The Photog Formula

I’ve been doing a lot of alternative photography lately.  Since I started a black & white photo class I’ve been experimenting more with developing film and using medium format cameras.

One of the coolest developing processes I’ve come across is developing film with coffee.  At first I thought, “Yeah, whatever.”  But since I’ve done it, and actually got some results, I’m more than convinced.

So here’s how I do it:

The first thing you’re going to need are some materials.  Here’s what I’ve used:

• Exposed film (if you didn’t know already!)
• 12 tsp Instant Coffee (NOT decaf)
• 6 tsp Washing Soda (Arm & Hammer laundry soap work good…powder kind)
• 1/2 tsp Vitamin C (not necessary)
• Water at 68 degrees F
• Fixer (the only darkroom chemical you’ll need)
• Processing Tank
• Film Spool
• 3 Glasses
• Spoon
• Measuring Spoons
• Funnel
• Thermometer
• Stop Watch
• Bottle Opener (for 35mm film)
• Scissors (to cut lead and spool off 35mm film)

** The amounts above are for developing 120 film.  If you’re developing 35mm film, just cut the amounts in half.

Step 1:  Prepare Developer

For 120 film you’ll need to add the coffee and washing soda to 250ml of water each, and the vitamin c to 200ml of water.  If you’re developing 35mm film you’ll add the coffee and washing soda to 125ml of water each, and the vitamin c to 100ml of water.

Mix each ingredient separately in 3 glasses to ensure they dissolve completely.  Then pour the 3 mixtures into one larger container, like a 2 liter soda bottle.  Let this mixture sit for 5-10 minutes to get rid of all the bubbles.  Now’s a good time to prepare your film.

Step 2:  Load Film

While your developer is settling you can prepare your film.  In a dark room, remove film from canister and load onto the film spool.  It must be completely dark or you’ll expose the film.  I use a closet – and my wife then tells me not to come out!  Haha, she’s funny!  Once the film is on the spool, put it into the processing tank.  It’s now safe to come out of the closet!

Step 3:  Develop

Pour the developer into the processing tank and start the stop watch.  Agitate the film continually, by inverting the tank upside down and back upright, for the first minute.  Then agitate 3-5 times every 3 minutes after that.  I developed my film for 25 minutes using the above recipe, and the film turned out great.

Step 4:  Rinse

Pour the developer down the drain.  (It’s non-toxic!)  Fill the tank with water (68 degrees F) and pour it out.  Repeat this process 5 times.

Step 5:  Fix

Add the fixer to the tank.  Agitate again for the first minute.  Then, every 25 seconds, agitate 3-5 times.  Repeat this process for 3-5 minutes.  When finished, pour the fixer back into the fixer bottle, because you can reuse it.

Step 6:  Wash

Rinse the film for 5-10 minutes.  You can also fill the tank and dump it out about 10 times.

Optional:

As a final rinse add 2 drops of liquid soap to about 16oz of water and agitate 5-6 times.  This will help reduce the amount of water drops on the film.

That’s it!  Once you’re done, you can pull out the film and see the results.  Let the negatives dry, preferably overnight, before scanning or handling them too much.

The results are quite amazing!  I scanned the negatives, cropped them, and got rid of some of the scratches.  But that’s all the post-processing I did on these images.  The brown tint they have is from the coffee.

Just like any alternative process, don’t be afraid to fail and have fun experimenting!

Without getting too much into the “Film is better than Digital”, or “Digital is better than Film” argument, I want to go over some of the benefits of digital photography.

Now before you think I’m biased toward digital photography, let me tell you that I still shoot film as well. As a matter of fact, I’ve started doing a lot more film photography, and will start developing my own images in the near future.

So, with that out of the way, let’s get to it.

One of the biggest benefits of digital photography is the ability to see what you’ve shot, immediately. And it’s safe to say that we, as a society, are moving toward an age where waiting is not an option. We want things now, not later.

