Re: HUMILITY in my darkroom........

Ah, yes! Pinholes come from all sorts of things that go wrong. Sometimes a
too strong of a fixer. Mostly not a complete prewash. Hard to tell. Let
what's said above two of a list of . . . how many possibilities?

S. Shapiro
----- Original Message -----
From: "PhotoGecko Austin" <gecko@photogecko.com>
To: <alt-photo-process-l@skyway.usask.ca>
Sent: Monday, January 12, 2004 10:26 PM
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
>
Received on Wed Jan 14 00:11:59 2004