Welcome to the New Year

 On a grey and dull day I am going to say a big, bright THANK YOU to all my follows, subscribers and supports for visiting the blog over this last year. Views are up big time even though it has been a bad year personally.

As is the custom for this time of year I have a new header picture that shows a hand picking up or putting down an Agfa Isolette I will leave it up to you how you interpret my intent. If any of you have any suggestion please share your thoughts.

As I sit here writing this, it is peeing down with rain, which has inspired me to set up my pinhole camera to make an image that will take eighteen minutes to expose. Not the longest exposure I have made but getting there. This is  the start of my rediscovery of the wonders of  pinhole photography and the Zero camera in   articular which I hope to use more this year  instead of leaving it in the camera bag. A new   years resolution of sorts!

Talking of new year resolutions photograph wise -  have you set any? I don't as a rule but this  year is  going to be different I have two things I  could like  to achieve one I have already  mentioned the  other is to spend more time in the darkroom  printing, something that I can neglect. I find it  difficult to spend anytime at all during the  summer months in the darkroom I  o not like  wasting time inside if the weather is  bright and  warm, even in the evenings. I  suspect I'm not the  only one. What are your thoughts? 

I'm looking forward to seeing you all again this year. Don't be shy if you drop by - have a chat (leave a comment) - always interested in what you get up to. I shall leave you now as my mistress the darkroom is calling! I will chat with you all again later. Before I leave I would like to wish you all the best for the year ahead. 

Living with Tetenal Eukobrom AC

Developer

Tetenal new Eukobrom AC is proving to be a delight to work with. I did not realize how much of a irritant the smell of the developer was until it had been removed from the equation. I no longer have developers nose where the smell lingers long after I have left the darkroom. 

In an early article on this developer I had a couple of questions: Personally the main questions yet to be resolved are its keeping qualities and whether or not the image will be warm when the developer starts to deplete. One of these has now been answered, that is it's keeping qualities. I have been using it in my slot processor, at the end of each print session I leave the developer in the slot and cover it with the lid. The amount of time between each print session varies a lot from days to weeks sometimes months.

Slot processor

 Two things have come to light. If you leave the developer in the slot you should give it a stir before you start using it again. The active ingredient can separate out dropping to the bottom. I was caught out thinking that the developer had come to the end of it's working life because it had been left for two weeks. Something I did regularly with Ilfords multigrade without loss of usability.

Something else I have not experienced before was a black and white crystalline substance on top of the stop bath. It was a very heavy build up making it difficult to remove the top off the stop. The stop it's self was clear and still at the level it had been left at, turning out to still be working even so I changed it. This maybe an interaction with the vitamin C - something to keep an eye on.

The other question about the warming of the prints as the developer depletes still remains unanswered. This due to the fact I have not processed enough prints with the fresh developer. Once I notice I'll let you know.

 

Finally I have used this developer with a number of makes of paper now - RC and FB, natural, warm, cool tone and tinted papers - With great results, so if you have not tried it yet, do so! you can get it in 250 ml shots which is More than enough to get a feel for the way it works and looks.

Technical Data:

Developer Tetenal Eukobrom AC, paper Kentmere RC gloss. 

Other Posts:
Eukobrom first look
FB papers in Eukobrom