And the images I'm capturing suck. If I do what I think will work, I usually get negatives I think I can work with in the darkroom. If I follow my instructor's direction, everything is not great. I think I may need a different instructor because we are not communicating well, though I freely admit it may just be me. Regardless...
I have been considering a series featuring breast cancer surgical scars. I have a model (my fabulous spouse) who will put up with my testing different stocks, processing methods, light set-ups, etc., so I'm very lucky. This is at least a two-year project to get some baseline processing and printing competence, followed by a lot of practicing and messing up, etc.
So far I think
1. I'll probably use my Norma (aka Norma Desmond because why not) when I do the final captures. I won't use 35mm---something happens to me when I use my 35mm camera. I go all photojournalist, which is great for some things, but that isn't what I'm after here. I like the deliberation Norma Desmond requires and I want that big negative.
2. I may very well try platinum or photogravure processes once I can consistently process and print the kind of images I want to create. (I am still exploring what flavor of image I want---at first I wanted a sort of Avendon style, then more of a glowing, luminescent-y quality, then Studek still life, and now maybe I'll end up pushing TX400 to the breaking point for grain and grittiness.)
But that's in the future. Right now I'm trying to expose the image in a way to expand the dynamic range. My lighting is very subdued---golden hour outdoors because we live in the sticks and no one can see boobs if anyone is walking around without a shirt on. Using Fuji Acros Neopan 100, I captured a 35mm roll of images to get started. I processed in D76 at normal time and agitation.
I printed a contact sheet and even struck a print. BTW, everyone in the class was working in the darkroom and got very very quiet as the RC paper moved from tray to tray. It was weird. I didn't realize people would get weird over a boob, but then, I forgot that with breast cancer, people focus on the boob and don't see the cancer. I think they think I'm a big perv now in a totally not cool way. But that's a discussion for another day.
Anyway, I took the contact sheet and negatives to my instructor who said images like the one I want to create are hard to do because they're :white on white." I think that means the subject's skin tones don't vary a lot or the changes in tone are really subtle. I should consider two different approaches---one was diluting the D76 1:3 and process according to the appropriate chart, and then my instructor suggested a second process but walked away before I could confirm what I was told, which has been a pretty typical experience for me in this class.
So I'm going to do another session using Norma Desmond and TX400 (which is what I have). I'm going to process the 4x5 film using D76, 1:3, 68F, first full minute gentle agitation and then agitate 5 second every 30 seconds following the processing time chart on digitaltruth.com. Does anyone have a better processing chart or better technical spec that I should follow with these Kodak products?
I'd like to do a second test by changing the development time. My instructor had muttered something in an earlier class about subtracting 10% from the normal processing time but I think that was in regard to lowering highlights, like a bright sky in a landscape. So would I extend development time to get a bit more contrast? There's something about this that just doesn't feel right but I'm doubting myself right now.
Does anyone have some ideas about approaching the film processing that would help me extend the dynamic range of the image? My goal is to learn how to consistently process an image like this and have a pretty good idea of what I'm going to get. Then I'll move on to learning about the other processes as pertains to this project.
Many thanks for any help. I was so excited to be doing film processing and darkroom work again but it's been a shitty experience and I'm really discouraged. I am stubborn, though, so I'm plowing all that into "I'll show you, you crappy instructor" and "fuck it, who cares what anyone else thinks?" to help myself keep going. When the going gets tough, the tough use swear words. Or something.
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