Quote Originally Posted by Drew Wiley View Post
I find that reducing tray inter-leafing frequency risks more air bubble halos and perhaps streaking too, depending on the specifics. HC-110 is a developer which works quite well over a wide range of dilutions; but again, not all film respond equally well to that approach. Basically, I tend to defer to films with the longest straight line to handle high contrast scenes, rather than overexposing and compressing less suitable candidates with longer toe sections. When necessary, I employ unsharp masking too, which is in certain ways the most elegant answer because it can do other things at the same time, like automatic dodging and burning, and microtonal enhancement as well.
Forums work best when the respondents tend to selectively, specifically and briefly answer the original threads question. Second rule of thumb. Avoid "I do this and I do that" diatribes. The originator of the forum post simply does not care. Why? Because they are trying to formulate their own path along this journey and all they want is practical guidance. When they sign up for a photographic workshop, that is an indication that they have a divergence of opinion relative to this recommended forum rule of thumb. I have been on this forum since 1998 and 95% of the time if I have nothing to add substantively I defer. Just my $0.02.