diff --git a/README.md b/README.md index 87d791d..d5c0ab7 100644 --- a/README.md +++ b/README.md @@ -1,11 +1,11 @@ # A Breathless And Brief Introduction To Stand Development -**WARNING**: *What follows is for the advanced darkroom practioner. +**WARNING**: *What follows is for the advanced darkroom practitioner. It is not for beginners and people should be well acquainted with safety and good darkroom practices. If you do not already have a least one film/developer - combinaton "dialed in", don't bother with any of this.* + combination "dialed in", don't bother with any of this.* I've been a black and white silver photographer for over four decades. In that time, I've worked with a large number of films and developers, @@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ This monograph is *not* about Pyrocat-HD, although all the testing was done with it. Pyrocat-HD turned out to be a gateway drug to my learning about "stand" or "still" development. This is an an old -technique used by some of the masters like Aget. Today's modern +technique used by some of the masters like Atget. Today's modern masters like Sandy King and Steve Sherman are making use of variations of stand development to great advantage. But, in the words of Sandy King, "It is fraught with danger". The technique is tricky and prone @@ -40,7 +40,10 @@ great apparent accutance, full box ASA speed and - this was most important to me - a way to increase mid-tone contrast without blowing out the highlights. It is mid-tone contrast that gives prints that -"snap" we're always looking for. +"snap" we're always looking for. David Kachel has a very good +commentary on this: + +[The Primacy Of Local Contrast](http://davidkachel.com/wpNewDK/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/PrimacyOfLocalContrast.pdf) For example, I recently shot a scene in which the darkest shadows were on Zone III, and the brightest highlights (snow) were well into Zone @@ -139,13 +142,14 @@ of success. Among them include: * Developing and standing negatives in open trays -* Using speciality tubes made of PVC plumber's pipe to hold the negative during standing +* Using specialty tubes made of PVC plumber's pipe to hold the negative during standing * Using minimal contact hangers to hold the film during standing -Formally and properly, stand development should be done with the negs -laying flat in a tray or the equivalent. They should *stand laying -down* not hanging vertically in a tank. My testing suggests that this -is not absolutely necessary and at least one other approach will work. +Formally and properly, stand development should be done with the +negatives laying flat in a tray or the equivalent. They should *stand +laying down* not hanging vertically in a tank. My testing suggests +that this is not absolutely necessary and at least one other approach +will work. It's also worth noting that the photographers who pioneered this approach a hundred plus years ago were using very different films and @@ -174,12 +178,12 @@ we'd agitate at the 30 min mark. * **Extreme Minimal Agitation (EMA)** (Attributed to Steve - Sherman). Using highly dilute developer, agitating vigorously for - the first 1-2 minutes, and then again for 10-15 seconds at 2 or 3 - evenly spaced intervals for the remaining time. Say we initially - agitate for 2 minutes and want a total development time 30 minutes. - We could split up the remaining 28 minutes into three intervals and - do 10-15 second agitations at 9 minutes, 16 minutes, and 23 minutes. + Sherman). Using highly dilute developer, agitating for the first 1-2 + minutes, and then again for 10-15 seconds at 2 or 3 evenly spaced + intervals for the remaining time. Say we initially agitate for 2 + minutes and want a total development time 30 minutes. We could + split up the remaining 28 minutes into three intervals and do 10-15 + second agitations at 9 minutes, 16 minutes, and 23 minutes. Semistand and EMA were conceived to overcome the nasty development artifacts (artefacts if you live in the UK ;) like bromide drag. The @@ -187,7 +191,7 @@ likelihood you'll see these gremlins appear in your negatives. Much to my surprise, as I tested, I discovered that even the single -midpoint agitation of a semistand development can signficantly +midpoint agitation of a semistand development can significantly increase apparent contrast and - in the case of Pyrocat-HD - level of stain (as well as Film Base Plus Fog). So each of these techniques has a place. @@ -209,7 +213,7 @@ [Devtimer](https://gitbucket.tundraware.com/tundra/devtimer) This is certainly not a requirement and you can do ordinary - time/temperatuire corrections as usual in your own work. + time/temperature corrections as usual in your own work. * Pyrocat-HD is a developer mixed from two stock solutions. Dilution is expressed as `Part A : PartB : Water`. For Normal development, @@ -244,7 +248,7 @@ * Stand development is *really* fussy about how the film is held in the developer. Framed hangers and the Yankee tank insert all showed - bromide drag effects in varying and unpredicatable ways. My theory - + bromide drag effects in varying and unpredictable ways. My theory - which I cannot prove - is that turbulent effects and developer trapping is taking place along- and under the hangar frames/insert supports and promoting bromide drag. @@ -262,6 +266,17 @@ How good is this? I was able to get a perfect negative with Stand development (no agitation during stand period) using these hangers. +* I did some testing with 35mm on stainless steel reels, but dunked + into open 4x5 tanks rather than the usual daylight tanks favored by + small format shooters. (I did not try 120 rollfilm.) As expected, + Normal development worked fine. To my surprise, Semistand was OK as + well. I was expecting bromide drag problems because of the way the + reels support the film. Again, I think strong initial agitation + helped here. I've also noticed a considerable difference of reel + spacing from different manufacturers. If you are going to do 35mm + this way, I'd stick with the old Nikor reels. They're a bit + expensive but widely available on eBay. + * Stand and Semistand did best with the `1.5:1:200` dilution. EMA did best with the `1.5:1:150` dilutions. This makes sense, since EMA times tend to be a lot shorter than true stand development and @@ -282,7 +297,7 @@ drag. * The single agitation introduced by Semistand development seems to - noteiceably increase overall contrast and density as compared to a + noticeably increase overall contrast and density as compared to a no-agitation Stand period. It's not night and day, but given that doing this reduces the risk of bromide drag, it's probably the preferred long stand technique and this extra contrast has to be