The film development and printing processes?

Question

I'm in urgent need of help regarding a college project for photography.

I need A description of the film development process including: time, temperature, chemical mixing, drying, cutting and storing.
(step by step process would be good)

and

A description of the printing process. How long is the photopaper in the developer for? Why is the paper washed between developer and fixer? How long is the photopaper fixed for? How long is the photopaper washed for after the process and why?

- I have tried researching on the internet, and I'm not getting anywhere fast! =(

thank you for your time. your help will be greatly appreciated!

Answer 1

Check this out...
http://www.darkroomsource.net/tech-bw-film.shtml

The negative development time is based on the temperature of the chemicals (in BW). This is the GREAT thing about BW. You look at a chart that comes with the chemicals, and it will tell you the time. In Color, your precision must be within 1/2 a degree. You do this by putting the chemicals in a water bath that you keep at that temperature with a heater. Precision in color photography is critical, in BW it's much more lenient.

In Black and White printing you have 3 trays, the developer, the stop bath, and the fixer.

The developer takes the blank paper and creates a chemical reaction with the paper. Areas that were exposed to light are black, areas that were not are white (think about the negative and why it's the opposite of the print). The time varies mstly based on the exposure you used (ie. how well you got it right). If you were off a bit, you can correct it by developing it a shorter time or a longer time.

The next tray is the STOP Bath. This quickly stops the developer from doing it's thing. If you didn't do this part, the paper would eventually go black. This is about 30 seconds.

The last tray is the Fixer. UP until this point, the paper is still sensitive to light, so if you turned on the light right now, the paper would go black. BW paper is not sensitive to red light, so you are doing this under a red light. You place the paper in the fixer to fix the paper from being sensitive to light.

The last step is to wash the paper under running water. This rinses any residue of all the chemicals.

The proportions for mixing the chemicals can be found on the bags or bottles of the chemicals.

This is it in a nutshell, the URL above will give you more details.

If you are actually going to do this, when you are finished using the printing chemicals, pour the chemicals together and watch them turn a pretty purple.

Answer 2

Best bet is to spend a little extra and use a real photo lab where there is a real technician developing your film. I have used all of the above and either the quality of the prints or the customer service leaves or both leave much to be desired. For example: My son had a throw away camera to be developed, ok, Walmarts close and has one hour, took ii there, said it would be more than one hour, so I went back 3 hours later, still not done! The tech was unconcerned, I could see the film laying on the counter behind that had been dropped off after mine, looked to me like she hd not processed any of it! I should have just gone to the lab I use for work and waited the two days for less money and better results- Will be going back to wal mart today and see if that one hour is ready after 24! Bet I don't get a discount or an apology or anything! Defintely do not use Wal-Mart!

Answer 3

Well, I used to study Photography during my time in College, It's really hard at the start of it and you do get used to the method of development, So here how it goes.

When you have a completed film, It's meant to go into the container but beware of something, It's not a good idea doing this sort of progress in Light, because you will not get the best results once you have progressed it fairly, To make something fair, Work in pitch black and work your way into the container with the film, Once you've worked through it and closed the lid, Light is tolerant at anytime.

The chemicals in the development i'am not too sure about, You're meant to leave the photomaker in one if the mixtures for at least 1 minute then you move to another chemical for 30 seconds then you move it to another chemical and leave that for 5 minutes, Once you've timed it then you should be satisfactory of placing the development in the tray of water, This takes up to five minutes. Once you've done, There it is :)

Answer 4

http://www.ilford.com/en/products/ilfochrome/chemistry.aspI haven't followed this through completely but it could help.
Obviously the process is different for colour and black and white.
I used to use D76 developer and plain fixer. Processing times are different for different types of papers.
You wash the paper between Dev and fix 1. to stop the development and 2. so that the fixer doesn't get tainted by developer.
If you can't find the answers on the net try a photographic shop, they may have dev and fix instructions laying around.
Hope this helps.

Answer 5

Get a copy of the KODAK DARKROOM DATA GUIDE.

If you can find it, the book "OBJECT & IMAGE: AN INTRODUCTION TO PHOTOGRAPHY, THIRD EDITION" by George M. Craven is an excellent source for answering your questions.

Ansel Adams wrote several books. The two most beneficial to you would be "THE NEGATIVE" and "THE PRINT".

Answer 6

That a lot to post on one question / answer. I did a quick google search on "Darkroom" and found this

http://www.photogs.com/bwworld/bwresources.html

I think the first 3 links will answer most of your question.
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The reason you "wash" between bath is to extend the life of the chemicals.

Good Luck.