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• Metol (Elon)
• Sodium Thiosulfate
• Sodium Sulfite
• Potassium Alum
• Acetic Acid 28%
• Pyrocatechin
• Potassium Ferricyanide
• Potassium Bromide
• Benzotriazole
• Sodium Hydroxide
• 2,4: Diamenaphenol Dihydrochloride (Amidol)

D-23 Developer

 

Metol	2 level teaspoons
Sodium Sulfite	4 tablespoons and 1 teaspoon
Water to make	1 pint

This is STOCK solution. Dilute 1:1 with water to make working solution. Normal developing time is 8 minutes at 68 degrees F. This is a good general purpose developer, but renders best results with Kodak film. Agitate for the first minute constantly and 5 seconds every minute thereafter.

Pyrocatechin Developer
Mix solution A:

 

Water (distilled or boiled)	100cc
Sodium Sulfite (desiccated)	1.25 grams
Pyrocatechin	8 grams

Mix solution Bx or B:
Solution Bx:

 

Sodium Hydroxide	1 gram
COLD water to make	100cc

Solution B:

 

Sodium Hydroxide	10 grams
COLD water to make	100cc

Mix 20 parts of solution A - 5 parts solution B
-or-
Mix 20 parts of solution A - 50 parts of solution Bx

Then mix 500 parts of water with either A:Bx or A:B solution. Normal development time is 12 to 15 minutes. Agitate as with D-23. *IMPORTANT** WHEN MIXING SODIUM HYDROXIDE, ALWAYS USE COLD WATER, BECAUSE WITH WARM OR HOT WATER IT COULD BOIL OR EXPLODE!!! You can also use Pyrocatechol, Pyrogallol, or Pyrogallic Acid, but I suggest using Pyrocatechol because it is more stable. Pyro is probably the best developer available today because it is a compensating developer and will retain detail in Zones X to XV.

 

Ansco 210 Stop Bath	32 oz.	1 liter	4 liters
Acetic Acid 28%	1 1/2 oz	45cc	180cc
Water to make	32 oz.	1 liter	4 liters

Plain Hypo Fixing Bath

Water (125 degrees F.)	25 oz.	750cc	3000cc
Sodium Thiosulfate	8 grams	250 grams	1000 grams
Water to make	32 oz.	1 liter	4 liters

Sodium Thiosulfate rapidly drops the temperature of water when mixed. Always mix in order given.

Formalin Supplementary Hardener (Kodak SH-1)

 

Water	16 oz.	500cc
Formaldehyde 37%	2 1/2 drams	10cc
Sodium Carbonate	73 grains	5 grams
Water to make	32 oz.	1 liter

After hardening for 3 minutes, negatives should be rinsed and placed in a fresh acid fixing bath for 5 minutes.

Metol Compensating Developer

 

Warm water	75cc	750cc
Metol	37 grains	2.5 grams
Sodium Sulfite	3/4oz. (37 gr.)	25 grams
Cold water to make	32oz.	1 liter

Developing time is about 25 to 30 minutes. Use agitation plan No. 4 (consult "The Negative" by Ansel Adams).

Water Bath Developer

 

Water	75cc	750cc
Sodium Sulfite	2 grams	20 grams
Amidol	1/2 gram	5 grams
Water to make	100cc	1 liter

To use:
Plan No. 1 Immerse negative in developer (constant agitation) for 40 seconds.
Then to water (no agitation) for 2 minutes.
Then in developer for 50 seconds.
Then in water for 2 minutes (no agitation).
Then in developer for 90 seconds.
Then in water for 2 minutes (no agitation).

Plan No. 2 A sequence of short immersions in developer (constant agitation) alternating
with 2 minute immersions in water for 2 minutes (no agitation).
30 seconds developer; wash; 15 seconds developer; wash; 15 seconds developer; wash;
15 seconds developer; wash; 15 seconds developer; wash.

