Develop Your Landscape Photography by Developing Your Own Film
Landscape Photography is a two-stage process.
The first stage involves recording an image on film or in a digital format - i.
e.
taking the photograph.
The second, stage is to transfer that image from the negative onto paper or into a computer.
This article is about film so we will ignore digital images from hereon in.
With film the exposed film must first be developed before it can be used to produce paper prints or scanned into a computer.
It is this stage that I will deal with in this article.
Of course you could just send your film to your local lab and let them do all the hard work...
but...
there are several reasons why you should develop your own landscape photography films.
1.
Actually it is cheaper in the long run to develop your own film.
The kits and chemicals needed can be purchased at very reasonable prices on ebay.
2.
If you develop your own film, you will have complete control over the creative process of film development.
The creative aspects of landscape photography are not just limited to the tripping your camera's shutter; they carry on through out the whole process from exposure to printing and decisions taken at any point during this process can dramatically alter the final image produced.
So what can you do to be creative when developing the film: 1.
First of all the choice of film developer will affect the quality of the negative.
2.
Altering the dilution of the developer can bring out highlights, contrast etc.
3.
You can "push" your film which involves exposing the film one or more stops faster than it's recommended ASA speed and then developing the film as if it were a faster film.
This increases the contrast of the negative and can give a nice grainy effect particularly with black & white images.
4.
You can also "pull" your film.
This is the exact opposite of pushing.
Film is exposed at a slower speed and then developed as if it were slower.
This process decreases contrast but produces better mid range tones.
5.
If you are developing colour slide film you can cross process it.
Cross processing is developing colour slide film as though it were a negative.
This greatly increases contrast and depending on the brand of film used will result in a specific colour cast.
Most labs won't cross process films because it messes up their chemistry - or so they claim.
Doing your own development really adds to the enjoyment of landscape photography and will help you understand how to take much more interesting images.
The first stage involves recording an image on film or in a digital format - i.
e.
taking the photograph.
The second, stage is to transfer that image from the negative onto paper or into a computer.
This article is about film so we will ignore digital images from hereon in.
With film the exposed film must first be developed before it can be used to produce paper prints or scanned into a computer.
It is this stage that I will deal with in this article.
Of course you could just send your film to your local lab and let them do all the hard work...
but...
there are several reasons why you should develop your own landscape photography films.
1.
Actually it is cheaper in the long run to develop your own film.
The kits and chemicals needed can be purchased at very reasonable prices on ebay.
2.
If you develop your own film, you will have complete control over the creative process of film development.
The creative aspects of landscape photography are not just limited to the tripping your camera's shutter; they carry on through out the whole process from exposure to printing and decisions taken at any point during this process can dramatically alter the final image produced.
So what can you do to be creative when developing the film: 1.
First of all the choice of film developer will affect the quality of the negative.
2.
Altering the dilution of the developer can bring out highlights, contrast etc.
3.
You can "push" your film which involves exposing the film one or more stops faster than it's recommended ASA speed and then developing the film as if it were a faster film.
This increases the contrast of the negative and can give a nice grainy effect particularly with black & white images.
4.
You can also "pull" your film.
This is the exact opposite of pushing.
Film is exposed at a slower speed and then developed as if it were slower.
This process decreases contrast but produces better mid range tones.
5.
If you are developing colour slide film you can cross process it.
Cross processing is developing colour slide film as though it were a negative.
This greatly increases contrast and depending on the brand of film used will result in a specific colour cast.
Most labs won't cross process films because it messes up their chemistry - or so they claim.
Doing your own development really adds to the enjoyment of landscape photography and will help you understand how to take much more interesting images.
Source...