Four film how well did they develop.

Film development.

It has taken quite a time to reach this point. There have been numerous interruptions, not all of them good, but the results are in and there are some surprises.

The different makes side by side

All the films are 120 format and 6x6 negative size. They were exposed at box speed and developed in the same way with the same thirty month old batch of stock ID11. When I checked the date I was Shocked. It did explain the slightly wheat looking tone to the developer. To be honest I did not give a second thought as to whether it would work or not. The developer was diluted 1+1 and used only once at a temp 20c, No pre-soak was used. All inverted for the first thirty seconds this is equal to twelve inversions and then four inversions every minute this is equal to ten seconds. Then stopped, fixed and washed as normal.

FP4+ negs

I chose to develop the FP4+ first. This is the film all the others are going to be judged against, so there was no pressure to get the development spot on. The suggested time by the manufacturers is eleven minutes, but I find my negatives tend to be a bit thin so process for fourteen minutes. While the negatives were drying I looked over them to see how well they had turned out. I was surprised to find they are some of the best negatives I have produced. Let's hope I can keep this standard up for the rest.

Rollie 400s negs

The next film to be loaded into the developing tank was the Rollei 400s. This did not have a very auspicious start after loading the film into the back of the camera. I had mistaken the noise it was making for the film coming off the spool. I am so used to the sound FP4+makes when being wound on. I checked to see if it was OK in a blacked out darkroom and it was. This lead to four frames being lost. The suggested development time for this film in ID11 is eleven minutes. I must say I had my doubts but developed it for the said time anyway. Need I say they look thin; will have see how well they print!

Fomapan 100 negs

The five litre can of ID11 is getting very close to being used up and the developer is getting darker in colour each time I use it, could be a close run thing as to whether there is enough to do two more films. Next into the soup was the Fomapan classic exposed at 100 ISO. The suggested development time for this speed is eight to ten minutes. This is another film I have no previous knowledge of, so which is it 8,9 or 10 minutes?. With the thin looking Rollei negs at the front of my mind I've chosen ten minutes I feel it may produce better results and it did. My calculated gamble paid off this time. Producing the density of negative I like and very close to the FP4+ results.

Adox chs negs

The last one to meet the spiral was the Adox CHS exposed at 100 ISO. The suggested time for ID11 at this speed is 7.5 minutes. I took no notice of this time at all. Boyd by the results of the Fomapan I pushed the time to ten minutes. Where did this time come from? The previous results indicated that a longer development time would produce denser negatives so I decided to do the same for this. Was I right? NO! I should have gone longer. These are the thinnest negatives of the lot. Again, will have to see how they print.

Experience and knowledge has played it's part in the development of the Fomapan, 400s and Adox but even so the later two's results are 'off' by my standard. The times suggested for developing the films are from a trusted source. So I am a little disappointed that they did not turn out better than they did. Having said that it maybe the developer losing its potency as I start to scrape the bottom of the bottle. It is, to a certain extent, a gamble when using old material, combined with ones I have not used before. All is not lost, it just means that the thinner negatives will be a bit more of a challenge to print properly.

How are they going to print?

Finally the Id11 ran out before I had a chance to do another roll of the 400s. If I had, I would have extended the time by three minutes. With the Adox I would have increased the time by five minutes.

Four Film

The Plan.

This is the first time I have four different manufactures of black and white film in 120 format in stock. To mark the occasion I'm going to compare them to see if there is a noticeable difference between them. This comparison is not about which is the best film to use but to do with creativity and what each emulsion may bring to the party. Choosing a film in the first place is very subjective, you can ask as many questions as you like and look at loads of pictures that are the product of it's exposure but you will not truly know how it looks until you use it for yourself. FP4 was the first roll of film I chose to use and has remained my favorite ever since. At the time it was a close run thing with Kodak's offerings.

The protagonists are, of course Ilfords FP4+, Fomapan classic 100, Adox CHS 100 and Rollei retro 400s.

