Hey Everyone! Hope your week is going well! This week I want to talk about how I develop my film. Yes I said film! There is something about film that I really like. It's like listening to old vinyl record albums . Something about the analog system. I won't get into many specifics of how but an overview. I have been developing film off and on for more than 40 years. I have developed black and white film and color slide film and now color print film. It's a lot easer than you think. If you can bake a cake you can develop film. It's all about following directions that come with the chemistry that you are using. Depending on the manufacture of the chemistry you're using the only thing that really changes is the time and temperature of the chemicals that you use. One of the reason that I am developing my own film is that its a lot cheaper than sending it off to a professional lab. I already have all of the special tools that you will need to process your film. So all I had to do is find all of my stuff get some chemicals and go. If you have been reading my blogs you can see that I'm doing a film project where I use a film camera and at the end of the year make a photo book of what I've captured. I have some film that I bought a few years ago before it got so expensive and I'm going to use it for the project. The last time I developed film was in 2019 before COVID.  I was really surprised how much the price of things have gone up! But that's another story. I'll also tell you how after the film is developed I scan the negatives with my digital camera to get them into Lightroom or Photoshop and make them ready to print. So that's a lot lets get started.

Tools you'll need. This will sound like a lot but you can buy kits with everything for under 150 dollars.

• -Developing Tank and film reels. This is a light proof tank that all of the film processing will take place.
• -Changing bag. This is the light proof place that you put the film onto the reels into the developing tank 
• -Chemical bottles. This is what the stored chemistry is kept in . You can reuse the chemicals for up to 20 rolls of film.
• -1000 ml graduated measuring cup
• -Thermometer to get the chemicals to a certain temperature.
• -Timer, You can use your phone
• -Disposable rubber gloves to keep the chemicals off of your skin

Any other items you'll need you'll have at home like scissors and a bottle opener . So here is the process to develop the film.

First you have to get the film onto the reels and in the developing tank in complete darkness. This is where the changing bag comes into play.  This takes some practice and I would try on a dummy roll of film if you have one before trying it on the real thing.  Inside the changing bag you'll place scissors, bottle opener, film, developing tank and reels. Close the end of the double sided bag and place your arms into the sleeves. You then open the film with the bottle opener cut the film leader off with the scissors then thread onto the reels and put inside the tank and secure the tank before taking your arms back out. When this is done you're ready to process the film that is inside the lightproof tank. You can now take everything out of the changing bag.

Mix the chemicals . For color print film the process that you use is C41 it will be printed on the film box of the film your using. This is the process that is used for most color print film. Black and white is a different process and slide film is even different than that. You mix the chemicals according to the directions that come with them. Making sure to clean your funnels and mixing stick between not to cross contaminate the chemicals. 

Next is getting all of the chemicals to a certain temperature. It is usually 102-106 degrees Fahrenheit.  This is easily done by placing all the chemical bottles in a larger tub full of water at the desired temp using the Thermometer. You will have to add hot water to keep the chemicals at the desired temp during the process to keep the temp in range.

Now down to business. Follow the instructions that came with your chemicals! These instructions are just what mine were yours may be different. This is where your timer comes into play or your phone.

1. Pre-wash film by putting warm water into the tank and let sit for a min. Then dump out.
2. Add Developer to tank for 3 min. Agitate every 30 seconds(this is to dislodge any bubbles) then pour developer back into storage bottle
3. Wash with water for 1 min. Change water 3 times
4. Add Bleach to tank for 3 min. Agitate every 30 seconds(this is to dislodge any bubbles) then pour developer back into storage bottle
5. Wash with water for 1 min. Change water 3 times
6. Add Fixer into tank for 5min. Agitate every 30 seconds(this is to dislodge any bubbles) then pour developer back into storage bottle
7. Wash film thoroughly at least 6 times. You can open the development tank now and see your negatives!
8. Hang film to dry with a weight at the bottom so film doesn't curl.

Thats basically it. Keeping times precise and temperatures accurate are a must. Making sure your utensils and funnels to get chemicals back into storage bottles clean between chemicals is also important. I know it sounds like a lot but after you've done it a couple of times you'll be a pro. Just follow the directions. Really the hardest part is getting the film onto the reels and into the tank is the hardest part. You can develop 2 rolls of film at a time. All of this developing can be done at your kitchen or bathroom sink. I would suggest the kitchen because you have more room.  Now you have negatives of your film I cut into five frame strips and put in a protective sheet that has sleeves for the negatives. The next step is to Scan and get them into your computer. If you had all the equipment you could print with an old time Enlarger in a darkroom but that's a lot it's much easier and better on the computer. I'll have to explain that in another blog next week since this one has dragged on. So until next week get outside and shoot! Some Film!

