Development of Film Photography

By: Camila Sanchez, Elizabeth Mendoza, Leslie Miranda

Photography Guide to Developing and Processing Photo Film:

Practical photographic processes were arranged in the 1830s by Louis-Jacques-Mande
Daguerre in France and also by William Henry Fox Talbot in England. Daguerres method was a
silver iodide-coated silver plate was defined to light in a camera, by which the defined silver
iodide had disintegrated to metallic and silver and iodine. A fair image was achieved by
conducting the plate with mercury vapor and it combined the silver, when rinsing it in a active
salt solution to clear away the remaining silver iodide. To view a positive image you had to a
Daguerreotype in a bent lighting with a dark backdrop, this way the amalgamated silver
sections arose a dazzling, than the silver plate arose dark.
The procedure that Talbots used was washing the paper well in baths of salt water and
silver nitrate solution, depositing silver chloride in the fibers of the paper. The wet paper was
then exposed in a camera until a black silver image arose in the light battered regions and the
rest of of the silver chloride was detached by washing with a concentrated salt solution or a
sodium thiosulfate solution. With waxing or oiling the negative sheet, the paper transparent that
was made my by Talbot, and then it made an exposure of distributed light over the negative into
another sensitized sheet, and then he produced a positive sheet.
The development of film photography is a simple process and similar techniques for both
color film, and black and white film. Both of the films use different chemicals, but the process is
the same. If you ever want to process your own film, remember these essential photography
tips.
The film is light sensitive and can never be exposed to light, except during
exposure, or it will be ruined
When handling the film, you should hold it by the edges to avoid fingerprints or
scratches of any type on the surface of the film
You could also use cotton gloves to touch the film to avoid these smudges or
fingerprints
In order to produce your own film, you will need certain materials such as:
A can opener, the 35mm film needs to be in a small canister that will need to be
opened with a can opener in complete blackness.
You will also need scissors, the beginning and end of the photo will need to be
cut.
Film reels will also be needed, the reels can be bought in either plastic, or metal
and are used to essentially wrap your film around for development. The appropriate
loading on the film reel will ensure that the film doesnt touch and the photography film is
accordingly developed.
Film tanks will be needed, after loading the film onto a reel it is loaded into light
tight film tank for the chemicals to process.
Developing chemicals

Photography Techniques for Development:

Only in complete darkness, use the can opener to open the top of 35mm film canister,
and pull out the film. The photo film needs to be handled by its edges as to not damage the film
surface. Using the scissors cut off the film leader at the beginning of the roll to flatten the edge.
At the end of the roll the film will be attached to a spool and will need to be cut. The film then will
be loaded into a metal or plastic reel. When it is successfully on the reel, the loaded reel can be
put into the developing tank and has to be tightly closed. When it is closed light tight, some of
the lights can be turned on to finish the development process.
Development Chemicals for Film Photography:
Although Black and White Color films use different chemicals, in which these chemicals
will vary from the different manufacturers, the process still remains the same as followed:
Developer, Stop bath, Fixer, and Water bath. All of these chemicals have a selected mixture of
Chemical and Water. Usually this range is 1:9 or almost the same. The development time of the
film will depend on the temperature of the mixture. Something that you should know is that
Black and White film is best processed at 68 F and Colored film is best processed at 100 F.
The Chemical mixture will be added to the development tank and will be shaken for 30 seconds
and then 5 seconds every minute until the development time is done. The rest of the chemicals
follow an almost similar process, with the stop bath being around 2 minutes and fixer around 5
minutes. After having the fixer be processed, your film will no longer be sensitive to light and
could be removed from the area. Before your film is completely done, it will need to be put under
running water for about 10 minutes. You have to do this process to make sure all the chemicals
are removed from the film. After your film is completely done, the film should be left to try in a
dust free area, using clothes pins to keep the film straight during the drying period.