Developing film
As promised in my post "Version 8.0" yesterday, the photographer in me was going to come back today and share a bit of what's been brewing in this department...
I'm sad to say I'm not getting much work these days and I'm a bit tired from all the hustling yielding no results; seems like Vancouver is a bit tricky when it comes to getting hired to do professional photography. I have a few reasons why lately I've been considering changing careers; I'll give you just one example.
A local Real Estate marketing agency came across my interior design photography and wanted me to work with them. We set up an interview and "test" shot at their office (apparently my portfolio was not enough because some people "lie" about their work) I had an off feeling from the moment they contacted me but I went anyways. Not only the person interviewing me was kind of rude and short-tempered -she justified herself by expressing how tired she was because of the photographers quitting on her- after seeing my test shots she offered to pay me... well... mhmmm... $50 for 20 HDR images. Yep, no comments needed... I didn't know if I should laugh or cry. Anyways, won't dwell on this experience too much, just wanted to give you a clear example of the kind of challenges I've been facing in this city: cheap, cookie-cutter, quantity vs. quality kind-of-work.
On the brighter side, since I'm not shooting much these days -except tomorrow I got booked with Snappr to shoot at a Lawyer's firm- I am spending my free time doing introspection and learning new things.
Today I visited MakersLab to learn from one of his members, photographer Carlos Romero, how to process film. My only experience in the dark room was during my time at Ryerson University in the experimental film class, and that was a while ago.
Carlos was very generous lending me his large format camera and giving me a black and white film to go shoot. The film had only 8 exposures and it wasn't until the 6th that I figured how to properly focus this particular camera; I'm pretty sure most photos will be out focus but still the process was exciting. I'm really grateful for the opportunity to learn while playing and continue developing as a photographer -no pun intended!
At the dark room, I was shown how to open the film canister, "load" it to a plastic reel so that the emulsions could do their work evenly and then place the reel inside a light safe tank. I practiced all the moves once and then lights off! It took Carlos less than a minute to go through the whole process, it took me way longer and I was feeling the pressure but then I remembered I'm only a beginner and really focused on what I was doing, not seeing but feeling with my fingertips. After going through the motions and making sure the container was light-sealed, we turned on the lights and prepared 1L of developing solution at a 1:9 ratio (100ml of developer mixed with 900ml of tap water at 20 degrees)
We left the developer do its job for 6 minutes, shaking the container every 30 seconds. Then came the stop bath and later the fixer, both were pre-mixed so I'm not sure what the ratio was but it always depends on the film you are using.
I must say I fully enjoyed the entire process, from shooting to seeing the film reveal the images captured, plus the anticipation you feel not really knowing how the photos will turn in the end. There is something quite magical about waiting for the film to develop, also thinking about all the possible ways you could screw it up.
Even though I have been shooting digital for over 15 years, lately I've been drawn to analog; it's an entire different craft. It requires a lot of thought, dedication, patience and a special ability with your hands. I always say working with your hands, making things, allows me to think differently; specially when my hands become an extension of my heart...
