jewelia (jewelia@erols.com)
Sun, 21 Feb 1999 22:13:23 -0800
i use N31p generally at 16 ASA--lots--but you know i eyeball the light these
days and might work with it anywhere from 6 or 8 to 50--- sorry, i have no
rules written down per se (i use TM400 at 160-64,000ASA myself) i more or
less eyeball the contrast by my pupil size--small pupil lower speed, vice
versa --
N31p will work well in any light except the absolute most severe
conditions. (Arista APHS at 12 ASA +/- 1 stop to 3-varying this according
to the light is more important and you have to think about a different sort
of framing since it will only get 3 maybe 4 stops well so you either use it
in really subdued light or think about what within the frame will be
excluded--its like adding a third dimension to the frame when working with
the camera.
i develop n31p in HC110 1:10 ~ 4-6 minutes usually but by inspection of
yellow safelight--i forget the number filter off-hand for my safelights--
but yellowish-orange really i guess. when i think i might pull it early
i'll hold it up close to the safelight and take a quick peak--doesn't seem
to cause me any grief.
other developers i use for N31p:
in PMK it will make a really beautiful neg, favorite would be Weston ABC but
need extra light or good contrast in the scene -dev. times for pyro really
vary--i use my eye i'm generally looking at 6-10 min for PMK and maybe 50
percent more for abc--i've probably gone 1/2 hour or so--but if i'm not
getting enough with the abc--might switch it to a dev with a bigger bite
film should lookin pretty dark in the tray because of the antihalation
backing before pulling too early -- i try to resist pulling it early unless
i can see there is really a problem, often will let it go or give it a dunk
in more concentrated bath to finish it off--i sort of use it like print
material what can i say? and i play it by feel.
stop in plain H20 usually or mild stop bath sometimes if i am using hc110.
fix in nonhardening fixer (i use the f24 formula--always for large format)
3-5 minutes (i'm usually rocking occassionally and doing something so you
know at least 3 but not til the next day)
N31p will tone well w/selenium--i do this lots-- or can be bleached--i do
this seldom
i use the same reciprocity curve i use for tech pan &HP5 as far as exposure
time, i have different curves plotted out for each of the tmax films--up to
2 hours actual exposure time
i tend to work in the reciprocity zone a lot -- reciprocity as evil as it is
made to be is my friend actually--i mean if you expose any film slow enough
its almost impossible to overexpose--or so it seems for me and i can just
sit back and let it happen. work at dusk or by moonlight --less of this
lately not by choice but safety has become a big issue for me since the
change--i seem to have an incident ~1/week
while i'm on film i'll describe quick how i work--this would be with my
8x10--the bulk of my work
i consider that i am working with color but using black and white materials
(films of different spectral ranges)--so i think of them as colors/tubes of
paint--not that the color is true but relative to each other--that is, i
have a palette of color with me in my holders. i have done a lot of work
with filters trying to recreate this but have decided that for the most part
i like the way these films respond better than one or two films and filters
and i suppose that i have absorbed some of the specific film characteristics
as part of the "color" in my weak little gullible mind--but again i have a
license to be this way. i still carry them with me and occasionally might
use a blue (46?) or #11 med yellow and i like the yellow-green especially as
below:
Blue --- N31p
Intense Blue -- arista aphs
red - tech pan
yellow --tmax 100/400
green --tmaxes w/ Yellow-green filter
HP5 for when i feel plain vanilla weird--i got a bunch cheap and i abuse the
" " out of it
with the tmax i generally prefer the tm100 for being slow and it sparkles
more crisp
so when people ask me--this is one of the common questions--"are you working
with b&w or colour?"--i expect they leave quite confused--reality is a
mystery!
some people say they have trouble developing tm100 but i don't--i'm guessing
they have trouble with the red stain from the antihalation?--it can be tough
to get off but this is supposedly what causes the bigger sparkle. i get it
off using two nonhardening fix baths (f24) 5 minutes --i move these up the
line so to speak--dumping out the first one and moving the second up to the
first somewhere ~150-250 mls each sheet each bath (sorry i process each
sheet generally 1 at a time). rinse off and 3 minutes or so in fresh
working sol. K. hypo clear - wash awhile and photo flo 1/2 strength. (in
the jobo--i run tmax in di water 10 minutes before starting the process--you
still occassionally can get chunks of antihalation sometimes though-but it
will clear off--i fix in the jobo the first half --open and transfer to
large tray ~ 600 mls fresh fix for 5 minutes or longer if needed (sometimes
to clear heavy deposit). seems the tube wears in and gets better or maybe i
just learned to snarl right.
these ways of working of course are of a personal benefit -- nowadays
working with film, this for me is about as technical as i care to be-- not
advocating, but just sharing some of my "special" procedures. i like to
feel in the wind and be a metaphor in less control--thus i stick my finger
up to test the light and pick a film speed, often pick a long exposure so i
have a negative full of traces of life -- whether visible or not they
affect what is there and thus must have a presence. the idea is receiving
as much as taking and this way of working has done a lot to teach me how to
get along in life despite what happens. i suppose i have my system down
which leaves me freer to experiment with content, philosophies, and even the
film itself? has something to do with becoming blindsighted in order to see
more and i derive a lot of meaning from my work this way.
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.0b3 on Sat Nov 06 1999 - 10:06:53