Alchemy

A large part of the fun in photography actually comes after the shutter has been pressed. Well, for me at least. A lot of the "magic" happens in the dark - mixing different concoctions of chemicals, strict recipes for temperatures, volumes, agitation times, etc, all leading to the climax, the moment the image appears from seemingly nothing. Magic.

One thing great about using film is that there are so many possible combinations of film and developer, all with slightly different results. Add to that the variation in film exposure time, developer concentrations, as well as processing time. So much flexibility and control.

For the sake of uniformity, I have settled on a few combinations which have given me the particular look that I like:



I like to shoot wide open, or fairly close to it, especially with Leica lenses. This is their forte. For the past 2 years, I have been shooting mainly with Agfa APX 100 as my slow film. I like the results I get when developed with Rodinal. Really special. Unfortunately, both have been discontinued.











For medium speed, I have settled on the combination of Ilford HP5 and Kodak HC-110 developer. Another match made in heaven.














The few times I needed fast film, I had been satisfied with the results I got from Ilford Delta 3200. I have not used it enough to try processing it myself. Many people have also been happy with Neopan 1600. I guess I will try that next time I find the need.











I have not been doing much "pushing" of film. I have played around a bit with TriX at ISO 1600, and partial stand development in Rodinal. There have been some excellent results posted in RFF by guys who do this quite regularly, found in the darkroom section.