FP4+ has been the main stay of my median format work and therefore I know how to get the best out of it. The Rollei 400s and Fomapan classic are the two out of the four that are unknown quantities when it come to exposure and development. So to a certain extent the results will also have a first impressions flavour. Not always the best way to judge a product. I have used the Adox before in 35 mm format so I have an idea what to expect and in that case was not favourable but I will not let that taint the use of its bigger brother. I am also aware when loading Adox film it needs subdued lighting as it fogs easily in bright conditions. The Fomapan classic when processed with certain combinations of fix and developer can be susceptible to pinholes appearing in the emulsion but then I have had this with FP4+ in the past.

All the pictures will be made on a Bronica SQAi. I will not be replicating the same twelve views across all the films. I prefer to make pictures when the opportunity arises. They will all be exposed at box speed and developed in ID11 and processed as normal, then printed on an RC paper that will be chosen at the time of printing. I decided to keep things simple and use materials that I have a good understanding of, making it easier to tell how well the two unknown films have been exposed and developed.

All we need now are the exposed and developed film. The links below will take you to the follow up posts.



The links below are the follow ups to this post.
The developed film

The prints

Dogs Dinner.

Well not quite, a dogs water bowl! There is no chance of it falling in his dinner because his head is in the bowl before it hits the floor. The film was more likely to become a chew.

I noticed that two film containers were sitting on the kitchen table. Thinking they were empty I picked them up to throw away, to discover that they were not. I opened one and out dropped a roll of exposed colour film. Butter fingers here managed to drop the roll of film! The consequence of these finger fumbling, was splash! straight into the dogs water bowl. My wife said that she had not seen me move that fast since my superman days. I need reminding, what superman days?

After a bit of dancing around to shake the water out, it was off to the local supermarket for development. An outlet we had not tried before. The film was also long out of date - nearly a decade. If it had not been for the fact I was on my way out I would have blacked out the darkroom and removed the film for drying. These things always happen when you're short of time.

As it turns out the water had destroyed nearly half the frames on a film of twenty four. The up shot of this was we only had to pay half the normal fee. There was also colour shift on some of the prints. This I put down to the water damage.

Am I disappointed? No! Not really, but I am with myself for the butter fingers, but not with the results we have, as neither of us could remember who, what, when or which camera was used in the first place. The big disappointment is with the quality of the processing and paper used. 

A mistake comes good

Developed normally

In a recent chat I had with another photographer, there was a lamenting the fact that he had not noticed a problem with his new pinhole camera; well not the camera but a bit of kit he was using with it. He is not the only one not to notice the little tell tail signs that things are not going well. I had the same sort of thing with the lith 200 process I was trying out for the first time. It was not until I started to use different makes of paper that the fault struck me. Up to that point I thought it was part of the process. It turned out that the box of Kentmere paper had been light contaminated (fogged),but when I could not remember.  At this realization two things crossed my mind, what a waste of a box of paper and dam! it is not a peculiarity of the process.

lith 200 Kentmere paper

I changed to a different paper and continued to produce prints. Using the

negatives I had selected for the trial with the lith 200. While I was doing this I had the idea that maybe the fogged paper could be used to creative affect. I chose some of the negs that may lend themselves to this and processed them accordingly. As the first result appeared in the developer, I started to question this creative wisdom as it looked rubbish, but then my perception changed when the photograph of the bottles on the window sill appeared. It did not look out of place, in fact it added to it a sort of early twentieth century feel. Maybe my idea wasn't such a bad one after all!.

lith 200 Forma paper

What I'm getting at is just because it has gone wrong there is no need to throw the baby out with the water so to speak! With a little lateral thinking creatively you can turn things round. Some of you may think I'm talking a load of rubbish ( I'm being polite) but it is surprising how often a mistake can come good.

lith 200 Kentmere paper

The most popular posts of 2013.

