Developing Prints
Developing Prints
If you cut too many corners here, all you lose is your time and Chemicals, So go on, see how many corners you can cut!
While is is possible to develop your colour prints in trays, for beginners, or for short runs, I recommend the use of a developing tank... for papers.
This will give you the advantage of being able to work in daylight, but also, reduces the amount of chemicals needed considerably! It also prevents people being tempted to be shut up in tiny darkrooms full of chemicals in the air.
As previously stated, I use a two bath chemistry called Photocolour to develop my films and prints.
Make up the Dev with water at a slightly higher temperature, to allow for the cooler concentrates and tank, then just use it and forget about the temperature of it and the other baths! If you have erratic colour balances then, ok start to follow the makers instructions but, Hey! ..I get away with it!
The tank must be rolled from side to side, this allows the small amount of chemical to cover the whole print, and also gives a great deal of agitation to the process. One of these days I think I'll make an auto-roller...
I use a kitchen timer to tell me when to change solutions over, they are nice too, since you can set them to count down from X minutes to zero and then BEEP.
Get yourself some plastic bottles of precisely the correct volume of solution needed for your tank, or get some measuring cylinders, do anything to make the creating of the solutions a simple process... otherwise you'll be put off by the bother of it all.
Be sure to wash your prints well after processing, otherwise they will deteriorate.
When washing out the BleachFix be careful the tap water does not spray chemicals up to your eyes.
Screw the tank's lid on securely, or try to get one with a good rubber seal to start off with, otherwise the chemicals will start to leak out.
Roll the tank gently, pace yourself, you'll be doing it for 10 minutes, and you want the paper to be developed evenly.
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