We’ve all seen the “Dark room” for photography in movies and we thought how “interesting” it is. However, before entering this room to “print” the pictures, the developing of the films process comes first.
I am aware that none of us would use a manual camera after the development of technology and the appearance of “digital cameras”, but I wanted to share this experience with everyone to see how wonderful it is..
chemicals required: D-76 negative developer, Stop bath, Fixer, and Photo flow.
After openening the film with a can opener, roling it into the “reel”, holding the reel with a black rod, puting these things into a container, covering the container with a “holed” cover, then cover it with another “non holed” cover in a COMPLETELY dark room, you begin developing it.
I will explain how to develop a Black and White film in 10 simple steps, or actually 9:
1. add 5ml of each water and the D-76 developer in a tube (note: if using 2 films add 10ml each instead) then pour the mixture in the container where you have your film. Oh, make sure that your mixture’s temperature is 22c.
2. keep on flipping the container upside down for 11 inutes if your film was a T-max and 9 minutes if your film was a T-x and then agitate it every 30 seconds
3. after your done, dispose your developer in the sink and then add 5ml of stop bath (add 10ml if 2 films)
4. flip the container for 30 seconds, then dispose the chemical into a tube first to make sure that it has no color because you are going to pour it back into its container
5. after that, you rinse the film (WITHOUT REMOVING IT FROM THE CONTAINER) for 4-6 seconds with water
6. then you add 5ml of the Fixer (again 10ml for 2 films) and flip the container the same way you did in the previous steps for 6 minutes.
7. this chemical is also poured in a tube first to make sure its colorless because it’s also going to be poured back into its container
8. now the fun part! take out the film from the container and put it in running water for 30 minutes
9. after 30min, you take out the film and dip it into the chemical “photo flow” for 30 seconds.
10. last, hang your film in a closet and leave 2 hours to dry.
now, you have a very clear negative and it is ready to be used to print out the pictures!! 😀
I hope this post was useful.. if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask. 😀
Reem Hesham's blog 