Developing

Learning goal

You will be able to develop a roll of black-and-white film safely at home or in a small darkroom. You will wind the film onto the developing tank's reel in total darkness, inside a changing bag or in a room with no light, then apply the developing, stopping, fixing, washing and drying steps in order. You will explain that the developer makes the latent image visible, that the stop bath cuts this work off exactly on time, and that the fixer makes the film permanent against light. You will discuss how temperature, time and agitation change the negative's density and contrast, and that the shadows depend mostly on exposure while the highlights depend on development. While working with chemicals you will follow the rules for gloves, goggles, ventilation and waste, and read the density of dark-skinned and light-skinned faces by holding the dried negatives up to the light.

The question

The club's darkroom is converted from a small storeroom. On the shelf there are three labeled bottles, graduated jugs, a glass thermometer and a black, cylinder-shaped tank. The older member hands your friend a changing bag: "First try it in the light, with a blank film. Then do it with your eyes closed." Your friend puts their hands into the sleeves of the bag, whose inside can't be seen, and tries to thread the film onto the spiral reel; the film catches twice and slips off the reel once.

Looking at the bottles on the table, they ask: which of these brings out the image, which protects it, and what happens if one is poured in the wrong order? How do you develop film at home? How does an invisible trace turn into a permanent negative with a few bottles of liquid?

Context

You learned that film records light as an invisible trace and that this latent image appears only in development (Lesson 27.1). While comparing film types we said that black-and-white film is seen as the type best suited to developing at home (Lesson 27.2). In the previous lesson, too, you practiced rewinding the film into its canister at the end of the roll without opening the back (Lesson 27.3).

This lesson begins where that canister is opened. Color negative and slide films are developed with processes more sensitive to temperature, and most photographers give them to a lab; black-and-white film, on the other hand, can be processed at a temperature close to room temperature, with a few bottles and a tank. The steps are simple, but their order, times and safety rules don't change.

Simple explanation

How is film loaded into the tank?

A developing tank is a container that, once the film is wound onto the reel, put inside and the lid closed, lets no light in but lets chemicals be poured in and emptied out. The loading itself is done in total darkness. A changing bag is a bag made of light-tight fabric with two sleeve holes; the photographer puts the film canister, the reel and the tank inside and, by putting their hands in through the sleeves, winds the film onto the reel without needing a darkroom.

Inside the bag the film canister is opened with an opener, the film's end is threaded into the reel's entrance, and the film is wound into the spiral by turning the reel's two halves back and forth. If the film buckles or two turns touch each other, chemicals don't reach that area and a stain stays on the negative. That is why the first loadings are tried with a film that can be thrown away, first in the light, then with eyes closed. Once the reel is in the tank and the lid is closed, the tank can be taken out into the light. Before moving on to loading, everything is prepared: the solutions are diluted with water at the ratio the manufacturer gives, brought to the same temperature, and lined up on the table in the order they will be used, with their labels visible. The timer, a funnel and a bucket for emptying are also at hand; a bottle searched for once the tank is full spoils the development time.

In what order do the chemicals work?

Developer is the solution that brings out the negative by turning the silver crystals carrying the latent image into visible metallic silver. It is poured into the tank and stays in it for the time given in the manufacturer's table for that combination of film and developer. Many guides take twenty degrees as the base temperature for black-and-white development; if the temperature rises, development speeds up and the time must be shortened.

Agitation is turning the tank upside down and back at set intervals during development, so that the solution is renewed on the film's surface. Many guides recommend turning continuously in the first minute, then a few times at the start of every minute, and say to tap the bottom of the tank gently on the table after each agitation to dislodge air bubbles stuck to the film. Too little agitation can give an uneven negative, too much an overdeveloped one; what matters is keeping the same pattern for every roll; only then does the difference between two rolls come from the shoot and not from the development.

A stop bath is the solution poured into the tank right after the developer is emptied, which stops development at exactly that moment; some photographers rinse a few times with clean water instead. If this step is skipped and developer stays in the tank, the solution on the film's surface keeps working and the time quietly gets longer. Fixer, on the other hand, is the solution that clears from the film the undeveloped crystals that are still sensitive to light, and makes the negative permanent against light. The tank isn't opened until fixing is finished. Then the film is washed in running water for a long time, rinsed one last time with a few drops of wetting agent that prevents spots as it dries, and hung in a dust-free place with a clip attached to its bottom end.

How is a negative read and how is safety ensured?

A negative's density, that is, how dark it is, comes from two separate decisions. According to a principle often repeated among photographers, the shadows depend on exposure and the highlights on development. An underexposed frame has no detail in its shadows and long development can't bring it back; in an overdeveloped negative, on the other hand, the bright areas become excessively dense and stay detailless in the print. Holding the dried negative up to a window or a light table and looking at the faces shows this balance. If the area of a dark-skinned face is almost transparent on the negative, the problem isn't in development but in exposure; if the area of a light-skinned face is pitch black and flat, development may have been too much. This relationship also leads experienced photographers to change development time knowingly: a roll shot in very hard light can be developed a little shorter, and a roll shot in very soft light a little longer, to balance the contrast. These adjustments are applied not to individual frames but to the whole roll; that is why shooting the same roll both in hard sun and in a dim interior calls for a compromise in development.

