streaks/mottling on B&W tray processed negative

[SeanEsopenko]

I processed B&W 4x5's for the first time. I did tray processing using information from Ansel Adam's The Negative and from information learned from technical sheets from Ilford's website.

I have one negative with streaks/mottling on it. Did I put it in too slow and too uneven? I'm suspecting that's what I did wrong.

Thanks for the help.

[Filmnut]

At a guess, it sounds consistent with inadequate agitation. How many sheets did you process at once? If you had several stacked up it is not too difficult to either let one stick to the one above or below, for a bit too long, especially in the early part of the development. If you have access to a scanner, you could scan and post the problem image here, so that we can give you a better opinion.
I tend to over-agitate, rather than under. I've had few problems with over agitating, and sometimes had uneven results with under.
I don't shuffle the sheets like I remember Ansel's technique. Rather, I leave them in the same order in the tray, and lift each one by the back edge one by one, but I don't slide each sheet out from under and put it on top, as I found that doing it that way caused more scratches. Hope that this makes sense!
Keith

[SeanEsopenko]

Ok so under the dim light in the darkroom it looked like mottling and streaking due to the negative going into the developer improperly. After scanning in, I laughed SO hard! It wasn't a developing problem, it was three overlapped images!

http://www.seanesopenko.ca/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/img022.jpg

I thought I lost one of my film holders from my recent honeymoon to Hawaii but it turns out I had it all along. I forgot to turn the darkslide over for both shots, and then I shot another one on it here in Calgary thinking it wasn't exposed yet. I feel a little disappointment because I was looking forward to see thing the results of all three shots; not all three together! Ah well. The other ones turned out pretty good for my first try, still :)

[Sirius Glass]

Ok so under the dim light in the darkroom it looked like mottling and streaking due to the negative going into the developer improperly. After scanning in, I laughed SO hard! It wasn't a developing problem, it was three overlapped images!

Now that is how to save money on film!

Steve

[Nathan Potter]

I might like the three better than any of the singles! We have a collage, and I especially like the Kismet in the upper right corner. :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

[jonathan_lipkin]

Been there, done that

[SeanEsopenko]

yeah I've discovered I have a shot I did on Saturday that's "unaccounted for." I have to figure out which darkslide it's hiding behind or else I risk doing the same thing again...

[Brian C. Miller]

You can use some tape on your holders to keep things straight. A couple of tapes that work well are drafting tape and blue masking tape (for masking off delicate areas). I use the blue masking tape because I'm a block from a hardware store. I split the tape in half down the middle so it is narrow enough to stay out of the light trap. Then after I expose the film I write the data on the tape.

[SeanEsopenko]

You can use some tape on your holders to keep things straight. A couple of tapes that work well are drafting tape and blue masking tape (for masking off delicate areas). I use the blue masking tape because I'm a block from a hardware store. I split the tape in half down the middle so it is narrow enough to stay out of the light trap. Then after I expose the film I write the data on the tape.

This advice has been extremely helpful. I've now figured out a system when loading and unloading film holders so I don't lose track of what has film, what doesn't and notes on what I've exposed on each negative. Thanks for the advice!