The new darkroom is small, so I’m setting it up to work small, even when developing large format. I bought myself new daylight developing tanks with reels that work with both 5×7 and 8×10, plus a smaller tank for 4×5. They all seem to work well. My development processes have become much more reliable
My 8×10 and 5×7 tanks are made by Paterson Photographic, and the reels are made by 20th Century Camera. I used the 8×10 tank and reel on the Featured Image above. For the picture below, I used the new 4×5 tank, which was made by Stearman Press.
I just started using these, so I don’t have much to show for it as of yet, but the initial results are encouraging.
For the above image, I used Kodak HC-110 as the developer, and Ilford Ortho+ film to get more punch out of the contrast. There were some issues with the film, possibly due to a faulty freezer a few years back. I cleaned it up the best I could in Photoshop, but it’s not perfect. There are, however, no issues with the development. This is interesting because I am using the last few ounces of a bottle of the developer that I bought when I lived in Portland, possibly as far back as 2013. The syrup has turned red (originally yellow), and is a little chunky. It still works perfectly, though. That’s the magic of HC-110.
On a similar vein, I am settling on a standard developer. I’m considering moving entirely to Kodak HC-110 (or its twin, Ilford Ilfotec-HC). My reasoning is that it’s fresh every time you use it, and it has a myriad of different dilutions that have different properties. The only exception will be 510-Pyro. I will use that with Ilford Ortho+ film, and whenever I need a pyro developer, i.e. overly high contrast situations and night scenes. I will continue to mix my own paper developers from the raw chemicals because I really like Ansco 130. Now, I need to get myself set up to do some printing.
Thanks for looking!
Technical Information
Featured Image
Barlow Trail Wayside, Brightwood, Oregon, January 2021
Camera: Deardorff 8×10
Lens: 12″ Goerz Dagor
Film: Bergger Panchro 400 developed in Kodak HC-110.
The Salmon River, Oregon, January 2021
Camera: Sinar Alpina 4×5
Lens: 180mm Caltar II
Film: Famous Format Atomic X developed in Kodak D76.
Lyle, Washington from Rowena Crest, Oregon
Camera: Eastman Kodak Commercial 8×10 view camera
Lens: 760mm SK Grimes
Film: Ilford Ortho+ developed in Kodak HC-110