William Henry fox Talbot 

These are the ten most popular posts on this site for 2013. In some cases not the best written but then who sets out to write a bad article. I compare it to making pictures, I go out with the intention of producing my best work. I chose those pictures that meet that criterion and share them with you. Then the choice is yours and that means you may not agree.

Of the hundred and fifty or so posts on the blog the following are the most visited making them the most popular.

1. Fox Talbot a short history.
2. Darkroom layout.
3. Preparing the pinhole camera for use.
4. Basic split grade printing.
5. Choosing an enlarger.
6. Print washing.
7. Test results for Agfa APX 100.
8. Fuji GW 690111 overview/review.
9. Dryside of the darkroom.
10. Keeping your negatives safe.

Easy Lith 200 Results.

This is my follow on post explaining what happened and how it was done. Not everything went according to plan, but more about that later.

Being in a fortunate position of owning a second slot processor I decided to set this at 26 degrees for the lith developer. I did not add stop or fix to the other slots but continued to use what was already available in the other slotty, keeping the temperature to 20 degrees. It is just as well I did as one of the papers emulsion became very soft.

I chose high contrast negatives that I had already printed. I looked back through my notes on how long each was exposed for and added one and half times more exposure to see how things worked. I chose to follow the instructions when it came to diluting part A and B at 2X 1+25+1000 mls water. (20 mls of each 40 mls in total in 1000 mls of water). The paper I chose to start with was Kentmere RC because it was the paper originally used with these negatives. All the prints were exposed to white light, no grades were set. I had no idea how they would turn out or what sort of tone would be produced. I used two other varitone RC papers to see which produced the best results with this mix of A and B.

Kentmere paper

This is the original Kentmere print exposed at grade zero and developed as normal.

Kentmere paper

This is the first print out of the easy lith on Kentmere paper. It took over three minutes for it to reach full development. A very faint out line of the picture started to show about 30-40 seconds in. It was difficult to see whether the print had toned or not with the red light on.

Foma 131 paper

Second print was on Foma 131 varitone. This took a full twelve minutes to develop fully and is what I had in mind as a lith look.

Ilford paper

Third print was on Ilford multigrade paper, I pulled the paper early because I thought it may go completely black.

Conclusions:

Not knowing what to expect from this process makes it difficult to be to critical with the results. One of my main mistakes was to treat this like a normal developer, I should have mixed the two parts separately so I could vary the strengths of each part to get a look that was in my opinion more lith like, this may have lead me to make changes to the amount of over exposure as well. The problem I think in these early stages of getting to grips with a new process such as this is there are a lot of variables to take into account. With more practice I suspect I will arrive at something more my taste.

A side affect of using the Lith process has shown up a weakness in what I considered a well vented darkroom. This is the first time I experienced a build up of fumes. Some updating needs to be carried out if I wish to continue printing using lith chemicals. After a bit of thought I feel it should be upgraded regardless!

Over all I am pleased with the outcome, for a first attempt. Others may not, but I would prefer to get as many of the mistakes out of the way now so I can concentrate on producing finer prints in the future.

Link back to first post easy lith 200

Easy lith 200 try out.

Easy lith 200

For the best part of a year I have been looking at a couple of bottles of Moesch easy Lith 200. It is there by mistake, having turned up in an order I placed and could not be bothered to send it back. After looking at the instructions again I decided to give it a go. How difficult could it be, after all it does say easy lith!? It is time to put 'easy' to the test.

What the instructions say:

The lith developer comes in two bottles marked A and B. the former has Hydrochinon and the latter Potassium Carbonate.

A and B can be diluted from 1+15 to 1+50 or any combination of the two. For example 1+25 = 40 ml of developer to 1000 ml of water. (20 ml A +20 ml B +1000 ml of water)

You should over expose your prints by 1 to 4 stops. The amount of over exposure and the strength of the developer influences the interaction between the two, e.g. with a small over exposure you should use a stronger developer of say 1 to 15 dilution, with a larger over exposure you should use a weaker developer of say 1 to 50 dilution.