Two Solution Developer

 

Metol	7.5 grams
Sodium Sulfite	100 grams
Water to make	1 liter

This is solution No. 1.
Solution No. 2 follows:
1% Kodalk solution (10 grams Kodalk to 1 liter water)

For placement of Zone VI on Zone VI:

 

	Solution 1	Solution 2
Zone VI normal	7 min.	3 min.
Zone VII N-1	4 1/2 min.	3 min.
Zone VIII N-2	3 1/2 min.	3 min.
Zone IX N-3	2 1/2 min.	3 min.
Zone X N-4	1 3/4 min.	3 min.

Placement of Zone VIII brightness on Zone VIII.

 

	Solution 1	Solution 2
Zone VIII normal	7 min.	3 min.
Zone IX N-1	4 3/4 min.	3 min.
Zone X N-2	4 min.	3 min.
Zone XI N-3	3 1/3 min.	3 min.
Zone XII N-4	2 3/4 min.	3 min.
Zone XIII N-5	2 min.	3 min.

Constant agitation in both solutions is important. If film shows a tendency to fog, prepare solution No. 2 with Potassium Bromide.

Kodak HC-110
This developer comes in concentrate solution. For use from concentrate, working solution is made by diluting 1/4 oz. of HC-110 to 16 oz. water. Normal developing time is 10 minutes at 68 degrees F. Agitate for the first minute and 5 seconds every minute thereafter.

Kodak D-76
This developer comes in packages of dry chemicals. Follow manufacturer’s recommended mixture of solution. Recommended normal development time is 7 minutes at 68 degrees F. D-76 is not as fine grain developer as HC-110, but it replenishes well.

Kodak Kodafix Solution
This is available in 1 quart solution and is easy for preparation. To mix negative fixer, dilute with water 1:4. For use with paper, dilute 1:7 with water.

Kodak Rapid Fix
This is available in quantity and is more economical. It is a 2 part liquid concentrate of which one part is a hardener which is important for negatives. Manufacturer’s dilutions seem to be quite adequate for most applications. Fixing seems to be quicker than the other two Kodak fixers.

Kodak Fixer (powder)
Available in 1 quart and 1 gallon sizes, this fixer is used for all applications. When mixed, this product is a good working solution for negatives. For paper, dilute 1:2 with water.

Amidol

 

Water	800cc
Sodium Sulfite (desiccated)	35 grams
Amidol	11 grams
Potassium Bromide	7.5 grams
Benzotriazole (2% Solution)	60cc

The addition of 5-10 grams of citric acid acts as a preservative.

Amidol is a slow acting developer which renders extremely rich black tones (especially on bromide papers). When mixing the solution, add the Amidol last and be prepared to print immediately. Amidol oxidizes quickly, so you will have only 30-45 minutes printing time in solution before degeneration. With the cost of Amidol it is important to maximize printing time unless you have a whole lot more money than me. Yes, it is expensive (last I bought was about $210.00 per pound) but it is the only thing I use to print fine art prints for exhibition or sale with. It is that good! The only drawback Amidol has is that it will stain your fingernails dark brown to nearly black, depending on how much you use it. Rubber gloves will remedy this.

Kodak Dektol
A very good general purpose developer for paper. It comes in packages of dry chemicals that are available in 1 quart and 1 gallon mixtures. Mix with appropriate amount of water. This makes stock solution. For working solution, dilute stock 1:1 with water. When mixing the dry chemicals, use warm water. If used immediately, cool to 68 degrees F. If you wish a softer developer, you may dilute the stock solution 1:2 with water.

"Cold" Selenium Toner
If prints have been dried, soak in water for at least 5 minutes. Set up 3 trays for the process.

 

Sodium Thiosulfate	2 pounds
Water (hot)	1 gallon

Fill tray No. 1 with this solution. (I find that using a tray one size larger than your print size is beneficial. If you are doing 8 x 10’s, use 11 x 14 trays. This makes it much easier to work without damaging your prints.)

Tray No. 2:
Mix 100cc of hypo eliminator (orbit bath) stock solution to 400cc water.
Add 50cc of Kodak Rapid Selenium Toner. (You may have to double or triple this according to the size of trays used.)

