C-41, success at last!

[drmoss_ca]

No artistic merit being claimed for these at all, just my second try with C-41 home developing. This time I made up fresh chemicals from a Unicolor press kit and it seems to have worked a bit better. Bessa III, Ektar 100, Imacon 848.













Chris

[CMur12]

Chris, though I know it's not impossible, I'm impressed by anyone who would do C-41 or E-6 at home. Your photos came out nicely, speaking well for the effort from exposure to scan.

- Murray

[drmoss_ca]

Well don't tell anyone, but it's actually very easy. There is only one way to do C-41, and the times are always the same. The only tricky bit is to have everything at the right temperature throughout, which means a washing up bowl, sink or bathtub with 102ºF water in it and all the bottles of chemicals and the developing tank sitting in it.
With B&W processing there are thousands of combinations of films, developers, times, temperatures and agitation schedules. You just end up getting to know a few combinations that work for you and stick with them.
Tomorrow I'm back to monochrome and will take the folding 6x6 rangefinder and some HP5+ into the hospital to harass some nurses. I like the square format so much I'm getting an old Rolleiflex TLR as well.

Chris

[jww]

Breathtaking -- and you weren't even trying with the composition????? Great results -- I always enjoy your photographic posts. Looking forward to tomorrow's pics.

[CMur12]

TLRs are probably my favorite cameras of all (going back to when I was a kid with a Kodak Duaflex IV) and I really like square composition.

A TLR on a tripod at waist level is wonderful. You have your two hands free to work, you view the potential image with both eyes, you can align everything more easily, and you just lay out the composition on that groundglass. To stabilize a TLR handheld, you put on the neck strap and bear down upon the camera. There is no vibration from a moving mirror or focal plane shutter (vibration from a leaf shutter is virtually nil). You don't have to view the image through filters on the taking lens. TLRs have a range of practical virtues all but forgotten. For me, these cameras have an aesthetic in use that I find in no other camera.

- Murray

[Gene]

TLR was how I cut my photographic teeth in the 1970's - shooting and processing Tri-X.

Wish I still had it.

[drmoss_ca]

A pleasant surprise at work. Chelsie's always up for a photo when I take a camera into work:



Guess what? She's just got engaged!


Both Bessa III, HP5+, TMax developer, Imacon 848 scans.

Chris

[Squire]

Remarkable stuff Dr. M. I take it the young lady just got engaged?

[drmoss_ca]

Yes, she's thrilled about it.

C.

[Squire]

Rats, I completely missed you mentioned that, must have been distracted by her smile. You are fortunate to have such willing subjects.

[Sam]

I love the flower pics. Topnotch.

[jww]

Excellent -- nice pics as always.