Film and Dark room photography Practice- Process

Film And Dark Room Photography Practice - Process 

stage 1: Preperation

I first learnt about the different parts on a 35mm film camera. I found out everything is done manually. I truly understood shutter speed on a 35mm film camera because everything is manual and therefore I understood what the lens does and how I can make my image appear brighter, by simply leaving the lens open longer so it takes in more light. You do this by switching to the higher digits on the dial. 

I learnt to remove the film, I first had to pull the leaver and role in the film into the capsule before I could open the back as the light will damage it because it is light sensitive. 

There will always be a strip of film at the end however no images go on to the film. I also learnt that every image I take I must role the button as I will not be able to take an image. As I role it it  moves to another film in which the image I take goes on to the new unused section on the film. (I used black and white film.)
Also I learnt the once I have used all my film I will not be able to roll as I have used all my film, there is also a tiny screen in which has numbers indicating how much images I have taken. 

Stage 2: Shooting 

With all the things I learnt about using a 35mm Camera I was ready to take my image. I took images of still objects indoors.

Stage 3: Developing 

I did not remove my the film as the process is technical and risky so a professional had to do it. However, I did have a chance in removing and doing the process with another film which was already exposed to light. 
The way in which I had to remove the film to prepare it to be developed was by placing the camera in a special black bag (this can be done in a darkroom without using a bag) which had holes which could only fit my hands. As a tiny bit of light will damage the film. I then took out the film from the bag and cut the bit at the end which did have any images on it. Doing this was quite difficult as I could not see anything but I quickly got the hand of it.

I loaded the film on the reel until I felt it click which meant it was all loaded. Getting the film on the reel was again difficult but I eventually go it on. Also the film had a tiny gap between the reel as the chemicals need to the film in order to prepare it for developing. 

I placed the reel into a container, this is still all done in the bag. I had to ensure the lid was placed on properly as if not the film will be exposed to light. I knew the lid was on correctly when it clicked After this the container come out the bag and chemicals can be poured into the container.

Stage 4: Dark room 

 Equipment:

Enlarger, Tongs, Stop Watch, timer, Water, stop bath, fixer and (another chemical), special lighting and photograph paper.

I used a timer as I my image had to be in the chemicals for a set period time or else my image will be over processed or not develop at all.

• I used an enlarge, I place in my strip in the enlarger and it projected my image using light on to the paper. With the enlarger there was a timer connected to it to set how long light is placed on to the paper. 

I used a stop bath to prevent the chemicals from over processing my image, which was from the fixer. 






I had to use tongs when placing my images in the chemicals as I cannot use my hands.













After my film was in the chemicals for a particular period of time I was ready to go to the Dark Room to develop it. I first took a test strip from the photographic paper. I placed the test strip on the enlarger and then this projected the image on the light sensitive paper. However, I sectioned each peace of the test strip into eight, each section was exposed to light for 2,4,6,8,12,14,16 seconds to test how long which was the best amount of time to expose my final images to the light from the enlarger. To see anything on the test strips I had to place it in the developer for 2 minutes, then in another chemical bath, then in the stop bath to prevent the chemicals from over working and finally left it running under the tap to remove the chemicals completely. I used the tongs at all times and the timer as well as keeping an eye on the analog clock. When I finally saw the image on the strip the image was blurry (as you can see on the right). Therefore I chose another image from my film strip and repeated the process with the test strips but exposing each section with less light as the other ones were expose to much light as you can see from the dark sections. Also the second test strip I chose a wrong area of the image therefore I had to do a third one. I finally chose to expose my original image to 6 seconds of light as this was the best. At the bottom you will see my image.

test strips

my photo