I have made a step-by-step handout showing how to load the film reels, for those of you who haven’t got around to sticking around for that particular lesson or simply want to have detailed instructions. These will also be on the wall of the sink room in case you need them for immediate reference when working. I highly recommend you practice loading a reel with some used film before you attempt to load your film into the tanks. If you need film, you can find plenty of it lying around in the computer lab cabinets or you can ask me for some. Practice with your eyes closed because you’ll be loading the reels in total darkness, so be prepared.
Here’s the FILM DEVELOPMENT: Loading The Film Reel handout in PDF form. You can print it in the computer lab if you want to keep a copy for yourself.
Also, for those of you who are already making prints: We’ve finally had a chance to use the enlargers and make our first contact sheets today. It seems that some of our paper went bad in the process and a lot of it seems to have turned a very light brown tint. I’m gonna run some tests next Monday with several test strips to make sure it’s not the safety lights that are fogging up our prints or if it’s the sheer age of the paper that’s giving us mixed results in the developer. Still, we managed to get some variedly-decent results (depending on who you ask) and came away with a few mental notes about how this developer stuff is greatly affected by the cold temperatures inside the darkroom.
If you guys want to check out the handout we used in class, you can find it on ILFORD’s website here. It’s also in the step-by-step handout on the wall of the sink room. Keep in mind that it’s only a rough idea of the paper development process we’ll be following since I’m fairly certain our supply chain will be altered tomorrow and we will no longer be using ILFORD supplies of any kind since they’re becoming increasingly hard to find. Updates on this tomorrow and, since we’ll off for the rest of the week, I wish you guys a great Thanksgiving weekend.
Stay warm this weekend, troops.
