philstar wrote:

EoinC wrote:

philstar wrote:is that Tana Mahuta?

Indeed, it is. I also visited many other kauri's up there, but haven't gotten to those photo's yet.
Magnificent living beings, which make us look very small, both in size and timescale.

Nice! The Blue Whales of the land.

http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/201711 ... by-mistake

http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/201711 ... -lynch-mob

http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/201711 ... sonate-now

EoinC wrote:What are you getting, Jo?

Developing tank, et al, from BHphoto.

jo wrote:

EoinC wrote:What are you getting, Jo?

Developing tank, et al, from BHphoto.

Kewl. i don't know how experienced you are, but this may help:

I use a couple of Patterson Universal 4's (1x 120 or 2x 35mm per tank), along with a change-bag for loading. I generally use a cassette breaker for opening the films, unless I use the EOS 1V HS, which auto rewinds with a leader left out of the cassette.

These days nearly all of my developing is with R09 (Rodinal) at 1:50, followed by an Ilfostop stop bath at 1:19, and Ilford Rapid Fixer at 1:4.

Starting out, use the Massive Development Chart ( https://www.digitaltruth.com/devchart.p ... empUnits=C ) to get some idea on dev times. I tend to go 1/2 to 1-1/2 minutes longer to get denser blacks.
Typical regime for me with Tri-X would be:
Developing...
Agitate 30s
Tap tank to remove bubbles.
Rest 60s
Agitate 2x
Tap tank...
Continue as above (2x agitation every 60s) until time completed.
Pour out developer (single use)

Stop...
60s continuous agitation
Pour out stop bath (reusable)

Fixing...
Agitate 60s
Tap tank to remove bubbles
Rest 30s
Agitate 2x
Tap tank...
Continue as above (2x agitation every 30s) until time completed (4-6 minutes, depending upon remaining strength of fixer)
Pour out fixer (reusable)

Rinse...
Fill with 600ml water
Agitate 7x
Pour out
Refill with 600ml water
Agitate 14x
Pour out
Refill with 600ml water
Agitate 28x
Pour out

Remove spool/s
Pull back and forth through wetting solution (Ilfosol at 1:200) for 2 minutes

Hang up to dry. It takes about 25-30 minutes to complete the process for 1 tank load of film.

Sometimes I'll do stand developing, with R09 at 1:200 with an initial agitation of 30s, then a single 2x agitation at 30 minutes, and remove at 1hr. Other processes remain the same.

Be diligent about drying the tank and reels (especially if plastic). Any moisture will make for difficulty in loading the film (which is not good once you're committed in the darkbag). As I bounce between 2 tanks, I usually dry the gear in a warm oven if I'm planning on continuous developing of multiple tankloads.

To check the strength of your fixer, cut off a small slice of your undeveloped negative, drop it in the fixer, and see how long it takes for the negative sample to fully clear. Multiply this time by 2.5 to calculate your film's fixing time.

Te Anau gate...
(Hasselblad SWC w/ Ilford Delta 100 film)
M001 by Eoin Christie, on Flickr

EoinC wrote:

jo wrote:

EoinC wrote:What are you getting, Jo?

Developing tank, et al, from BHphoto.

Kewl. i don't know how experienced you are, but this may help:

Thanks Eoin.

Imma gonna save that on google drive for when it arrives. Its been shipped already.

jo wrote:

EoinC wrote:

jo wrote:

EoinC wrote:What are you getting, Jo?

Developing tank, et al, from BHphoto.

Kewl. i don't know how experienced you are, but this may help:

Thanks Eoin.

Imma gonna save that on google drive for when it arrives. Its been shipped already.

Excellent, Jo - Good times ahead.
Some more unsolicited advice in the early stages is to start with as few variables as possible, and work through them systematically to get to a reliable / comfortable workflow:
1) Use a single film stock (Tri-X is a personal favourite - very forgiving of lighting and exposure extremes, and the nicest grain known to man/womankind. If the World was suddenly restricted to only 1 emulsion, I would hope it to be Tri-X).
2) Get familiar with your actions, particularly those you need to carry out in the darkbag. It may be worth wasting a film practicing to open the cassette, load the reel/s, and close the tank inside the darkbag, but with the end unzipped, before you try with a film with precious photo's on it.
3) It may be worth bracketing your first film (and noting what the exposures were relative to the metering) to see what the metered shots translate to in the developed negative. With Tri-X, I'll generally overexpose by 1 - 1-1/2 stops to get the shadow detail I want. If I'm forced to underexpose, depending upon what I'm after, I may increase the developing time by 30-60s.
4) If you are using reusable developer / stop / fixer, don't get too greedy on how many times you use it. It will bite when you've tried it on a film that you think is going to be special (Ask me how I know...).
5) Be consistent with your agitation. There are 501 different theories, but I work on 2 each gentle hand-to-hand inversions, rolling the tank slowly as I do so (hard to explain - easy to do).
6) Once you have a consistent process, start experimenting (1 variable at a time) so that you get familiar with the effects, particularly exposure vs developing time.
7) Enjoy yourself, embrace the magic, and be proud of what you have done.
8) Keep us updated...

Island Bay, Wellietoon...
Hasselblad 903 w/ Delta 100 film (cropped to cut out a piece of tape stuck in the magazine across 2 films).
K002 by Eoin Christie, on Flickr

Bluff Hill, looking West towards Argentina...
EOS 1V HS w/ TS-E24 - Neopan Acros 100 film
M001 by Eoin Christie, on Flickr

Moar Bluff...

M002 by Eoin Christie, on Flickr

M003 by Eoin Christie, on Flickr

Te Anau surrounds
Hasselblad 903 w/ Delta 100 film
M003 by Eoin Christie, on Flickr

M002 by Eoin Christie, on Flickr

M004 by Eoin Christie, on Flickr

I was down there a few weeks back - its a stunning part of the country.

My box of goodies have arrived. Post xmas I'll try to get the chemicals for my first developing! Greatly appreciate your suggestions.

jo wrote:I was down there a few weeks back - its a stunning part of the country.

My box of goodies have arrived. Post xmas I'll try to get the chemicals for my first developing! Greatly appreciate your suggestions.

Excellent - Keep us updated on how you go.
The above were at bridge over the Oreti River, on the Lumsden / Te Anau road.

Houghton Bay, Wellietoon...
Hasselblad 903 w/ Delta 100 film
M005 by Eoin Christie, on Flickr