Reaction when you add part A and B together

The image printed is dependent on the paper and exposure used i.e. lots of light plus weaker developer equals longer development time and greater colour.

If you are using variable contrast papers (VC) you should use white light as contrast is controlled by a combination of exposure and development time.

Short exposure equals higher contrast, underdeveloped middle tones and minimal colour.

Long exposure equals softer and colourful high lights.

It does not matter what combination of exposure or dilution you use it can take between four to twelve minutes for the image to appear whether RC or FB paper is being used. When in the developer it is recommended that the print is agitated continuously and that the emulsion side should not come into contact with the surface of the tray as it will damage it.

The water added in this case was at 26 degrees.
as you can see the milkiness disappears

The development time will extend from print to print as oxidation and bi products build up this can be compensated for by adding fresh developer to regenerate the working solution.

You can vary the relationship between part A and B. Different affects will be achieved by doing this. More part A equals more colour and harder prints but runs out of steam more quickly. More part B equals a softer print that appears more quickly relatively speaking and will produce more prints before it is exhausted.

It is suggested that by increasing the temperature of the developer to around 26 to 28 degrees centigrade it will reduce development times by 30 to 40% but by doing this it will soften the gelatin making it easier to damage.

The instructions above are not verbatim as they are translated from German but contain all the most important bits.

Some thing’s to think about before you start:

Oxidized lith developer after 24 hours

I would suggest where possible that if you are going to use the developer at the increased temperature of 26 degrees +, that it is done separately to the stop and fix which would normally be used at 20 degrees. This is really aimed at those of us who mainly use a slot processor for printing. By doing this you decrease the amount of fumes given off making the air more breathable. It also allows you to cool down the paper when it is moved to the stop therefore hardening the gelatin layer decreasing it's susceptibility to damage as you move it from bath to bath.

Collapsible bottle.

I added part A and B together when I mixed it up for the first time which I think was a mistake, it would be a better idea to dilute A and B separately as one exhausts more quickly than the other. The instructions do not state either way as to mixing the pair together.

It also states that the developer oxidizes quickly when used in a tray and that you should only mix enough for the session and when finished throw it all away. I found that if you pour the unused developer into collapsible bottles it will stay fresh for at least 48 hours. A slot processor slows the oxidation down but not to the extent that it will keep over night.

Because this post is getting a bit long my results will be posted separately. 

Results link

Angles of view with different lenses..

The diagram shows angle of view or angle of acceptance.

I have been looking back through my college notes and came across this series of pictures. I used the colour film you find in the pound/ budget shops. I have had no problems with the way the film has performed.

These pictures show how much of the view in front of the lens is depicted at the negative. As the focal length of the lens increases the angle of view reduces but the object size gets bigger. Therefore as you go up the focal range so the depth of field lessens.

View at 35mm

View at 50mm

View at 80mm

View at 135mm and the cold is getting to me.

View at 210mm

Ilfords new darkroom paper.

The old Multigrade 4 FB.

Ilford have launched an upgrade to its popular Multigrade 4 FB darkroom papers called Multigrade FB classic suggesting that this is the best light sensitive paper they have produced so far. If you judge it on sales alone and the fact it has sold out you maybe right or they could have simply under estimated it's popularity. It comes in gloss and matt surfaces offering greater sharpness, shorter development times and improved Max D – could this mean less time in the wash? Available at all the usual sizes. The classic paper has a white base tint, neutral image colour, good mid tone range and deep blacks. It has also been made more sensitive to traditional toning techniques but then I didn't find the original that difficult, even with toning developers. As part of the changes a cool tone FB paper has been introduced to complement the warm tone FB papers. This has crisp whites and nicely separated midtones. One of the surprising things about this paper is that Ilford has kept the price of the paper at multigrade 4 FB prices so far.