Tray No. 3:
Mix 100cc of hypo eliminator stock solution with 400cc water. (Again, you may need more according to the tray size used.)
Place wet prints in tray no. 1 for 3 minutes.
Move to tray no. 2 (usually about 2 minutes for most papers).
Move to tray no. 3 for 2 - 3 minutes.
Wash thoroughly.

IT IS IMPORTANT THAT ALL PRINTS BE EVENLY COVERED WITH SOLUTION AND CONSTANTLY AGITATED THROUGH EACH PROCESS.

**WARNING** ALWAYS USE RUBBER GLOVES WHEN WORKING WITH SELENIUM!!! SELENIUM CAN (OR SHOULD I SAY WILL) ABSORB THROUGH YOUR SKIN AND BUILD UP IN YOUR SYSTEM AND COULD BECOME QUITE POSSIBLY FATAL!!! YES, WE’RE TALKING REAL DEAD!

Note: If you leave your prints in the selenium solution too long, the tone will change from the desired cold tone to a warm tone.

FILTERS FOR BLACK AND WHITE PHOTOGRAPHY

A YELLOW filter absorbs violet and some blue.

A MINUS BLUE filter absorbs violet and blue, transmits all other colors.

A RED filter absorbs violet, blue and most green, transmits red and a little green.

A GREEN filter absorbs violet, blue and red, transmits green, a very little blue and some red.

A BLUE filter absorbs green and red, transmits blue and a little green.

Filters freely pass their own colors, and when used with light at the opposite end of the spectrum, have reduced transmission. Hence, at higher altitudes (or harsh clear days) shadows illuminated from the sky are bluish, and factor for yellow, orange, etc. must be increased. Conversely, when working with yellow earth (such as Death Valley) or early or late in the day (when light is warm) the exposure factor for such filters must be reduced.

The eye "sees" green as lighter than panchromatic film. Hence, the use of orthochromatic film will be better for the greens, OR the use of an X1, X2, or the "B" tri-color green. These filters will raise the values of the greens and will also lower the values of the blues and reds.

With the use of panchromatic film and filters, a good rule of thumb can be expressed as follows (this does not apply to the polarizer):

WITH FILTERS TRANSMITTING WARMER LIGHT (yellow to red):

    1. DECREASE the exposure factor with early or late sunlight, or with subjects with definite "warm" color values.

    2. INCREASE the exposure value at high altitudes, under clear blue skies and under overcast, and with subjects of definite "cold" color values.

WITH FILTERS TRANSMITTING COLDER LIGHT (violet, blue, and green):

    1. INCREASE the exposure factor with early or late sunlight, or with subjects with definite "warm" color values.

    2. DECREASE the exposure value at high altitudes, under clear blue skies and under overcast, and with subjects of definite "cold" color values.

NUMBER                  COLOR          APPROX. FACTOR     STOP +                      PURPOSE

6K1	Light Yellow	1.5x	½ stop	Outdoors, absorbs excess blue to slightly darken sky and emphasize clouds.
8K2*	Yellow	2x	1 stop	With pan film renders mostly tonal correction and increase contrast and emphasize clouds.
9K3	Deep Yellow	3x	1 ½ stops	Increases overall contrast, darkens sky and emphasizes clouds slightly more than the 8K2.
11	Yellow Green	4x	2 stops	Improves general flesh tones, produces fair sky effects and neutral foliage.
12	“Minus Blue”	2x	1 stop	Absorbs violet and blue to produce good sky effects.
15G	Yellow Orange	3x	1 ½ stops	Darkens sky, good for sand and wood.
21*	Orange	4x	2 stops	Penetrates haze, darkens water. Also recommended for mountain and aerial photography.
23A	Orange Red	4-5x	2 stops	Darkens sky and water, emphasizes clouds, penetrates haze, darkens foliage and lightens flowers.
25A*	Tri-color Red	8x	3 stops	With pan films, produces dramatic skies, darkens foliage, lightens flowers, penetrates haze. Slight underexposure produces moonlight effects in daylight. Use on feminine portraits if she has a bad skin tone. Best all round filter.
29F	Deep Red	16x	4 stops	Same as 25A only more extreme.
47	Deep Blue	5x	2 ½ stops	Lightens deep blue, darkens reds and yellows, accents fog and haze. Good for photographing light objects against the snow.
56B	Light Green	6.5x	2 ½ stops	Produces good skin tones for men, darkens sky, lightens foliage.
58B	Tri-color Green	8x	3 stops	Lightens foliage, darkens flowers, absorbs reds. Good for woods, meadows and gardens.
11X1*	Green	4x	2 stops	Darkens sky to the way you actually see it. For best skin tones on men. Use on women if only very flatly lit.
13X2	Green	5x	2+ stops	Same as 11X1 only never recommended for women.
C5	Tri-color Blue	5-6x	2 ½ stops	Emphasizes fogs and mists.
80B*	Blue	3x	1 ½ stops	Emphasizes fogs and mists to the way you actually see them.
Polarizer		2-2 ½ x	1+ stops	Cuts glare and haze. Recommended for photographing water, glass, or any highly reflective material.

