First time developing issues

david1701

david1701

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Hi guys,

finally got into the darkroom today and did some developing and printing. I think my negs are developed ok but can I scan them in a normal scanner to show you guys ? (I know they're water marked, but am uncertain of exposure)

my best prints are a bit pants and most are awful a bit of help will be appreciated - when I have sorted out my scanner I'll get some copies of the prints up sharpish.

Cheers,
David
 
I kinda see where you are coming from but its similar effects on prints from different films at different iso's in different cameras and the negs look similar in an ok way.

ilford hp5 and fp4 (or fp5 and hp4 I cant remember which way round it goes) developed in ilford dd-x with ilford stop and rapid fixer, prints made with same stop and same fix but ilford general print developer - almost all done by eye
 
What exaclt is pants and awful about your prints?
 
grey and dark or light but no real range to them I'm gonna try and get this sodding scanner to work in windows 7 to show you pics
 
scan001.jpg

this is a pretty good print from the sesh there are drying marks on it pos from the neg as opposed to the print and a line, but my problem is the lack of contrast and the softness and just generally looking crap :confused: seems both too dark and too light :confused:

help me wise ones
 
What a shame - that's a really nice shot. Thankfully digital technology can do a pretty good job of rescuing it, although you'd need a better scan to do it justice.

3774817405_73e8c04c2e_o.jpg


It doesn't solve the problem of what went wrong though, although it's easy to assume it's either under-exposure and/or under-development, which is what it looks like.

There's so many possiblities tbh...

How did you approach determining the exposure time for the print - test strips or a meter?

What does the neg look like? An old rule of thumb is that if you lay the neg emulsion side down on a sheet of newsprint, you should just be able to read the print through the darkest part of the negative.

A bit more info needed really about your whole process if you want to find the answers.
 
sure well for the enlarging I kinda did it by guessing and by eye as my attempt at strips where you add a few secs each time didnt work properly and same for dev I waited for it to change then stop then left it in the fix for a while

I can just read the back of a pack of paracetamol through the darkest part of the neg so thats about right (I followed those times as I had proper instructions there - was v straightforward)

So if I go back and redo the test strip thing using this enlarger setting as the median point and develop the same way and see what I get?

some fool ran for committee so has to run darkroom lessons come october :D though I have been bitten by the wet developing bug so I think once I get it nailed there'll be some practicing done :D

also I suspect there's a colour machine in there that looks interesting but I forgot to write down the name so I could find out more :confused:
 
oh and it was just a quick and dirty scan I'd do it properly if I wanted scans - like the idea of neg scanning ***
 
Have you been shown how to make a test strip? I don't want to teach you to suck eggs so forgive me if I do.

first set the enlarge height and focus at the size you want to print to.

Expose the whole paper for three second. Cover 75% of it with something like the filter box and expose for three seconds again.

Move the box or whatever is causing the shade to expose 50% of the paper and flash for 3 secs again.

Move it one more time to show 75% and expose for 3 secs again. You now have a test strip which has been exposed for 3, 6, 9 and 12 secs.
 
Neg scanning sucks arse by the way. Printing is much more fulfilling.

Was your developing solution mixed to the right dilution? Was it fresh and was it in date?

Leave in the developer for two minutes, put it into the stop for one minute then in the fix for five minutes. Rinse for 15 minutes.

Apologies if this is repeating what you already now but it looks like a poorly exposed print and it sounds like you might not have left it in the developer long enough or the developer is knackered.
 
dev was fresh mixed and I think accurately not sure how long it was open for and I didn't check the date :confused:

not how I did the strip, I put it down for 5 secs then advanced a folder of it in sections so I got 5, 10, 15, 20 and 25 sec exposures this gave me messed up readings so I used what I remembered the last guy using which was 13 sec.

I was thinking to retry it at 9 12 15 and 18? or should I open the aperture on the enlarger lens to f2.8 (I was using 5.6) and then do 3 6 9 12 secs?

I won't take offense to anything as I was shown this once while hungover several months ago, then I went in to try my luck yesterday all I had was a book and a fuzzy memory :D
 
The problem with using someone elses timings is that the timing depends on several factors including the density of the negative, aperture and enlargement size (which relates to the distance between the light and the paper).

I personally go 2 stops down from wide open on the lens which in my case is about f8. the other thing is did you check the filter draw? If someone has left a thinck multi-grade filter in the draw that too will affect your exposure time.

did you keep the test strip? Perhaps you could scan that and we could see what happened there.
 
rinse for 15 :O

I had it in the dev for 1-1:30 mins quick flit through stop then 2+ mins in the fix then a rinse under the tap a squeeqy then onto the line or print drier

so there is error in my procedure too :confused:



also how do you guys load negs into the enlarger? I need to put the light on which kinda upsets having a quick flow of prints going :confused:
 
sure I'll grab the strip and photobucket it

it was just a guess because I was ****ed off at not getting prints so wanted a ball park figure to start from

I'll mention that this strip was done with a different enlarger on an unknown f stop - I went back to an enlarger I had used before and tried what I remembered worked for him
 
Looks like it either wasn't in the developer long enough or exposed long enough, are you sure there was no filters in the enlarger?
 
It looks like there was no neg in the carrier when you made this test strip. Even so, with those intervals between the test strips you should be seeing a lot more contrast in the test strip. It points to a filter in the drawer as Liam said ,or possibly, the enlarger lens being stopped right down to it's smallest aperture which will drastically lengthen your exposure times.

That's all assuming that it isn't a problem at the developing dish stage.