Instead of taking a roll of film, running it down to your local photo lab, waiting for them to develop it, and then returning to the lab to pick up your film, you can now take a picture and see it right away.

Not only does this mean no waiting, but it also means less money wasted. How many times have you taken a roll of film only to realize that your settings were wrong and all the pictures were overexposed, underexposed, or just plain ruined?

With digital, you can look at your images, and if you don’t like them you can delete them right there. How convenient!

Another benefit of digital photography is the ability to show others your images right away. The Internet is full of “sharing” sites, such as Flickr, ArtBistro, RedBubble, DeviantArt, etc. that allow you to post your images.

You can even take a photo with your phone and upload it right away to the Web. Crazy cool!

There are also many “Project-365” projects happening now. This is where the photographer takes a photo everyday for a year and uploads them to his or her site or blog. With film, you would have to wait until it was developed, then scan the images, then upload them.

It would be nearly impossible to take and upload new pictures everyday. (Unless you’re constantly taking pictures and having them developed in an hour!)

However, with the advances of digital photography, film will never die. It may become harder to get yourself some types of film, 620 format is already gone, but there will always be a way.

I, personally, enjoy the “mystery” of film, the anticipation of looking at my newly developed roll of film. Not knowing what’s going to show up on those negatives is exciting.

But I also like to immediacy of digital photography, and being able to “fix” any problems on the spot.

It’s also funny, and ironic, that there are many different Photoshop Actions, and Lightroom Presets that will make your digital photos look like film. Some think this is cheating and if they want a “film look” they should just shoot film.

I disagree. It all depends on what you do. Some prefer film, and have the resources (ie. money!) to experiment and try new things. Others don’t.

Whatever the case, there are certainly some advantages of digital over film. You make the decision.

Whatever it is, it’ll be right for you!

I’ve been experimenting with film photography lately. I’ve done research on cross processing (x-pro), sprocket-photography, and “red-scale” photography. Today I want to talk a little about cross processing.

Cross processing film basically means running a roll of film through the wrong chemicals. This can either be slide film run through C-41 chemicals or vise versa. Depending on the type of film used, you’ll get a different result.

For example, Fujifilm 400 will give you a blue and green result. Fujifilm Provia 400 results in green and yellow color, and Kodak EktaChrome (or EliteChrome) results in a very green image.

So why in the world would you want to do this?

Well, it’s all about the effects. The images look cool. And it adds to the mystery of film photography.

Of course, you can try to duplicate the effect using Photoshop or some other post-processing techniques. I say try because you’ll never get the exact same result as you will film.

Besides, that defeats the “mystery” behind film!

But before you run off and start shooting a roll of slide film to cross process, there are a couple things to keep in mind.

First of all, cross processing may overexpose your image by about one stop. Therefore, you need to account for this when shooting. If you’re shooting 100 ISO film, just set your camera setting to 200 ISO. This will allow less light in, taking care of the overexposure. It’s best if you run a roll normally, with no adjustments, to determine if you even need to worry about this.

The first roll I did was processed pretty much on target, without any ISO adjustments.

Another thing to consider is whether or not your local camera lab will even cross process the film for you. Some don’t like the idea, especially if they don’t change or replenish their chemicals very often. Larger labs probably won’t have a problem with it since they go through more chemicals and need to replenish more often.

Best advice, ask! I talked to the owner of my local lab, (which I happened to work for before), before I even bought the $10 slide film. He didn’t have a problem it with since I wasn’t going to be doing dozens of rolls.

One last thing, EXPERIMENT! Try different types of film to see the different results. One of the great things about film photography is that you don’t know how it’s going to turn out. We’ve become accustomed to having everything instant. If you don’t like your digital images, you can just delete them. Not the case with film!

Also, shooting film will force you to slow down and consider light, composition, and subject. I guarantee that shooting film will make you a better photographer overall.

The following are some of the images that are the result of my first ever attempt at cross processing. The film used was Fujifilm Sensia 400. Please enjoy!

If you have any tips or things that you’ve notice while doing cross processing, please share them!