film photography

I used my personal film camera, a Nikon El2 whom I've named Seymour. I used 100 speed film for my first roll.

In order to develop my negatives I went into the dark closet to open the canister and put the film on the reel. Once it was in the light proof box, I poured the chemicals one at a time into the canister, starting with the developer, then the stop bath, and finally the fixer. Once they were no longer light sensitive because of the fixer, I took them out of the container and hung them to dry.

I chose to print my favorite photo on the roll, it was easy to choose because I love the emotion and poise it captures. The photo is of my girlfriend Devon who was twirling around while I took the photo:

The enlarger I used in the darkroom was model #6, an Omega model. It was easy to use once I got the hang of it.

To make the test strip, I focused the photo in the enlarger and chose a strip I wanted to print. I exposed each section for 2 seconds, 5 times along the strip.

I put the test strip in the developer, stop bath, and fixer to then take it outside to see which time i should do. You could see the different sections on the paper to tell which time, and I chose to develop my final print for 8 seconds.

I developed the print by putting it in the developer for 90 secs, the stop bath for 15 secs, the fixer for 2 min, and the water bath for 5 minutes. I hung it up to dry for an hour afterwards.

The film photo I took that I think is the strongest is the one I chose to print because I love the rule of thirds created and the blurriness of her hair/ jacket while her face is in focus. Here are some other photos I took on film:

The challenges I faced were prying the film canister open in the dark closet, and choosing the right time to print with. As much as the test strip helped, the photo was still a little too light for my liking. Trial and error is the only way to learn :)

Overall, I loved working with film and I hope to do all my projects with film because i enjoy it and my camera so much!