(*) Denotes recommended filters.

Equipment Basics

Your choice of camera equipment is very important. Optical quality and mechanical performance are imperative. The optical quality of the lens should be, in my opinion, you first concern. After all, the only thing between your subject and the film is the glass in your lens, therefore quality of glass is extremely important. Mechanical soundness is also very important. There is nothing worse than being somewhere away from civilization, ready to capture that once in a lifetime image, and have a camera malfunction leaving you unable to get the photograph. I know this from personal experience. A back-up camera is always suggested whenever possible. Even the best equipment can malfunction. When considering fine art photography, larger prints are usually desirable, such as 16x20 and 20x24. For this reason, a larger negative format is better. Medium format cameras and large format cameras usually render better quality enlargements because of the larger negative size. My personal choice for shooting landscapes and waterfalls is the Hasselblad 500CM with a 50mm Distagon lens. I usually also pack a 150mm Sonar and an 80mm Planar in case the need arises. The Carl Zeiss lenses are unsurpassed in optical quality. I also have a 4x5 camera available for larger negatives. Since my work is done in the field where I may have to hike several miles over rugged terrain, lighter weight, compact field cameras are a must. I happen to use an old Graflex 4x5 (which is not an elegant camera by no means, but gets the job done quite well) with a Schneider 90mm Super Angulon lens. Here again, the quality of lens is most superb. I rarely shoot 35mm for fine art photography. I do usually carry a Nikon FM2N or F3HP for shooting slides for color documentation.

Manual vs. Automatic

It seems in the world today that we want the latest and greatest of everything that makes our lives simpler and easier. If you are into or thinking of getting into any type of art photography or photography on a professional basis, the more manual you go the better. There are those that will disagree, but I would rather think how I want a photograph and control the camera, that the camera to do my thinking for me and control the output of the image. It may work 99% of the time, but there is that one time it will not and you may not get the desired image. Also, if you are using automatic cameras and your batteries die, you are out of commission. Most of the cameras I use do not even have batteries. I would hate to think that potentially the most important image of my life may rest on a buck and a half battery. If you are a hobbyist that is looking for nice photographs for your album or on vacation, then automatics are for you. They will make you life easier and render nice pictures.

