Film Development

I finally went into the darkroom this afternoon and developed 4 rolls of film. It has been a long while since I have done any darkroom work, yet I had not forgotten anything pertaining to film development - Turn off lights, unroll paper backing, cut film leader, roll film onto reel, place into lightproof container, repeat. Turn on lights, pour water into container for 2 minutes, empty water, pour developer and agitate 4-5 minutes, water rinse, stop bath 1 minute, fix 5 minutes, water rinse, hypo 2 minutes, 5 minutes wash, dunk in fotoflo/water 1 minute, hang to dry.

2 of the film rolls were from January 2008, the other 2 from October 2007. Because the film had been sitting in a warm room for a number of months, I extended the development time by 60-90 seconds to bring in a bit of lost contrast due to aging. Exposure/development looks good, and I may have 3 or 4 frames which I can print.

I need to order some gold toner and paper developer soon, but once the film dries I have everything I need to print. I am glad I have kept detailed notes on each print I have made during the past 4-5 years, it will refresh my memory on how to make a print.