Dwayne's Photo Review

I sent some 120 film into Dwayne's Photo for developing. I had heard about Dwayne's from the Film Photography Podcast. I sent two rolls in using a bubble type mailer. I filled out the form for B&W developing, weighed my package, and bought postage at USPS. I mailed it in on a Monday. To my surprise, I received my negatives on the following Saturday. Pretty fast service for Dwayne's and the USPS.

One roll was taken in a HolgaPan 120. These negatives turned out as well as expected. The negatives arrived clean, packaged uncut in a sleeve, rolled in a cardboard tube. The only thing missing was the 120 roller, which I asked to be returned.

The second roll was taken in a Lubetel 66. I messed up sequencing these images + I didn't have the setting correct (images too dark) so there's not much to blame Dwayne for on this roll.

Given the quick delivery and good processing of the one roll, I will definitely use Dwayne's again. The price is very reasonable too.

My first 4x5 ortho film developed!

It's not much to look at. It's messy, blurred, and underexposed (I tweaked the image below). But it is the first film developed by me. Sure, there are probly kids in kindergarden who can do better but you've got to start somewhere. Taken inside, f5.6, exposure for 2min 30secs. Developed in Dektol.

Film was from UltrafineOnline.com.

Using Caffenol as Paper Developer

I have been doing some darkroom printing with Ultrafine VC ELITE Glossy Variable Contrast RC Paper. I have printed from film negatives, inkjet negatives, laserjet negatives and paper negatives. I typically develop with Dektol, but was interested in trying Caffenol. I like the coffee stain look on the prints and I don't have to worry about disposing of the developer. And it's relatively cheap. Last night I made a couple of prints from a paper negative printed on laser printer. I developed in the following solution:

8 oz water
2 tsp washing soda (Arm and Hammer)
4 tsp instant coffee

I exposed for approximately 1 sec. I was amazed how quickly they appeared in the developer, less than 1 min. I washed under water for about a minute then dipped the paper in fixer for 2-3 minutes.

I like the look of the results and must do more. 

Caffenol Developed Print from Inkjet Negative - Prometheus Moth

Using Harman Direct Positive Paper - Trials and Tribulations

Harman (Ilford) makes a Direct Positive Paper (DPP) which can be used in place of film in a pinhole or medium format camera. It can also be exposed with an enlarger. Photograms are possible as well.I began my experiment by purchasing some 4x5 sheets fro my BandJ Orbit camera.I loaded the paper in a film-holder. I'm happy to say it fits the film-holder just fine. I loaded the paper in a darkroom with a red safety light.

I proceeded to take some shots outside in partly cloudy conditions. At f22 I used shutter speeds of 1 to 5 minutes. Why the long shutter speeds? Because somewhere and somehow I had confused myself into thinking they were required.

I developed the paper in Dektol paper developer and a fixer. On one or two of the images I could see a faint outline of trees. I had over exposed them all.

So, it's again a time for reflection and hoping I get it right next time.

Developing Ultrafine High Contrast Ortho Litho Sheet Film

I bought some Ultrafine High Contrast Ortho Litho film from Ultrafineonline.com. I am using this film as my introduction to film developing as it is cheap and can have very interesting results. I exposed the film in a 4x5 Orbit Monorail MF camera made by Burke and James. The first thing I noticed was that the film is 4x5 - not 3.9 x 4.9 - so it doesn't fit easily in the film holders for the camera. I was still able to load the film, but am not sure it was flat - but this was a learning process so I didn't worry too much about that.

I took a several shots with f15 and a shutter speed ranging from 1 min to 5 mins.  It was a partly cloudy day and somewhere I had read that this was a good starting point. 

I developed the film in Dektol  paper developer and a fixer. I read where you can develop by sight. All of the negatives were black - which means they were over exposed.

I did a test where I developed a negative without exposing it and it turned out clear. I think this proved my darkroom was ok and the chemistry was fine. I realized later that I didn't dilute the Dektol. I took some more sample shots at a 3 min shutter and the negatives were still overexposed.

I am slow. Once I had in my mind I needed long exposures - I ignored the fact that I was getting overexposures.

I am going to take a break, regroup, do more study, and then try again and use a light meter to set up my camera.

Brownish Staining on Cyanotypes

I have been making a few cyanotypes recently. I have successfully made cyanotypes before. But now, I seem to be consistently getting brown staining for some reason. The staining is on the entire image - light and dark areas inclusive. I am using paper negatives whereas I was using film negatives before. Some of the paper negatives have been oiled. My setup is as follows: I have a glass base. I lay the sensitized paper on top of the glass. I lay my negative on top of the sensitized sheet. Finally I cover with another piece of glass and develop in my UV exposure unit. I have tried different papers with similar results. The interesting thing is that where the paper negative has not covered the sensitized paper, the paper develops into the rich Prussian blue I would expect for the entire image. Does this process not like my paper negatives? I will try a film negative and report the results. Has anyone had similar results?