Technical sheets from Ilford:

FBClassic PDF

FBCool tone PDF

Paper flashing, Pre-flash examples.

I had not envisaged writing a second post on this subject so soon, but I thought I should have included some more examples with the first post.

Examples:

All the pictures that appear here have been printed on Kentmere VC RC at grade 0, developed in Ilford Multigrade and pre-flashed at one second increments with the enlarger light box at nearly full height and the lens shut down to F16.

Straight Grade Zero print

This picture is a straight grade zero print. When I took this picture I knew it would be a difficult scene to print.

Pre-flashed for one second

This picture has had a one second pre-flash the difference is quite subtle but you can just make out an increase in tone.

Two second flash

This picture has had a two second pre-flash and looks a bit washed out. The tonal range has increased in comparison to the last picture now making it necessary to add the grade five exposure to bring out the contrast and blacks.

Pre-flash test strip:

Exposure curve and Kentmere test strip
in second intervals

I have combined the pre-flash test strip for the Kentmere paper with the exposure curve to show how the test relates to the curve. Intervals 1 to 4 relate to the numbers on the curve.

Example two:

Grade zero print

This is also a grade zero print, when I took these shots I did not think the negatives would require pre-flashing.

Flashed for one second

This picture has had a one second pre-flash. If you compare the two carefully you can make out the subtle change in the sky which appears darker and the  additional tonal range in the details in the shadows.

Local Darkroom.

120 format FP4+ developed in ID11
Printed on Kentmere VC
Develop in Ilford multigrade developer

I received an email from Harman technologies (Ilford products) recently about a new initiative that is to be launched worldwide.

The email was sent because I took part in a survey about darkroom use. It had a large response with fifteen thousand people taking part with over a thousand replies on the first day.

This is a summary of the statistics:

• 69% shot film weekly
• 35% did not use a darkroom but were using black and white film.
• 35% without a darkroom were asked would they like access to a local darkroom 78% of them said yes and of those 32% would like some training.
• 65% said they had access to darkroom facilities provided by work and community with privately owned being the majority.

A second survey for privately owned darkrooms was done with thirteen hundred responses being received. They were asked if they would be willing to share their darkroom and 56% said yes.

With that encouraging result Harman have set up a new free online community www.localdarkroom.com They have already invited tutors and community/ public darkrooms to list themselves on the site. There is also a section for those that have a private darkroom who are willing to share their private space. You will need to be a member of the community to access any of these services, whether training or darkroom in the local area, as there has to be some sort of vetting when allowing people you do not know into your home. For FAQs and more information visit the web site.

I hope this venture is a success and praise Harman for their initiative. But from experience I note that there can be a big difference between what people say on a form and then taking part.

On a personal note I would have liked to open my darkroom to other enthusiasts but it is not practical at the present time. 

Paper Flashing the pre-flash.

High contrast negative
printed normally.

After my last post you maybe wondering if this is going to be saucy, you will have to read on to find out.

Types of flashing:

Paper flashing is divided into two types, 'pre' which is done before the negative is exposed to the paper and 'after' which is known as fogging. This article is going to deal mainly with the former as it is a good way of controlling the contrast of hard to print negatives and adding a finer quality to others. It is also the one I have used most often.

How it works:

The first thing to do is explain how pre flashing works. All photo sensitive papers have a built in inertia to light, this means that the paper has to absorb a certain amount of white light before it starts to tone or show detail. When a paper has been pre flashed and the negative is exposed, all the light shining through produces tone and detail, because of this the amount of exposure needed is reduced, in some cases by 20%. This makes the lower values less likely to black out producing better separation in the shadows. It also affects the other end of tonal scale - the highlights, which receive more light, improving the detail and tone being recorded. With the inertia overcome, all the light passing through the negative is working on producing detail and tone. A consequence of this is a lowering of contrast making a finer balanced print.

