Development 101 for newbies

[bippi]

Hi,

I´m a newbie in film photography, and just wanted to ask you guys for some help or tips regarding development. I´ve developed like 5 B&W films already but most of them, come out harsh, lots of shadows. So I guess I´m under developing them or underexposing. I live in Iceland and sofar I´ve only found Ilfosol S and Ilford D-11 developers. So any starting tips for me? For example how important is the tempature of the developer? Not the brighest question in the world to ask here , but I´ve to cry for help somewhere 😀

Thanks
Bippi

 

[Pherdinand]

for most developers temperature should be within 1-2 degrees of the value specified for a certain development time.
If you develop at 17 degrees C for the time that is given at 20 degrees, you will underdevelop.

In some cases, like Diafine, it is not so important.

You can buy developers online from Europe, US or anywhere, practically. Some are "hazardous" and will not be shipped or will be shipped very slow, but powder developers like Xtol or Diafine are no problem. You might pay a serious tax on it though, if buying e.g. from the US.

 

[SolaresLarrave]

Temperature is important as Pherdi said above, but so is the inversion. When you develop, make sure to turn your tank (I'm assuming you're using a tank) both upside down and sideways four or five times within 10 seconds. Any faster will cause problems, and if you do it slower, the chemicals may not reach all the areas of the film. Practice inverting your tank empty by placing your right hand on top and left on the bottom. Now, move the tank upside down and at the same time turn it on its axis either left to right or otherwise. This double motion moves the solution around and helps developing uniformly. Do not shake the tank or make abrupt motions, because they'll translate into lines or marks on the negatives.

Check the Ilford website. IIRC, they have a little tutorial with these tips and more. If I find it later I'll post it here.

 

[Ronald_H]

Hmm, I only invert gently, no complex moves required. My only developer so far has been Diafine, very reasy for sloppy beginners like me, time and temperature don't matter very much.

I don't feel qualified to comment much on your problem, only that Diafine is very easy to use, gives great negs in all sort of conditions and lasts forever.

 

[Spyderman]

I'm also just beginning with DIY developing - so don' take my advice too seriously. I read a lot. Various internet forums, pages with developing tips and so on.
From what I've read Ilford's ID-11 is the same as Kodak's D-76, which is the basic developer recommended for starters, so if I were you I'd start with that. Temperature is important. If you develop at different temperature than the recommended you should compensate for it by shortening or lengthening developing time (again - you can find conversion tables online). High contrast can be the result of overdeveloping or overexposure, or simply too contrasty lighting...

 

[Roger Hicks]

Harsh contrast suggests underexposure or overdevelopment or both. [EDIT: I initially wrote 'underdevelopment'. Sorry, that was nonsense]

Try re-rating the film at half the ISO. See if that works.

If they're still too contrasty, you're overdeveloping. Or, as Ondrej says, the light is too contrasty for normal development.

Cheers,

R.

 

[bippi]

Thanks for all your hints. Well I think my last film the one I described in the top of the thread, was shot in very difficult light situations, a big waterfall and the land covered in snow and Ice. And of course I didn´t exposure compensate. Another think could be that I developed it for maybe 45 seconds extra and was almost juggling the tank every minute for 15 seconds.

Well I just pulled another one out of the tank and followed your hints, 20°C developer, gentle agitation for 10 seconds every minute. It´s drying at the moment, but it looked better, more variety of grey tones.

So thanks again for your hints.

 

[john_s]

As you develop more films, you will improve. Part of the reason is that you will adjust your time, based on previous films. You will also be more consistent in agitation. FWIW, I find gentle agitation quite adequate. And after some frustration in the darkroom when trying to print a negative that's less than optimally exposed, you will expose your film more.

It seems that you have made significant progress already! It took me years to get where you are already.