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Re: development for alt-process
Tom wrote:
>Personal film speed (what you set your meter to) and development time (what
>density range you need to match a given process) are not easily "given" over
>the net. There are too many variables. How you develop (you use a daylight
>tank, I use trays), the developer (you use D-76, I use HC-110). Even
>tougher, how you meter a scene. I had a discussion with someone on this
>list (Carl Weese, was this you??) about how our exposure indexes could be so
>far apart. It came down to what I saw as "zone 2 / deep shadow" and what he
>saw. Not the same thing. Gets even more confusing if I use a spot meter and
>you use an incident meter!
I went through all this when I was a silver printer, and I was astounded at
how my different cameras (all old) had such different personal film speeds,
etc. They ranged from 400 to 1600, for the same film (Tri-X).
>
>If you are a relatively technical perfectionist type (that is me, by the
>way): chose a "master" and follow the master's method. Jeffrey has a good
>method that is aimed at alt process, I followed Fred Picker like a disciple
>in my early days, and .... sorry "brain freeze" .... the "Beyond the Zone
>System" guy.... can't think of his name... he is probably today's number one
>teacher of "by the numbers technically correct" zone system work.
I am reading that book now. It's Phil Davis.
I was a disciple last year of the guy who wrote The Practical Zone System.
This book helped me a lot by coaching me through the process you delineate
below:
>
>If you are more of the "seat of your pants" type. Just remember that AA's
>famous words also work in alt, "Expose for the shadow, develop for the
>highlights". I would suggest setting your exposure index (your shadows)
>first. If your shadows are too dense you are overexposing, If your shadows
>are too thin you are underexposing. Once you've gotten that "half settled",
>print a number of negs using the "middle contrast grade" of your process so
>that the shadows and dark tones look correct. Ignore everything else. When
>the prints are dry, look at the highlights. If they are on average burnt
>out, you are overdeveloping. If they are on average gray and lifeless, you
>are under developing. Yes: this method disregards the fact that development
>has a SMALL effect on film speed.
Ha. I thought so too. I was wondering whether to even consider that.
>
>For what it is worth: In trays, using HP-5, using HC-110, my platinum (50%
>Plat, 50% pallad) dev time is 170% of my silver time. My palladium dev time
>(90% pallad, 10% plat) is 220% my silver time.
!!!
One problem is, I am going back to my home in TN (from Houston, where I go
to school) in a few weeks, where I will be all summer, and I don't want to
take my heavy old used densitometer with me, so I am trying to get my dev
times worked out now so I can take the 150 negatives I shot over the last
year home to TN and process and print them! (I couldn't process them
before because I got sick from unvented darkrooms and had to take a break
from photographic chemicals.)
If I don't have this worked out by the time I leave, I guess I could go
through the Practical Zone System method, of coming up with a standard
printing time, and then looking at the prints until I get the negatives the
way I want. I was wondering if that method would work with alt-process like
it does with silver. From what you say above, I gather that it does.
--shannon