Originally Posted by
Mark MacKenzie
Thanks, Ken. Great article on Pyrocat. Pyrocat seems very popular and I have wondered if I am missing the boat by not trying it but the staining scares me. I haven't ventured yet into alternative printing yet. But mainly, I don't think I have learned how versatile HC-110 is. I get good results with my portraits but my landscape negatives have been way too contrasty so I need to learn to pull as well as push film. Thats why I was looking at D-23. Maybe its magic bullet thinking. I liked your write up on it as well as the simplicity of the chemical makeup.
I may have thrown another variable in the mix by buying a box of TriX 320 which I have never shot before. I have been shooting Acros and FP4+. So I'll test it in HC-110 and get a feel for it before I change developers. I don't know why but it seems that HC-110 is not as popular, maybe not as exotic.
Its that magical mid range I think that I want to learn how to manipulate.
No shoulder means that highs don't block up quickly? Empty highlights bother me. I can tolerate some empty shadows, though. The TriX 320 curve looks to have no shoulder at all. Then same with Acros. Now FP4 shows a big shoulder.
What I want is to be able to shoot a subject like your Tulips and have all that wonderful midrange tones and also to go out and shoot full sun and deep shadow subjects with the same control and expression in the mid tones. I think I will stick to HC-110 unless advised otherwise and learn to pull and push and stand develop. By the way, the BTZS sounds like the approach to take but it makes my head hurt.
Thanks for the help... hope you don't mind the meandering.
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