How Long?

[boomguy57]

I have a question for all the film shooters out there: how long do you all let your film sit after exposing it, before you process it and view the results? Do you wait a wile intentionally, do you just wait until you have enough of a batch to worry about, do you you process as soon as possible, or some other process? What is your timeline?

I have to say that I used to get it processed as soon as possible, which made sense to me being a child of the digital age, but increasingly I let it sit for weeks, if not months, before processing my film. I have found that this allows me to more objectively self-critique my own work; it removes the immediate emotional memory I have of taking the shot, and lets me evaluate it on merit. Often, I think photographers misjudge the emotions they had while taking a photograph with the emotional impact of that photograph on an audience (or am I wrong?).

Just wanted to get a feel for what you all do...thanks!

 

[maddoc]

I develop and scan as soon as possible, all frames, and then wait for some time until I go back and have a look. A pile of undeveloped films makes me nervous .... 🙂

 

[boomguy57]

I develop and scan as soon as possible, all frames, and then wait for some time until I go back and have a look. A pile of undeveloped films makes me nervous .... 🙂

How long do you generally wait? Why do you prefer having the shots processed before going over them--is there a discernible benefit for you over leaving exposed film in the canisters?

 

[loquax ludens]

My goal and usual practice is to develop within a matter of days (usually by the next weekend). B&W rarely waits beyond a week. It can range up to about 6 weeks for color film, depending on how much film I have to process for C-41 or E-6.

I have had exceptional situations where both B&W and color films sat in my darkroom for over a year. They processed fine.

 

[Vincent.G]

Same as what Gabor do. I also leave the negatives in between a pile of heavy books to flatten them for a day or two before I scan them / do a contact sheet.

 

[ooze]

I process when I have at least two tanks worth of film, i.e. 4 rolls of 135mm, or 2 rolls of 120 film.

 

[dct]

I have a question for all the film shooters out there: how long do you all let your film sit after exposing it, before you process it and view the results? Do you wait a wile intentionally, do you just wait until you have enough of a batch to worry about, do you you process as soon as possible, or some other process? What is your timeline?
[...]

Apart form exceptional requirements, I stock my exposed rolls into the fridge until I have ready 5-10 rolls to send batch processign by mail order. This time can vary from 2 week up to 2 months.

[...]
I have to say that I used to get it processed as soon as possible, which made sense to me being a child of the digital age, but increasingly I let it sit for weeks, if not months, before processing my film. I have found that this allows me to more objectively self-critique my own work; it removes the immediate emotional memory I have of taking the shot, and lets me evaluate it on merit. Often, I think photographers misjudge the emotions they had while taking a photograph with the emotional impact of that photograph on an audience (or am I wrong?).
[...]

I'm used making good notes of my frames so I can catch up with the developed material later on without any problems. Before processing further the scanned images (or the digital ones out of a digital cam) I normally wait again a few weeks until I find the time and mood to do that. Never rushing in. I agree: My personal view what a keeper might be is better after a few months I shot the image.

 

[KenR]

I am pretty good at getting my B&W processing done within a week of shooting the rolls, except when I arrive home from a big trip with 20+ rolls of film. Then it can take me many weeks to get stuff processed. The real (reel?) problem arises when I have a single roll of film to develop. I wait and wait saying that I'll soon have another roll or two to process with it; why waste time on a single roll? Those rolls can sit around for a month or two (or three) until I get around to them.

 

[nikon_sam]

If it's B&W I'll let it sit until I get several rolls exposed (unless I'm testing)...
I developed 4 rolls of 120 Sunday night...I burned off the last three frames on one roll so I could develop...
Color film can sit for a while...I have maybe 20 rolls of color that I know I'll never send in...or I could experiment with it...
In a big surprise to me I took 4 rolls of color 120 film in last week only days after shooting it...truth is one of those roll has been sitting for possibly 2 years...

 

[Aristophanes]

I have to mail it away, so it is freezered up with my other stock for 2 months. Never had a problem.

 

[boomguy57]

I have to mail it away, so it is freezered up with my other stock for 2 months. Never had a problem.

I wasn't asking if anyone has had issues with it sitting. I don't refrigerate mine after exposing it before I send it out.

I was more curious if people let it sit or if they are in a hurry to get their shots.

 

[djcphoto]

I tend to process B&W the same day or, on occasion, the following day. Colour goes to a local lab so that can be a few days wait.

 

[Lord Nikon]

Max 1 week between shooting & developing B&W. I know me, and if I don't keep on top of this I will have a pile of unprocessed film that would put Winogrand to shame.

I have 2 rolls of slide film from last summer that I keep putting off sending away to get developed.

Why do you prefer having the shots processed before going over them--is there a discernible benefit for you over leaving exposed film in the canisters?

One generally cant go over (I read as look at) the film until after one has gotten the film developed. Actually seeing whats on the film provides very significant benefits over leaving them in the cans and imagining.

 

[boomguy57]

Max 1 week between shooting & developing B&W. I know me, and if I don't keep on top of this I will have a pile of unprocessed film that would put Winogrand to shame.

I have 2 rolls of slide film from last summer that I keep putting off sending away to get developed.



One generally cant go over (I read as look at) the film until after one has gotten the film developed. Actually seeing whats on the film provides very significant benefits over leaving them in the cans and imagining.

Yes, good catch on my poorly phrased question...hopefully the intent was still understood?

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

I process immediately because sitting after exposure DOES severely affect many films. I do not always get to scan the film immediately because of time constraints. I've recently been looking through and scanning rolls 3-4 yrs old that I never got around to working with. If I had left them sit undeveloped that long, they wouldn't be worth bothering with. They'd be ruined. After processing, you can let them sit 100 yrs if you want with no loss of quality.

 

[Lord Nikon]

Yes, good catch on my poorly phrased question...hopefully the intent was still understood?

It was too perfectly phrased... 😛

I scan everything very shortly after developing it for the same reason I'm so quick to develop it... if I don't do it NOW I never will. I know me.

I give the scans a quick once over and then let them sit for a few weeks unless I am 100% sure I have something awesome. Sometimes they sit for longer. Like wine. Except bad wine is better than 99% of my photos. Anyways, after some time has passed I come back to them to really look at them.

The advantage of letting the photos "age" is that the viewer knows even less about the reality of the scene than the shooter so the photo MUST stand on its own.

Lots of stuff looks cool when you remember what the actual scene looked like, but starts to suck when you remove the memory and all you have is the photo. The opposite situation is also true where you are initially kind of lukewarm on the photo because it doesn't portray your memory of the scene accurately but it turns into a great photo when it stands on its own.

 

[Fotohuis]

Because I am processing my own B&W and C41 films, they are all developed in a few days or maybe a few weeks after exposure. In the mean time they are in the fridge.
C41 2x 135-36 or 2x 120 roll film. In B&W I can do from 1x 135-36 or 120 roll film till 4 films in the same tank.