Don't get disheartened mate, but it looks like you need some pretty basic help to get you going. If you don't know anyone to give you a hand, the library is a great source of all the help you need. (y)
 
david1701 said:
If I were to say no would you be cross, hehehe apparently I misread the book - I blame the red lights
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PMSL. No probs mate. :LOL:

Don't get disheartened - I really like your shot, and if the neg is OK you can always print it again. You really need to have a good idea in your head of your work procedure in the dark room and work methodically. Once you've done a few it's a breeze. Well mostly. ;)
 
I have a book but I left it in the darkroom D'OH I might ask around at the exeter meet to see if anyone is a darkroom whizz that wants to run me through the procedure

I'm gonna go back and start properly neg in carrier lens wide open and print a test strip and see where I go from there (unless I've found someone else to help)

I have 2 questions for when I get back in:

1 how do you load the carrier under red light? I keep putting on the big light for it and it means I can't prepare and expose a second print until my first is out of the fix.

2 How do I contact print proofing sheets (so I can see the pics to see what i want to print) I tried it and they all bowed upwards :confused: does something go on top? Its a really well stocked room (apart from an opener ARGH) so it would be illogical to lack something common?
 
david1701 said:
I have a book but I left it in the darkroom D'OH I might ask around at the exeter meet to see if anyone is a darkroom whizz that wants to run me through the procedure

I'm gonna go back and start properly neg in carrier lens wide open and print a test strip and see where I go from there (unless I've found someone else to help)

I have 2 questions for when I get back in:

1 how do you load the carrier under red light? I keep putting on the big light for it and it means I can't prepare and expose a second print until my first is out of the fix.

2 How do I contact print proofing sheets (so I can see the pics to see what i want to print) I tried it and they all bowed upwards :confused: does something go on top? Its a really well stocked room (apart from an opener ARGH) so it would be illogical to lack something common?
Click to expand...

Don't forget to stop the lens down a couple of stops after you've focused. and before you make the test strip. You only need it wide open for the brightest image on the baseboard while focusing.

Can't you just move the neg carrier over to the reds light to see what you're doing? Doesn't the enlarger have a red safe filter you can swing over the lens? If it does, you just put that in position, switch on the enlarger light and move the strip of negs along to the next frame. Once the print has been in the fixer a few seconds you should be safe to switch on the room light anway, but check the instructions for your particular fixer.

There are frames which hold the strips of negs flat on the paper for contact prints. I'd be surprised if a well stocked darkroom didn't have one or something similar. You could just put a piece of glass over the top to keep them flat- that's what I used to do.
 
david1701 said:
1 how do you load the carrier under red light? I keep putting on the big light for it and it means I can't prepare and expose a second print until my first is out of the fix.
Click to expand...

You don't have to. Load the neg in the carrier over the lightbox outside the darkroom. Check for dust and alignment. If you have a proper dark room you should be able to open the door, run outside. Out darkroom had a dark corridor and we actually left the door open most of the time.

2 How do I contact print proofing sheets (so I can see the pics to see what i want to print) I tried it and they all bowed upwards :confused: does something go on top? Its a really well stocked room (apart from an opener ARGH) so it would be illogical to lack something common?
Click to expand...

You should have a contact printing frame. Basically a piece of hinged glass on a mount. If not a piece of glass will do.

Put your print paper under your negatives then under the glass.

First do a test strip to get a rough feel for the exposure, then put a full piece of paper under and expose and develop.

To start also get into the habit of doing a test strip for each print. 5s intervals will do. After a full print you then may want to adjust +/- a couple of seconds to get it right.
 
no corridor and I'll hunt in the cupboards for the frame.

I'll give it a go holding the negs under the red light, never occured to me that you could use the red filter for that - I ws using it to line up the paper :D

cheers for the help guys after a while the n00b questions will die down - then I'll get a rangefinder or MF and they'll start again :D
 
the worst is yet to come - I remember a machine in the corner said colour processing on it - it hand about 15 trays piled on top and i forgot to write down the name for googling but maybe c41 is on the cards........
 
the only print i've had that looked like yours was when the paper developer was exhausted ( as kev has pointed out ) as for loading the neg carrier under a red light ,when you've been in there a while and your eyes have got used to it ,its fairly light anyway, even if it is a bit errr red . :D
 
david1701 said:
the worst is yet to come - I remember a machine in the corner said colour processing on it - it hand about 15 trays piled on top and i forgot to write down the name for googling but maybe c41 is on the cards........
Click to expand...

LOL. I sort of envy you where you're at now on your voyage of discovery, but I'd had enough of darkroom work 40 years ago. These days, I can just about get motivated enough to develop the film, so neg scanning is a boon for me.

As for colour developing, I did process a few wedding films at home years ago using a print drum system. Once everything was set up and assuming nothing went wrong (it always did) it was taking me 10 minutes per print from exposure to rinsing. Work it out just for 1X36 exp film! I wasn't seeing daylight in winter! :D
 
Is this old paper?

It looks grey in the areas which should be white which suggests the paper is fogged.

To test it, take a sheet and cut it in half. Without exposing any of it, develop and fix one half and only fix the other half.

Compare the two halves. They should both be white.


Steve.
 
new paper but from jessops so maybe they screwed it up, I'll give it a go when I get back to the darkroom.

only 2 of the 5 lights work so maybe some more bulbs could be helpful but most likely its a practice thing

hehehe so many toys to play with
 
You don't know the half of what you're in for. Even when you know how thing are supposed to work and in what order to do things, like me you will screw things up still. Up spent 3 hours in the garage tonight and got three prints from it. The first is underexposed, the second is not quite nice (high praise for me, I normally hate most things I do) and the third is wonky. I also realised as I was packing up that I'd forgotten to swing the contrast flters back into place before I made the last print. hey-ho it still turned out ok (except forthe wonly border caused by my inability to pay attention and my horrible, cheap, nasty easel).
 
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