Hey ya'll! Hope you're having a great week! Me doing great. This week I wanted to talk about an additional photo project I'm starting on top of the one I'm already doing on small towns in eastern NC. I'm an older guy who started my photography journey in the film days in the era of manual only! I have been watching a lot of Youtube videos on film photography. I pulled out some of my old cameras and started checking the meters on the ones that have meters to make sure they still read correctly. And they did. I had at least 3 cameras that still had film in them. Now I used to develop my own film and even printed way back in the day in a make shift darkroom that I converted my bathroom into. But the problem with doing that is that you have to do a lot of film stuff to make the developing part really worth it because if you don't you'll do a couple of rolls and then you won't touch for years and your chemicals just go bad. I just got rid of some chemicals that were dated 2018! LOL  Back then I was shooting more film and having fun. I could actually get film fairly cheaply. But when COVID hit and the lock down a lot of younger photographers got interested in film and shooting film became cool. So film stock , cameras and everything associated with shooting film Guitar Crosswalk got expensive and harder to find. So while rummaging through my stuff I found 12 rolls of film that I had bought rather cheaply a few years ago. So I got to thinking . Maybe I should do a film project and name it 12 rolls.  Shoot the 12 rolls and make a book out of the good photo's I get.  Not to become a full time film shooter but maybe take the camera with me when I go on a workshop or an outing and take a few shots with film until the 12 rolls are exposed . So which camera to use? I have a couple that I would be comfortable with using for the project. A 1961 Canon Canonet rangefinder and a 1982 Pentax MX SLR. I also have an Olympus Point and shoot just one step up from a disposable camera that my mother had. I decided on the Pentax because it has a meter built in (which I just checked to be accurate) . And I also have multiple lenses that I can use with it as the Canon has a 45mm fixed lens. As the title indicates I have 12 rolls of fujifilm color 200 35mm film. I do not plan to develop these rolls myself. I still have to research but I want a company that will develop my film and send me the negatives and downloadable scans would be fine. But I plan on using my camera to scan these negatives and processing them in Photoshop to get what I want out of them. I have done just a little research and most of the companies don't send back your Pentax MXPentax MX, My Pentax MX from 1982 Super camera works great! negatives and this is a must for me or I will just do them myself.

So what will I take photo's of ?  My photography life. If I go out to shoot wildlife with a friend maybe a shot of my friend with his camera setup with a in the wild background. If I'm shooting travel like our camera clubs spring trip to Savannah and the low country. I'll shoot iconic scenes and maybe shot of my friends. So it will tag along with me on all of my shoots. The only downside? I'll be lugging around extra gear. LOL I'm very excited to start this project. Film just has a look to it . It's hard to explain but it has a look. Can't wait to see the end Bell and Howell Canon Canonet 19Bell and Howell Canon Canonet 19,1961 Range finder Camera Fun to shoot! project and it will be good to use an old friend my film camera that I haven't used too much since digital came around. So now I have two photography projects going on at the same time should be an exciting year!

Until next week pick a photography project and get shooting!

PS. I have been checking photo labs and the prices are through the roof to get a roll of film processed at an average of 15 dollars a roll. I can get the chemicals to do 20 rolls of film for under 30 dollars. So I'll be developing mine again. Hopefully I don't mess them up too much. Other blogs will cover the process of processing the film and scanning the film. Cheers!

Hey Everyone! Hope ya'll are doing great. As a spoiler alert I will be talking about computers on this blog. Computers are a big part of photography and I think that going over my transition from a 2015 iMac to a Mac Mini M2 computer and all the trials and tribulations that this process brought to me. First let me tell you that it was a great success and I'm using my new computer and it works great. I am very pleased. I was nervous prior to transferring everything over. I have used my old iMac for almost 8 years and came very fond of it. Most of my best photo's were edited on it and this blog began on it. First I had to prepare for the migration. The migration is transferring all of the data and settings from your old computer to the new computer so its set up and has all the files that your old computer had.

Preparing . I first wanted to clean up my old computer. I have a 1TB drive on my old iMac and only a 512gb on the new Mac Mini. So I went in and deleted old Lightroom backups they take up a lot of space and I deleted everything except for the last month. I had a lot of files in my Documents folder so I copied all of  those files to an external hard drive. I had lots of video clips and movies that I had made I either removed them completely or put on an external drive. I wanted my old iMac to be as lean and mean as it could before the migration. I wanted the migration to be as smooth as possible. I knew that the migration would take some time and I wanted it to go as quickly as possible. I had to also make sure that I had an extra keyboard and mouse to run the old computer because the new computer I was going to use the one I have on the iMac. I had to scramble a little because I just got rid of a whole lot older computer equipment to include keyboards. I did find a portable blue tooth one that I had when I was using my iPad Mini for my main travel computer. Whew! Before the migration I disconnected all of the external hard drives I had attached to the iMac. Now I was ready for the new computer.

The Mac Mini didn't show up until 4:30 in the afternoon on the day that our camera club had a meeting so I had to wait until the next morning before I could start. It was worse than Christmas for a little kid wanting to open presents. LOL. The next morning I hooked up my new computer to the new monitor. You can transfer the info during migration 3 ways by WiFi, ethernet or thunderbolt.  I chose Ethernet because it was faster than wifi and I didn't have thunderbolt on the old iMac. Yes it's that old. So I broke out a ethernet switch and hooked a cable from the switch to each computer. I went online with my iPad and found the apple video on the procedures . I turned on my iMac and went to the Migration wizard . I turned on the the new computer got my old keyboard and mouse connected and started the start up process then it got to the migration part. I followed the instructions on the iPad and then it got to the part where all the info is transferred over .  It took about 45min to an hour for it to be complete. Now for the obstacles .

All of the obstacles were software related. First you have to sign into iCloud so you need to know your password. You also need to know a lot of passwords to different programs you have. I hooked up on of my external drives and nothing. This was the drive that has all of my photo's on it. Most external drives are windows based and you need a program to let your Mac talk to the drive. After I downloaded a newer version of this program the drive showed up. I had to update a lot of my programs because my old computer had an intel chip in it and the new computer has Apple silicon. This took a while but worked . I like to use clean my Mac by Macpaw on my computer. It has anti virus stuff and cleans and runs scrips to keep your computer running fast and smooth. Then there was the reactivation of all my software like Topaz and On1. So after a day or so I got everything running smooth. I'm sure something will come up in the future but I've got it 99 % done. Being patient and following the directions will let you do this easily. So until Next week Keep Shooting and get outside!