I was looking for inspiration the other morning in Portstewart. Well, to tell the truth I was looking for anything remotely interesting in order to finish the roll of Delta 3200 I had in the 'Blad. These pigeons were feeding on the ground (I think someone had thrown some seed out for them) but they were very skittish and rose up at the slightest disturbance before settling down again. As luck would have it just as I got into position "someone" made enough of a noise to set them off again :)
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| Pigeons in Portstewart. Donegal in the murky distance on a very overcast and dull morning. Same technical details as the last print (Delta 3200@800, HC-110 on MGV paper). Grain is slightly accentuated as this was cropped a little. I like the gull just standing on the shore, minding its own business as the pigeons flap about all in a dither. There's a bit of staining/marking on the right of the print which I suspect are drying marks. I do use a wetting agent but when I think about it, I open the spiral after the wash sequence and dunk the film in the final rinse - essentially water with a few drops of Photo-Flo added. At this stage the film is still fairly tightly curled. I think what is happening is that not all frames are getting sufficiently rinsed with the Photo-Flo and hence the drying marks. Now that the film is dried and cut what I need to do is re-rinse this negative in the wetting agent and see if the marks disappear. I shall update this post accordingly. Stand By Everyone... Update: OK so re-washing the negative in Photo-Flo has indeed removed the marks, so I need a slight adjustment to my process. Namely, to uncurl the film in the final wash/rinse and ensure that all frames get a bit of access to the wetting agent. |
Nice animate picture. Interesting how the pigeon with the white wings really makes the shot. I’ve got my process to my liking after much trial and error (mostly the latter). I ‘centrifuge’ the tank after the first rinse to rid the tank of as much tap water as I can before I pour in distilled water, just enough to cover the film, and a drop, maybe two of wetting agent. I leave it in there for about 30seconds then take the film out, hang in shower and pour the tank contents over both sides of the film.
ReplyDeleteLeave bathroom and banish family. I get some dust, but haven’t had drying marks for ages.
Thank you. Funny how almost everyone has their own, slightly different process for the end stage of film developing. I remember something years ago about never letting the wetting agent get in contact with the spiral, which stayed with me. I doubt it really matters provided the reel is scrubbed afterwards (I use an old toothbrush on mine).
DeleteExcellent photograph. Terrible, these rascals disturbing the wildlife. ;)
ReplyDeleteThanks Marcus, appreciated. Yes, isn't it! :)
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