Expired developer or something else?

Ok, this has happened to me before. Last time I sincerely thought this simply was the developer gone bad. And it really was the case. However I have no idea what is the reason of the very weird background this time...

Bad developer? Too much fixing? Something else? I have asked the question on Flickr. Let's see what will come back...

"ночь, улица, фонарь..."

My Pentax has a stuck mirror, which means I haven't shot a single roll of film in the past three months. The good news is that it might be fixable.
My computer has died. Hopefully I will be able to recover my archive of digital photos. The good news is that all my negatives can always be rescanned.
This is an image I took in Soho on a walk late evening in November. It was already dark in the evening so I didn't think that anything will come out of a 100 ISO film, but there you are. Handheld, 100 ISO Acros. I love this film. As much as I love my Pentax. I am ready to marry the person who manages to fix it.

Lift me up

Southbank Centre, Royal Festival Hall, October 2010

I really liked how the old woman was looking small and alone in the concrete background of the Royal Festival Hall. I could have done better on composition. Different lens and even may be a square format would have done the trick. 

Rollei 100 vs Acros 100

Ever ready to experiment with film I use, I am still to find the film to replace Acros 100 from my heart. Rollei Retro 100 is ok, fine I would even say. Gives a very good contrast, almost no grain when using stand development and Rodinal. However I still can't get quite right the exposure for it...

This is what I'm talking about: 

Burnt areas. Lot's of grain as well. Sharp and good contract though. 

This is how Acros behaves inside, on a grey day outside, without any extra light

No grain. None. I just love this film! It gives really soft greys, warm even somehow tones. Perfect for portraits. 60 min stand development in 20 degrees (might have been even 18 towards the end as it is quite chilly at home), 1:100 dilution in R09 (which is technically speaking Rodinal). The only downside is may be contrast, but other than that this is the best film I have used so far. 

Friends

A great brunch with wonderful friends few weeks back.

 Nadya (with a lamp growing out of her head... Sorry about this, otherwise I love the shot!)

Stephanie

Yat Wan

Closer

From the upper deck

Stand development

After the disaster with the expired developer I have managed to try stand development.

Stand development is a different development method where you basically use a very small amount of developer and leave the film for 1 hour for the developer to do its job. Now I am no expert in the whole agitation business (people say that agitation seriously affects how your film looks afterwards, I can't really say as I am rather random with this... so no experience really to share here.) so supposedly stand development gives slightly flatter negatives, no grain and very smooth shades.

I used R09 with Acros 100 with a 1:100 dilution and 60 min stand with agitation in the first minute and after the first 30 minutes. I am not sure if I am particularly happy with what came out. The thing is I have been using my new Fed5 camera, which is a range finder and meters differently compared to the Pentax. The Fed similarly to the Zenit uses a needle meter. But that is a different story...

Back to stand development: I will give it another go tomorrow with a Fomapan film from the Pentax. The Fed is being funny and I think it is a matter of getting used to it. Although I am not sure if I want to get used to it. It is very difficult to focus with it with my poor eye sight and although it might be good on the street as it is fairly small and the external light meter certainly helps I think so far the Pentax has been excellent!

On composition and taking portraits of strangers

I found this man at a hotel where I was staying earlier this week. I thought he would be really interesting to photograph: his pipe, the posture, the way he was sitting seemed like it can make a great story.

So I went up and asked him if I can take a few pictures of him, he was really nice to say yes. Although I am generally satisfied of what came out as a result. There are a few things I wish I have done better.


He is not looking at me

Composition wise I am missing his right hand and I should have shifted the whole frame further down. So I would prefer if I could see what he is holding in his right hand. Same story on the picture below. I am looking at it and wishing I had stepped back and left just one and a half steps.

To be fair I find the last two pictures similar, so if I had to put the whole thing together only one of those would not have made it.

 Now when I am typing this I realize I didn't ask him anything about where he is from, why he is staying in that hotel, what does he do, what is his name... I was so absorbed by the way he looks and trying to capture him that I actually didn't think of asking him all these things. I think I also didn't talk to him too much because I assumed he would prefer not to be disturbed.

 I think have I spoken to him he would have actually looked at the camera and I would have been able to put a bit context into my story.

So there is today's lesson on taking portraits of strangers:
- talk to them: ask them their story, their name, what they do. This will not only put context into the portrait, will help captioning afterwards but will also make your model much more relaxed, which always means better shots.

A new developing disaster - updated

And it is indeed a disaster. After being able to get out the most fantastic shades ever from the Pentax, Acros and Rodinal I finally thought I got this...

