AREA NEWS
REDUCING CONTRASTS IN REVERSAL DEVELOPING Mac. Spencer (Area 20).
Excessive contrast frequently bedevils our efforts in reversal work, both in transparencies and in prints. Over the years I`ve tried to grapple with the proble and used several devices to solve it, with mixed success.
The simplest device of all is to photograph a low contrast thing in the first instance. But, except where you control the lighting, in a studio, for example that is not always possible. However, low contrast lighting should be borne in mind, and in this connection it is worth studying the work of the fashion photographer. Look carefully at their models to assess just how the photographer lit them.
Indoors, use bags of soft-box and frontal lights. Outdoors, use big reflectors, diffused flash, etc., and have a good story ready when the wife asks why you`re gazing at the picture of the mini-skirted popsie, in the blouse cut to the quick - if that is the word! here`s one contast cutter for transparencies:
1) halve the speed of the film. e.g. for Konicachrome 100, set the film speed to iso 50.
2) The whole cassette must be shot at this speed, of course. You cannot shoot contrasty frames at iso 50 and revert to 100 for other shots.
3) Shoot as usual, but carefully meter shadow areas if they are at all significant. e.g. against the light shots.
4) Adjust first development by shortening it. For example, if your particular brew requires a first development of 7 minutes, for normally rated slide film, then with it rated at half it`s normal speed, the first development would be 5 minutes. or thereabouts.
5) All subsequent stages remain as normal.
Development for 5 minutes. The first 36 exposure cassette will have 45 gross frames developed (see page 5 in the October Newsletter). But what about the subsequent frames which we develope? The following table will provide a guide for the increase in first development. This is for 300ml of first developer and it`s exhaustion basis is 5 developments of 36 exposure cassettes (5 x 43 gross frames)..
GROSS FRAMES 1 - 43 |
TIME 5 mins 2 secs |
TIME DIFFERENCE 13 secs |
Of course you keep records of how many gross frames youve run through the 300ml of developer, so if you develop shorter than usual lengths of film, you can work out intermediate times - hense the `time difference` column. But, whatever the length of the first film or films that you develop, develop for 5 mins 2 secs until sucvh time as the total frames exceeds 43, THEN start increasing the time.
Suppose that you had a first development run of a 12 exposure cassette - 19 frames gross, of course. You developed that and did so for 5 mins. 2 secs. The next run is a 36 exposure cassette, 43 frames gross. Now that brings the total of gross frames to 62, bringing the figure into the 44 - threshold by 18 frames, so that the time to be added is 18/43 of the time difference of 13 secs. in the last column, which is about 5 secs., making the time for the run 5 mins. 7 secs.
It may seem pernickety to talk of seconds to this degree, but if we try hard to stabilise temperatures within narrow limits, it is sensible to try to keep within broadly compareble time limits, and a little experiment in filling and emptying tanks does allow one to develop a handling technique which can ensure timing within a very few seconds.
Finally, whetever the total length of film you put through a developer, be prepared for trouble for trouble if you try more than 5 runs. I have on occasions, had good transparencies from as many as 8 runs, but I would never be sure of a good result after 5 minutes.
HINTS AND TIPS Patrick Marchment (Area 22).
STORING CHEMICALS. To store chemicls which are liable to oxidize, proceed as follows:-
(a) Empty the solution from the bottle.
(b) Push a thin plastic sandwich bag into the bottle, leaving 3" protruding from the neck.
(c) Pour the solutions into the bag, which is now in the bottle.
(d) Turn the bag down over the neck and screw on the cap.
(e) Draw the bag over the cap and secure with a twist-tie. A 7 x 9 inch bag is just right for 500ml bottles.
MARKING SLIDES. The best pen I have found for marking slide mounts is a Staedler Lumocolour. There is a water soluble type so that marks can be removed, and a permanat type so that marks stay put.
SLIDE PROTECTION. A simple way to protect mounted slides is to take two unwanted slides and place them in saucer of household bleach for a couple of minutes. When the images have completely disappeared, wash and allow to dry. Sandwich the slide between them and remount. If fingermarks etc. appear, just discard and use two fresh pieces.