Digital Cameras

Digital cameras have made great strides in the past few years. The DSLR (Digital Single Lens Reflex) cameras are definitely becoming the alternative for 35mm film. Higher end DSLR cameras offer the ability to use older lenses you already have, thus have become a huge plus in the world of photography. Digital imaging offers instantaneous viewing for images and quick downloading so you can edit your results within a few minutes of taking the photograph. With the advent of newer technology in printers and specialized inks, digital color images can easily rival the quality and longevity of their film counterparts. However, most consumer grade digital cameras lack the control that most artistic photographers have come to know, but are a great alternative for the person wanting to take photos of family functions, vacations, kids, etc. When choosing a digital camera one must take into consideration the quality of the lens and the megapixels in the output. As with any other type of photography, the quality of the glass in the lens is crucial to good photographs. You cannot expect to take a great camera with average glass and produce high quality photos. The amount of pixels of the camera is also a consideration. In my opinion, it is better to go ahead and spend the extra money and get a higher megapixel camera and shoot on the highest resolution. There are several storage mediums that are the equivalent of the film that include microdrives, CF cards, SD cards, memory sticks etc. There are many choices and one has to make the best choice for individual needs. I currently use 2 Nikon D70 bodies, one equipped with an 18-70 3.5-4.5 AFS lens and the other with my old 80-200 2.8D AF lens. I also have one body loaded with a 2 gig card and the other with a 1 gig card and carry extra 1 gig cards in case I need them. At 6.1 MP on the highest jpeg resolution, I can get nearly 600 shots on a 2 gig card and nearly 300 shots on a 1 gig card. This seems to suit my needs. Digital photography is great, but yet there is nothing in the digital world that I have found that can rival the quality of fine B&W film photography. Here I generally make prints of 20x24 and larger. I have yet to see a printer or plotter than can produce the same quality and luminescence of a fine B&W print on photographic paper. The best of both worlds are available so take advantage of the best. Yes, I still love long nights in the darkroom and the wonderful smell of fixer on my hands. What can I say... once it is in your blood, nothing else comes close.

Buying Equipment

When considering buying camera equipment, you want to get the best value for your dollar. That is why I advocate buying used equipment from a reputable dealer. Shutterbug magazine is a good tool to use when looking for used equipment. Just always keep in mind, you get what you pay for. If you are buying a high quality item, it should be fine if it has been taken care of. You can save money if cosmetics are not a prime factor. A piece of equipment with minor dings or brassing is probably just as good mechanically, just not as pretty and you can get it at a lot less cost. If you can see the piece of equipment, check it out thoroughly. In the case of a camera body, make sure all things function smoothly. Run through all the shutter speeds and make sure they seem good. Make sure the mirror and shutter works properly and smoothly. In the case of a lens, make sure all shutter speeds (medium and large format cameras usually have a shutter in the lens) work smoothly and properly. Make sure the glass is clean and there are no dings or scratches. If the front element has a few minor cleaning marks, it should be fine. Make sure that the rear element is nearly perfect. A good way to check the inside and the glass is to use a pin light and shine it through the rear element while looking through the front element. This will show any flaws and fungus that may be inside the lens. Check the rear element by shinning the light through the front element while looking through the rear. Make sure the focus and aperture rings turn freely without obstruction. Once you are satisfied, make sure they give you a reasonable return policy. Most places will give you at least a week to 10 days.

My Photographic Philosophy

To me, photography is more than just a hobby or a business... it is a part of my soul that I try to convey to others through photographic emulsion. Each time I try to capture an image, I not only try to convey what I am seeing in my mind, I try to capture the texture, the sounds... the essence of what I am seeing and feeling when I view the subject. Therefore, when I make a photograph, I will spend a lot of time getting "in tune" with the subject. I will feel the texture of the rocks, smell the flowers, listen to the sounds... physically experience all sights, sounds, and feelings of the subject, then try to convert them to photographic film in hopes that others may experience what I am feeling when they view the final print. This is why I like black and white photography so well. Although it is by far the hardest to do correctly, it is photography in it's purest form. As the old masters said, "If you can't make it good, make it red." I highly recommend to anyone getting into photography, take the time to learn purist black and white photography. It will strongly enhance every other type of photographic endeavor you will undertake. It seems that most do not want to take the time and put forth the effort to study, read, and experiment to learn the finely tuned art. It is a very hard, and a lot of times, discouraging road, but the rewards are well worth every disappointing roll and sheet of film and every sleepless night spent in the darkroom. For anyone wanting to get into the art, I strongly suggest reading the book "The Negative" by Ansel Adams, then putting it into practice. It is probably the best book available on black and white photography and the zone system. As a photographer, I feel we must continue to diligently work and strive to fine tune our craft. We must never get complacent. We must always strive forward, unwavering and never tiring. We must never compromise our work, because if it is not perfect, it is wrong. My craft is me and I am my craft... therefore, I love it more than life itself. Thank you for reading my words, my thoughts, and my feelings. Best wishes to all in every endeavor you undertake.