Home Developing Film

After re-considering what typography I would explore, I decided to almost travel back in time and go to alternative places from my childhood. As my family and both immediate parents are heavily into the Harley Davidson scene, visiting Rallys and group trips was very common throughout summer. Despite not being involved in the bike scene for years, I thought this was a good opportunity to photograph an otherwise unremembered UK sub culture, whilst literally taking photographs down memory lane.

I shot on a Pentax K1000 manual, adjusting aperture and ISO throughout the day in accordance with changing conditions. As I wanted to expand my knowledge of working film photography in practice, it was essential to consider black and white as an educational aid, as this is the only one I can develop myself. As the Vernon St campus was closed on the day I opted to develop, a photographer I know offered to show me using professional home methods.

Gather equipment, ideally in a kitchen or bathroom. Liquid will be spilt, be ready.

Method

Heat water:

Heat water to 20 degrees c and measure with a thermometer. Our water was consistently 18 degree's raising the issue of under/over exposure if not quite hot enough. To counteract this problem, I added water at 24 degree's, raising the overall temperature with room for external cooling factors. This gave slight room for error, I was advised by a photographer friend slightly hotter than cooler, advice I followed.

Develop & Shake:

Pour developing agent into tank for 9 mins, agitating every minute for 10 seconds a time. After this is completed pour the developer our and wash for 10 minutes.


pics

Pour developer out and wash for 10 more mins. After this, pour the fixer in for a further 6 minutes and agitate for 10 seconds every minute once again.

Wash:

Pour fixer out and wash for 3 mins.

Cleaning Solution:

Fill tank with water and a few drops of Ilfosol wetting agent, agitating constantly for around 3 minuets. Gently lifting and dropping the spools of film up and down into the water, allowing the agent to rinse between each layer providing an even coverage was a good method.

Unraveling the spool of film and exposing the negatives to light for the first time

Hanging the negatives :

Hang the negatives up to dry placing one peg at the bottom as a weight down. This straightens the film whilst drying. You could do this and hair drier the negatives, yet this risks increased dust speckles and distortions. I let mine dry for around 1 hour 20 mins, making sure they're bone dry before scanning.

Scans :