RE: HUMILITY in my darkroom........

I see this often here in Michigan where the water is downright
unhealthy... lots of sediment too. The iron content is very high,
making the water extremely hard. I mix my pyro with distilled, but the
pre-soak and wash are from the tap. I have to be careful not to touch
the film until I've given it a good spray to dislodge any large
particules. I see small "tears" where it appears the emulsion has been
sliced from the base and folded over on itself... very small, but it
is a hole.

maybe they were working on the water mains in your area, that
happended once back in Dallas and I had rusty water for two days.

-Darryl

-----Original Message-----
From: PhotoGecko Austin [mailto:gecko@photogecko.com]
Sent: Tue 1/13/2004 1:26 AM
To: alt-photo-process-l@sask.usask.ca
Subject: HUMILITY in my darkroom........
 

Greetings all,

I hope everyone is healthy and prosperous in the new year.

I have been processing all manner of B/W film in Pyro formulas
(straight-up, ABC, Rollo, you name it) with fair success for several
years now. . . until tonight. A batch that I just pulled from the
Jobo
looks like it's been shot with a microscopic shotgun. There are
miniscule holes all through the images.

Seems I recall, from posts on this list some years ago, that this
might
be caused by water chemistry. . . ?

And that's the one variable that varied tonight. I went down to the
corner to my usual dealer and, alas, she had no Distilled Water. So I

purchased Purified Water instead.

. . . Is Purified not Distilled. . . ?

. . . is Purified merely filtered, perhaps. . . (gasp!). . . and
therefore inferior. . . ?

More to the point (get technical, I can take it): What causes the cute

little shotgun holes? Are they in the emulsion surface, or in the
photo-active layer, or in the substrata. . . ? --or all of the
above,
like a highway sign that's been shot?

Even more to the point: Is there a chemical solution to this problem
if
ever again my dealer is lacking in Distilled Water. . . ?

Giving a *hole* new meaning to *pinhole* (;~>),

(and thanks for your help)

John
_________________________
John Campbell
PhotoGecko Studios & Gallery
1413 South First Street
Austin, Tx 78704

(512) 797-9375

www.photogecko.com