Print after pre-flash

When to Flash:

Since flashing is a way of fine tuning contrast, it can be used to produce half grades with fixed or variable contrast papers. You do not have to flash to the maximum but can use it incrementally up to the point of tone. You do not have to flash a whole sheet of paper, it can be helpful where a sky in a scene is over blown to just flash that part of the paper. This is done by Dodging (holding back) with a piece of black card the other section of the paper preventing it from receiving any light. Remember that you should keep the card moving otherwise the final picture will have a black line going across it. Most negatives will not require flashing. If used inappropriately it can produce flat and unnaturally long toned prints. So be selective in your approach.

If you're a split grade printer you should not be afraid of pre flashing the paper as it has no adverse affect on this method, but can aid the production of better photographs.

Equipment:

Your enlarger and a reasonable accurate timer. For those who have the space you can set up a second enlarger just to do flashing or you can use a paper flasher by RH Designs.

How to Flash:

The main thing to note about flashing is the method you use has to be precisely duplicable so you can reproduce predictable results time and time again. One method is to set the enlarger light box at maximum height and close the lens down to minimum aperture (F16) with a timer connected, timing the segments at intervals.

For those who don't have a second enlarger things become a bit of a pain having to move the light box up and down like a yo-yo during the printing process. But there are ways round it. You can batch flash your paper keeping it in a separate box but only produce enough for that printing session. Secondly, find your own method of flashing which is what I have done. I move the light box to a height where the light from the lens covers an area larger than the paper I'm using, which is slightly higher than what I would use for printing (don't forget to make a note of the height for future reference). Set the lens to F8 and then time the segment at tenths of a second. You can increase the timing by closing down the lens. Don't be afraid to experiment to find a method to suit. You can do all this with the negative in the carrier and use a diffuser under the lens that scatters the image enough not to make an impression on the paper, but this can lead to overly long exposure times.

Making a test strip:

Test strip

The method is the same as making a test strip for printing a negative. You need a strip of light sensitive paper and a piece of black card so you can expose sections incrementally. The only difference is you will need to mark the test strip with a pen so you can see how many segments have been exposed before the paper starts to tone. The paper is developed in the normal way. To check the test strip properly it needs to be totally dry to allow for dry down tones that may appear in segments that look clear when wet. You can force drying by using a hair dryer or the microwave. If you use several sorts of paper the test should be done for each and then stick the results to the front of the box for reference. It also means that each new box you purchase will need a test, as each new box is a different batch.

Exposure curve.

This simplified exposure curve shows what happens to photographic paper when introduced to white light. The lower part of the curve marked 1-3 is the area of 'inertia' when exposed for this short period of time and then developed there would be no change in the tone of the paper. When timed to 4 and developed there should  be the first signs of tone 4a. If you then time it to 5 at the top and develop it, it would be maximum black. (also known as D MAX) to add any more time after this point will not make the paper any blacker than black.

Flashing is about giving the paper just enough white light to get it to 3 before you expose the negative to extend the tonal range. Further white light from this point 3 is a different type of white light known as fogging.

Is it a love affair?

This is the saucy minx of an F5  I use to take most of my photographs with, coupled with the sexy little prime of a 28 mm lens. Add a roll of Agfa APX to caress the back of the focal plane shutter and I'm in for a sensual day of picture making.

With camera in hand I stroll out into a bright day with a gentle heat, fanned by a breeze that shifts the leaves on the trees. Now looking at the image in the view finder that is alive with dancing shadows I wait with finger poised touching the trigger in growing anticipation, waiting, waiting for the right breath of wind to push the shadows into place to complete the composition the eye so lusts for.

Click! anticipation spent, I turn away moving to the next flirtatious view to seduce my eye and so the day is flirted away click by click. Before I know where I am an entrancing morning has been teased away.

 

Not quite what I had in mind when I started writing this cheeky post but it does sex up the thought process behind the taking of each image made. A bit of fun at my expense. Believe it or not there was such a day and the pictures that illustrate this post are the results. A full days exposure and legal too!