Couldn't have been more wrong. 

I use R09 One shot developer which is basically Rodinal under a new name sold in the UK. It is a very unstable developer and you only mix it before you actually start developing as much as you need. The bottle says that it can keep at least 6 months after it has been opened. 

Nothing of that kind. Apparently the summer heat and the fact there is now very little left at the bottom of the bottle have speeded up my developer going bad.

I am now crying over three spoilt negatives with pictures that could have been great... yes, I am an idiot. However there isn't anything I can currently do, unless someone teaches me some PS magic. Because the result is this bad:

I mean this does not even look like a picture! Seriously!

After Ivan telling me about a super magic called stand development I thought I should try it and when the first film came out like this I thought it must be the stand development or something funny going on with the scanner. So I thought I will develop the film from the Fed. It came exactly the same...

Here is when I thought there is something wrong with the developer. However now, when I am typing this I am thinking could this be the fixer? The fixer actually being exhausted and playing silly buggers...

So you would think I would have stopped here and just gone to buy new developer. I though I would give it one last try... and another disaster. That is the thing with film, that you have to try and there is no undo button. 

Crap altogether. Very disappointed. I have one more film which will hopefully turn alright, but before that I will get a nre developer. 

Update 3rd Oct:

I went to Silverprint today to get a new developer and the guys were not sure what exactly happened to the negatives, but they were as always super helpful and said that on Monday there will be someone who can look at them. I got a new (smaller) bottle of R09, which is the newer formula of the Rodinal which is no longer sold in the UK and a new fixer as well, just in case. Now with the new bottle and one film developed I get a feeling it is almost 100% certainly the developer that has stayed for too long in the bottle.

Closer

acros 100 - you've gotta love this film!

People look at you as though you are from another century when they see you with a film camera, it takes about an hour to develop a film, dry it and scan it, you don't know what will come out. But than you get this.

And you know you have the most fantastic hobby in the world!

This is Acros 100 - the best film I have come across so far! In Rodinal it comes super soft, no grain, wonderful tones. I just love it!

Di Lieto - final edit

So it might seem to you you have seen this before, however, this is Di Lieto's final edit. It has been indeed a painful process. Painful because I have shot a lot of stuff. Really. There are pictures I love and there are pictures that can be put together to make a lot of sense.

My story started with the bread. It was supposed to be a story about the bread. Gradually Giovanni came in, eventhough he has been extremely great, helpful and supportive I have found it extremely hard to point the camera at him and make the story about him and not about the bread. However, he is an important part of the bread story since he is the person making the bread. He is also important since he makes all those breads by hand. Really, he does. And me being who I am, I believe you leave a bit of your soul in whatever you make with your own hands.

Each time I tried to put a proper portrait of Giovanni in, I felt I need to get him out. I like having him half-hidden and half being there. This is how I know him at the moment. I think this is another reason why it was hard to take portraits of him and make the story about him. I don't just yet know what his story is and I didn't have the time to get to know him.

I have truly enjoyed the experience and I am ever grateful to Giovanni letting me and becoming my friend. I hope to be able to get the story further, because the bakery is indeed a great community place with an amazing family feel to it.

With this I am off to my three weeks of summer and home and will be back with more stories in September.

From 18% Gray

From 18% Gray

From 18% Gray

From 18% Gray

Di Lieto - first story draft

It is now two weeks after my first to Di Lieto visit and I have shot 11 films. One came underdeveloped, three have been developed with the wrong amount of developer, four have been over developed, three came out as they should may be.

You live you learn. It has been a very exciting process, not only in terms of actually being out there and putting myself out of my comfort zone when I had to talk to strangers and be nice and make sure I am not in their way. When you watch the same process over and over you start wondering - what is there I still haven't seen in this, so where is my story, what else can I shoot, can I climb up there, where do I stand.

It has been very difficult for me to find new angles, take portraits and ensure everyone is comfortable around me. And I am not even going into all the technical stuff, like proper metering. Looks like with the Pentax which has a faster lens and altogether better meter than the Zenith is simpler to use inside, when there is not enough light.

Now the sifting through and selecting the pictures that would make it. My great friend Alyssa is so good in this. She is may be the best photo editor amongst my friends. And I am so crap in this. The editing process is as important as actually taking the pictures.

Here is my process of picking up 20-30 pictures out of 300+. I sorted them in different themes: kneading, mixing, baking, people, equipment etc. Afterwards from each group I picked up the ones I felt I like best and put them all together. Than came my brilliant house mate, who not only doubles as a model, but also now doubles as a photo editor.

This is how the draft looks.