The days of film photography pt.1 - Film Development - by Glenn Pierce

Glenn Pierce is an american photographer and friend of mine. He is also a mentor who helped me (and still helps me) improve my work. He advised me on how to look at my work with critical eye and always pushed me to put more effort on the post production phase.
If I have doubts about a photo he's the one I go to!!

One day I asked him how the whole film processing worked, when there was no digital, no Photoshop:

…if you are a history buff about photography I will over the next several weeks relate to you in small steps how I first got started in photography & B&W darkroom work in the early 1970's.

What you would have to put in perspective is that we had no internet, computers, credit cards, pay pal, cell phones, etc...

You ordered or bought things from a local camera store or from a magazine. You mailed a check for your supplies or equipment then waited two weeks for the check to clear the bank then waited another 4-6 weeks for your items to be shipped. You took your film to a local camera store or drug store and waited two weeks to get 3x5 prints of your images. In my case, I stuck to B&W and started with a make-shift darkroom in the bathroom, so I could develop my film in a single day and make prints the next. All this was nothing compared to the struggles of the photographers that came before me.

(about this photo: It is two images shot about two months apart layered together using two film enlargers (I had moved up to a full time darkroom set-up) and a home-made dodging tool to blend the storm cloud sky image with the seascape image.)

Film Development

1. Film development was the "make or break" phase of your day spend capturing images.

2. Film was taken from the container and loaded onto a metal spiral reel for development in total darkness. The slightest amount of light would destroy your film. It was both a joy & challenge to go through this phase.

3. I spent hours & days with a stripe of discarded film practising loading onto these development reels to where it would become natural in total darkness. I was working with 35mm and 2 1/4 film at the time and each had their own challenges. I had development tanks for both that handled 1-4 rolls of film.

4. A make-shift darkroom (bathroom) had to have a black cloth covering the door and any window to prevent any light from entering completely. The slightest amount of light would ruin your film.

5. The chemicals required were developer, stop bath, and fixer. These bottles were placed in a tray of water and maintained ahead of time to a temperature of 68 degrees F. A variation of 1-2 degrees could make a huge difference in development.

6. Everything had to be placed in a position that you knew where they were located in the dark. A very accurate timer is required for each step.

7. Once you loaded your film(s) onto development reels and placed them into light-proof tanks you could turn on the lights.

8. Now the fun begins -- pour in the developer and agitate the tank in a 45 degree arc 15 seconds for every minute of develop time.

9. Pour out the developer and add in the stop bath and agitate the tank gentle for about 15 seconds.

10. Pour out the stop solution and add the fixer solution and agitate the tank for a period recommended by the chemical manufacturer.

11. Pour out the fixer solution and attach a hose and run 68 degree F. water in the tank for about 30 minutes.

12. Hang film(s) strips up to dry after film strip(s) are dry, you then cut them into frames of 4-5 and place them in protective sleeves. They had to be protected from dust, scratches and direct sunlight. No metadata, so unless you kept a good log of each shot you would have no clue as to the exposure time or F-stop. A log book was a key element in all three phases --- the shot, film development, and printing(enlarger exposure time).

13. Break down all your set-up, clean up the bathroom, put away all your chemicals and equipment and get ready for the next time of film development!

It makes me laugh each time I hear people complaining about taking more than 15 minutes to pp their digital images when I've spent hours just setting up and developing film! Later I had a house with a dedicated darkroom. Equipped with a 12 foot fibreglass sink on one wall (wet side) with storage cabinets full of chemicals and work station (dry side) with two enlargers, print holders, paper safes, safe light, handmade burning/dodging tools, timer, etc. .. on the other wall. Looking at a film negative displayed on the base of your enlarger is not the same as looking at your actual image on a computer.