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View Full Version : hp5+ pretty badly underexposed, solutions?



mikezvi
12-Jun-2011, 17:59
I'm sure this sort of thread has been posted a thousand times, but I couldn't quite find the perfect one in my searches.

Anyway, I misread my meter earlier and exposed a bunch of shots about 2-2/3 stops under what the conditions would call for (actually, I exposed them like 3-2/3 under, but thankfully I was trying to expose the hp5+ at iso 200, so I figure if I treat it as the nominal 400 I get a stop back right?)

I would really like to save these shots and I've been doing some research which has lead me to a number of options. The two that stand out are two bath or semi stand development with pyrocat hd (I have been limiting my reading to DD-x and pyrocat, as thats what I have and am pretty used to). I've never really used either of those strategies, sooooo I guess my questions are first, am I on the right path, second, what would you guys recommend here, and third, am I overthinking this and really 2.66 stops under isn't soooo bad?

thanks!

Gem Singer
12-Jun-2011, 19:02
Test a sheet in DD-X 1+4 for ten minutes at 70F. Agitate continuously for the first minute. Then for 15 sec. each subsequent minute.

If it's still too thin (not enough contrast), test a second sheet at 12 minutes.

It should come out fine on the first try.

joselsgil
14-Jun-2011, 00:26
mikezvi,

Exposing HP5 ISO 400 at 3 2/3 under, that would be a film ISO of close to 3200. If you develop at normal temp and time, your highlights would not develop fully. Look on Ilford's website for HP5 info and see what their push processing recommendations are for the film rated at the ISO that you took the photos at.
Ilford recommends a 9 min development @ 68 degrees, at ISO of 400. Developed in DD-X at 1:4 ratio. At ISO of 3200, they recommend a development time of 20 minutes.

If mentally you were thinking that you were exposing the film at ISO of 200, that is one f stop closer to normal ISO exposure.

Semi stand development, wouldn't that be used to bring down the highlights in over exposed film? Your film is underexposed, meaning your highlights did not receive enough exposure time. Your shadow detail will develop in the first minutes of development. Your highlights in the later part of the development.
I would develop one sheet at a time, following Ilford's recommendations. Use that as a starting point.

Before developing, make sure your exposure meter is accurate. Were you using a spot meter, incident or wide reflective meter?

I'm so annal about exposing film that I sometime compare four different meters for one exposure.
I usually trust my cheap Shepard meter over the Soligor spot meters and a Minolta III. :rolleyes:
And after taking all these reading I still don't trust them. I say screw it, it's "Sunny Sixteen Time". :D

Ken Lee
14-Jun-2011, 03:57
2-bath developers will prevent over-exposed high values from going off the far end of the scale - they will not rescue underexposed shadows.

It would be helpful if you told us about the subject, and its brightness range.

If you have simply underexposed some high values (like a photo of a snow scene), then those values are now in the middle of the scale, and there's still plenty of texture - maybe more than if you had placed them at the upper-end of the scale in fact.

However, if you made a photo of a black cat in a coal mine, placing the low values at Zone II - and then underexposed by 3 stops - that's another matter altogether. In that case, you have to rescue the underexposed shadows.

For that, you want a development method with minimal agitation and dilute developer, so that the film can continue to develop in the low values for a long long time, while not allowing the high values to develop. 2-bath developers will not do that: they are designed for over-exposure, not under-exposure.

Here is an example case where Development By Inspection really pays for itself. With an Infra Red viewing device, you don't have to rely on guestimation and prayer, nor do you have to sacrifice a negative as an experiment: you can observe the development process and adjust it according to circumstances.

Steve Sherman
14-Jun-2011, 04:04
mikezvi,


Semi stand development, wouldn't that be used to bring down the highlights in over exposed film? Your film is underexposed, meaning your highlights did not receive enough exposure time.


Quite the contrary, Semi-Stand development is unique in the fact it can dramatically decrease and also increase highlight density.

Your first concern needs to be using a development technique which will maximize film speed (shadow density). In that regard both semi-stand and divided two part development regimes will maximize film speed. Knowing how each technique builds contrast I think you should expose similar sheets of film @ the same film speed as those in question and try each technique to maximize highlight density.

I have been in similar situations and can tell you the urge to process the film in question before taking the long and boring routine of testing a new technique will be difficult to overcome, but in the end it will give you your best chance at saving your original film.

Cheers!

Bob McCarthy
14-Jun-2011, 05:11
No amount of development or type of developer will put density where there was a lack of exposure in the first place.

All that can be done is develop the highlights to a normal density and accept the contrasty negatives.

If it's two stops -three stops use the processing instructions for iso 1600/3200.

And maybe if the subject contrast is low it will be a good match!!

Bob

jp
14-Jun-2011, 07:24
You can often get a good scan out of a negative that's too thin to print well.

Jim Michael
14-Jun-2011, 07:31
Flashing negatives to bring the d-min up might help.

RichardRitter
14-Jun-2011, 09:46
If you can go back to where you were photographing I would do that. That would be my first choice of action.

If you can't I would make some test negatives and use then to find a method that works for developing then.

The main thing is did you learn something from the experience?

I had a note tacked to the wall at my workbench when I was an apprentice it said.

Errors are excuses for learning. Someone penciled in You're not allowed to make then twice

mikezvi
14-Jun-2011, 11:01
I see I got things sort of backwards, huh, its a good thing I asked here.

Anyway the photo is, thankfully, of a little boy with darker skin and an orange shirt against a brown tree in the shade so it should be a pretty minimally contrasty scene. We will see how that plays out I guess.

I was using an incident meter (some sekonic that has treated me pretty well). I was taking a photo of this kid who was cute as a button but also not easy to get to sit for a photo :) It was a confluence of good luck that he actually let us take the photo, really (and then bad luck that I messed it all up!) What actually happened is I took the high filter out of the meter and then dialed it in like I hadn't. This isn't my first time at the rodeo, I don't know why I did that!

Making some test negatives seems like a no brainer, I will do that. Hopefully I can salvage these, but if I can't I guess its not the end of the world. Thanks for the input everyone

chris_4622
14-Jun-2011, 11:16
There is another avenue you could take depending how you print. If you scan, consider sending the negs out to Dr5 for reversal processing make sure to tell him you shot the film at 3200. Hp5 pushes in that process very well.