Split grade printing with High contrast negatives.

Very high contrast grade 0

A recently developed set of negatives have shown themselves to be very contrasty even by my standards. During the summer I was on an early morning shoot, when I came across these scenes. They were not the easiest pictures to meter, there was a six stop difference between the light areas and the shadows in some cases. Two things drew me to them: the  way the shadows of the leaves danced on the walls in the gentle breeze and the other was a brief thought that they would be a challenge to split grade print.  

Soft grade 0

It has been suggested that split grade printing works better when the contrast stakes are raised. In these cases they maybe unprintable. The pictures were made using 120 format FP4+ developed in ID11 for 14 mins I know this is longer than what is recommended but I have found I have a tendency to under expose when using medium format cameras.

I used Ilford multigrade developer and RC paper. I tend to use RC papers in the initial stages or until I'm happy that the picture warrants printing on FB paper.

With grade 5 added

I started the grade zero test print for the Gate but it became clear while I was doing the timed segments that I may not need a grade five test because  the contrast was very high even for zero. I chose sixteen seconds for the gate picture to illustrate the degree of contrast this negative has. The window shutter picture also proved to be overly contrasty as well. I was quite happy with the results until I did a second print with the grade five added which now makes the first print look soft. It just goes to show how things change when you start to explore the subject at different settings. None of the prints have been manipulated by dodging or burning in which could class them as the perfect prints?

Ye old R3

Out of date R3

Over recent times I have had the tidying up bug  including a good rummage round in my film cupboard where I discovered four rolls of film. Nothing remarkable in that, I hear you say! However what I came across were two rolls of Rollie retro 100 and two rolls of R3, tucked away in a corner! I know! very out of date unless your name is Mitch in which case they are reaching maturity. It is strange how things come together. I recently posted a very grainy picture of a surfer dramatically falling off his board to illustrate how grainy things can get if you do not process your negs correctly. The film used to take the picture is the late lamented Rollie R3. If I had used the film with a fine grain developer the 1600 ISO negatives would have been a lot smoother.

R3 used at 400 ISO

When available it was advertised as a variable ISO film ranging from 50 to 3200 The idea of a ultra fast film is what encouraged me to purchase some. It took a little while for me to find a suitable subject to test it out on. By chance I was walking along the coastal footpath into Croyde Bay with an empty camera.  So I loaded the R3 set 1600 ISO and spent an hour or so taking pictures of surfers as the sun went down.

R3 used at 400 ISO

I cannot believe that it was 2009 that I last used the R3 and then at 400 ISO, having learnt my lesson previously, I used a fine grain developer. You could not of hoped for a finer set of negatives, they were that smooth it looked as though they had been sprayed on to the film back.

I don't use fast films a lot as I like bright sunny days with lots of contrast. It just so happens I was recently given the imaging warehouses catalogue and while thumbing through it I noticed they stocked Rollie 400s, which got me thinking  how would it compare to the old R3? There is only one way to find out!

Capturing the light, a book about the beginning of photograph as we know it.

This is an excellent read if you are interested in the birth of photography. Written by Roger Watson and Helen Rappaport. It takes you back in time to the years after the French revolution where a flamboyant Louis Daguerre is making his name as a scenery painter and showman. While in the English countryside a young shy gentleman amateur scientist by the name of Henry Fox Talbot plays with the idea of being able to fix a scene on paper using chemicals among other things.

The book is written like an historical thriller as the two gentlemen race to discover the holy grail of chemicals that will allow the light drawings to be  developed and fixed so that all can enjoy their own images, but who gets there first and crowned the inventor of photography?

For me this was a page turner even though I have studied both men in some detail at collage. While I was reading this book I felt that I was being introduced to both men for the first time. This was nothing like the dry text books from my collage days; it is easy to read although in the beginning it has a bit of a quirky writing style but once you get the hang of it the book flies by so don't be put off, otherwise you will miss out!