Chemicals need care. While working, nitrile gloves and protective goggles are worn, the room is ventilated, the bottles are clearly labeled and kept away from children, pets and food. Containers used for developing are never used in the kitchen again. Used fixer carries silver; before it is poured down the sink, the local waste rules are checked, and in some places photo labs or waste collection points accept it. The dried film is cut with scissors into strips of a few frames and placed in clear negative sleeves, held by its edges without leaving fingerprints. On each sleeve the roll's date and its number from the exposure notebook are written; that way, even years later, a frame can be found together with the day it was shot and its settings.

Visual evidence

After three tries with a blank film, your friend winds their own roll onto the reel in the bag and puts it in the tank. The thermometer shows twenty degrees. They pour in the developer and start the timer, turn the tank continuously for the first minute, then turn it upside down and back a few times at the start of every minute and tap the bottom on the table.

After stopping, fixing and washing, when they open the lid and take the film off the reel, they see their own negatives for the first time. In the strip they hold up to the light, the frame of the two men playing backgammon is balanced: on the dark-skinned man's cheeks there is a thin but readable density, and on his light-skinned friend's forehead a dense but detailed area.

At the end of the same strip, a frame they shot hurriedly in a dim interior is almost transparent. Looking at the exposure notebook, they see the meter showed one stop under and they went along with it. The older member nods: "Development won't rescue this; it's a job for the next roll."

Common mistakes

Summary

Black-and-white film is wound onto a reel in total darkness, in a changing bag or a darkroom, and put into a tank; the developer turns the latent image into visible silver, the stop bath cuts this work off on time, the fixer makes the film permanent against light, then the film is washed and dried in a dust-free place. Temperature, time and regular agitation decide the negative's density; the shadows depend mostly on exposure and the highlights on development, so a dark-skinned face staying transparent on the negative is a problem not of development but of exposure, and chemicals are worked with following the rules for gloves, goggles, ventilation and waste.

Mini assignment

In this assignment you will develop a roll of black-and-white film or plan the development step by step.

1. With a blank film or one that can be thrown away, practice winding it onto the reel, first in the light, then with your eyes closed; note in how many tries the film winds on properly.
2. Find the time and temperature for the film and developer you will use in the manufacturer's table, and write the developing, stopping, fixing, washing and drying steps with their times on a work card.
3. Prepare a safety list for gloves, goggles, ventilation, labeled bottles and where used fixer will be taken; research the local waste rules.
4. Develop the film, or hold up to the light a film you had developed; in frames with faces of different skin tones, compare the density of the face areas with your exposure notebook and write whether the problem is in exposure or in development.

Check yourself

• Can you explain what the developer, the stop bath and the fixer each do?
• Did you apply every item on your safety list?
• Were you able to tell, between exposure and development, the cause of a face that stayed transparent?

Glossary

Mini quiz

1. What is the fixer's job?

• A) Making the latent image visible
• B) Clearing the crystals still sensitive to light and making the negative permanent
• C) Drying the film
• D) Winding the film onto the reel

2. After which step can the tank be opened in the light?

• A) After development
• B) After the stop bath
• C) After fixing is complete
• D) Right after winding the film onto the reel

3. According to the often-repeated principle, what most decides a negative's highlights?

• A) Development
• B) Washing time
• C) The drying place
• D) The color of the film canister

4. If the area of a dark-skinned face is almost transparent on the negative, where is the problem most likely to be?

• A) In the fixer
• B) In drying
• C) In washing
• D) In the exposure at the shoot

Answers

1. B — The fixer removes the undeveloped crystals, so the negative is no longer affected by light.
2. C — Until fixing is finished, light-sensitive crystals remain in the film and light spoils them.
3. A — Development time and temperature decide especially how dense the bright areas will become.
4. D — Shadow detail is gathered at the shoot; long development doesn't bring back an underexposed face.

Summary card

• Wind the film in the dark; try first with a blank film.
• Order: developer, stop, fixer, wash, dry.
• Take temperature and time from the manufacturer's table; agitate the same way for every roll.
• Shadows come from exposure, highlights from development.
• Gloves, goggles, ventilation; don't pour waste down the sink.

Bridge to the next lesson

The negatives have dried and when held up to the light the frames are visible, but the tones are reversed: the sky dark, the faces light. Your friend wants to see these frames on screen, add them to their selection, maybe print one large. At the club there is an old flatbed scanner; the older member, on the other hand, suggests photographing the negatives with their camera on top of a light box. They don't know which is better, or how the tones and colors will be reversed again. How does a negative become digital? The next lesson takes up scanning with a scanner and with a camera.