Here’s a little quiz for all you old film folks. The attached photo is one I took recently with a Pentax A3000. I developed the negative here at home then scanned them in and manipulated the image in photo shop.It’s been a long time since I processed film so It is remotely possible I have forgotten some things. but here is what I can tell you about this photo and the method I use to scan it in:
Film:
The film was self loaded from a bulk roll I purchased on eBay.
This film is out of date by several years.
The film is Ilford ASA 50 Pan Obviously B&W.
Camera:
The camera is a Pentax A3000 with a 28-200 macro focus zoom lens.
This camera is mostly automatic in that one has to set the ISO and the camera will select the appropriate shutter speed and f-stop
This is a manual focus lens
Processing:
Film was processed using Kodak D-76 Developer with a one to one mix ratio.
Developing time was approximately 13 minutes according to the Ilford spec sheet.
I used standard stop bath and fixer to complete the process.
Scanning:
Here’s where things get real hinky. Since I don’t have a scanner that will scan film, slides and what have you, I use my old HP6200. the Hp does have a slide adapter but it isn’t a very functional device all it is is a triangular shaped device with mirrored surfaces on the two right angled sides. I have never been able to scan a slide let alone a negative with this device. So here is what I do;
1. Place the negative on the scanning glass.
2. Cover the negative with a piece of glass to hold it flat
3. Place a sheet of velum paper over the glass and negative as a light diffuser.
4. Cover the vellum glass and negative with a reflector mounted light source
5. Use the HP pro scanning software and scan away.
6. Once the image has been captured I will bring it into Photo Shop and invert the negative image and adjust the contrast.
About the photo:
The photo was taken at mid day on a very bright July day. the sidewalk where our panhandler is laying is your typical cement. Notice there are some burned out white spots in the lower left of the image. Also notice the streaks in the upper left section of the image. I don’t know that I am able to see those in the negative so they must have come from the scanning process. Also make notice of the “texture appearance” in the photo. this may be coming from the fibers in the vellum paper. Not sure.
The quiz:
What’s causing the poor results and how do I fix it?
Do I need to change my developing time?
Do I need to over/under expose the film?
Simple don’t you think? Let me know what you think the fix might be. In the mean time I will try a few different things on my end to see if I can find a solution.
