Film Week – The Approaching Rainstorm

I guess the last bit about film and why I shoot it I have not touched on is the developing stage. Its the part where it can all come together, or go terribly wrong. I typically develop with Ilford ID11. Its cheap and comes in powder form, so I can store if for a good length of time if I don’t shoot film for a while. Although I have several tank options, I generally use my daytime developer. Its convenient and easy. I can do it as soon as I get home, rather than wait for night to be closed into a cupboard. I enjoy the process of getting the water to the right temperature, mixing in the developer, agitating as it develops. We then pour out the developer and put it through a quick stop wash. Following this the fix and final rinse. Once thats done, I unroll the film…has it turned out?…did it develop right?…where is that shot I thought would really come out good?… – its the lack of instant gratification I think. I need to wait, work, and cross my fingers that I caught the shot.

Of course we can all do this on our digital cameras also – just don’t chimp, turn off the preview. Don’t look at images until they are on the computer. Not quite the same though.