sent the bomb squad out. The put on the special padded kevlar suit, they placed them into a special trailer with a explosion containment unit, they then shut down traffic in the street and detonated the bottles right there.

 

[Aurum]

As a chemistry student, I remember a fellow student having to make picric acid derivatives. He didn't wash his glassware as well as he should, and replaced it in the cupboard, then slammed the door shut with a flourish....


The door slammed back, backed up with a shower of shredded glass.

Total picric acid level involved: fractions of a gramme

He was popular that day(!)

 

[Murray Kelly]

Chasing links from the earlier thread (through the article on alkaptonuria), I found that someone actually applied for a patent on a mint developer:
Dead Link Removed

-NT

There is an old curse - 'May your children p*ss port wine". Alkaptonuria makes the urine dark red. George III had it. Maybe one could get one of his ilk to accompany us to the island?
So far nobody has given us the instructions to grind a lens? How about a pinhole camera?
Murray

 

[Kirk Keyes]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/16449896@N00/3633398977/
How about water from the river?

Assuming it was actual development taking place here, I suspect the developing agent was tannic acid. Tannic acid is a breakdown product of plant materials, and can be high enough in concentration to impart a yellow to brown color to some bodies of natural water.

Tannic acid, or tannins, are not an individual chemical species with a specific molecular weight or chemical formula. Rather, it is a class of related compounds with a broad spectrum of chemicals with different molecular wieghts. Molecular wieghts can range from 500 to 20,000. They are sometimes classed as polyphenols, due to the multiple hydroxyl/phenolic groups found on the tannic acid structure.

If you look at the chemical structure of tannic acid, you will see that it looks like a large number of hydroquinone, pyrogallol, and pyrocatechol molecules that have been linked together into a huge molecule.

I had the notion that if it could develop film, then perhaps it would be a fairly sharp developer. Tannic acid is much too large to penetrate very far into the gelatin matrix of the film emulsion, and so it seemed like it should only be able to develope silver grains that are near the surface of the film. Tannic acid also tans the gelatin, so it could have that tannic/stain that is found in pyrogallol and pyrocatechol developers. Both of these propertied could give a sharper image.

Tannic acid also has much less health issues in regards to skin contact when comared to pyrogallol or pyrocatechol. Both pyrocatechol and pyrogallol can be readily absorbed through the skin and cause severe poisoning, tannic acid merely a mild irritant and astringent. So it should be a safer tanning developer than the pyrogallol- or pyrocatechol-based developers.

With that in mind, I've made developers using tannic acid. The first attempt, I took the stock formula Pyrocat-HD formula and simply substituted tannic acid for the pyrocatechol and processed it like Pyrocat-HD. It worked, but the negative was pretty underdeveloped.

So I made another developer, this time following the Pyrocat-HD formula, but using 10 times more tannic acid than the previous developer. That worked and gave negatives that had an acceptable contrast index and it had a stain similar in color to Pyrocat-HD as well.

I never went any further than that, but it does work. I'd be interested to see if anyone is willing to take it further and actually optimize a formula with it.