First image edit in almost a year

I am around 2/3rds of the way through processing my backlog of images from last year. In case you do not know the back story to this: I lost faith in my film lab of 8 years this year as they kept ruining my films. So I opted to raise the money to buy an automatic film processor and learn to process my own films.

My first scan of my own processed images.

The image above is the very first image I have edited of my own work in about a year. Proudly : it is a film I processed myself at home in my automatic film processor. Editing it is the final proof for me that the processing is working, because when you add curve adjustments to the film scans, if there is any problem with the processing of the substrates in the film - they will become evident.

I will be heading to Japan in about a week’s time, so I do not think I will have any time to work on the backlog of work I’ve just processed. I do not like to look upon the ‘editing’ stage of my work as ‘post-processing’. I really dislike this term, as it almost makes the editing stage feel as though it is like doing my laundry: a chore, and more importantly: an after fact of the fieldwork.

Editing to me, is a highly inspiring, creative place to be. I love editing my because I get lost in the material. Each adjustment of tone and luminosity brings forth an immediate emotional response. It is not a part of the image making process that I would like to think of as a ‘task’ or ‘chore’, but more so as a ‘creative space’.

So I would prefer to work on my images when I feel the drive to do so. Not because of some schedule, or deadline.

In some ways, I have always enjoyed having a small backlog of images to work on. To me, it is like having a well with water in it. If I have no images to work on at all, then the well feels as though it is dry. For years I had always worried that if I took too long to get round to working on images, I would either never get round to them, or simply lose interest. But it is not uncommon for me now to hold onto work for many years before I choose to work on it (Senja from February 2020 is one such case).

Anyway, I feel heartened to know that I am now in complete control of the entire process: capture, processing, editing and printing. Now that I have walked through the film-processing part of it for a solid week, I now see that it is not so difficult if one has an automated processor. I will write up an entry about my Dev.a film processor at some point. But I feel I should really work with it for at least half a year before giving any opinions about it. I would say right now, that I am very happy with the machine and it is living up to the hopes I had to be able to run around 12 to 24 rolls of film a day through it, without feeling like my house or kitchen where it resides, is turned into a laboratory.

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Postamble: I would like to thank Kyriakos Kalorkoti for inviting me round to his house several times to go through the E6 process, albeit with a manual processor. Kyriakos instilled in me that I need to be methodical, and ensure that there is no contamination in the chemicals.

I would also like to thank Robert Salisbury for offering to stop by on his way home from making images in the highlands, to help me alter my kitchen and install plumbing so I could get the Dev.a film processor up and running.

Can we really trust our vision?

In short: no.

I’ve been fascinated for years as to why there is a disconnect between what we ‘see’ when composing out in the field and what we often have on or memory cards / films. It’s a rabbit hole that one can disappear down, and that is exactly what I did. I learned that the human visual system has its own innate processing: everything we see is a ‘construction’ in our mind, and it happens so innately that we aren’t even aware of it.

Illusions such as this one by Science Girl are great at illustrating that what we see is a construction that happens in our mind’s eye. Once you begin to understand that ‘seeing’ is not ‘truth’, this gives you the freedom to realise that everything is open to interpretation, and once we know we are doing this, we can choose to go anywhere we want with our imagery.

Film Lab

I managed to process my first roll of film successfully on Christmas day. It is now the 29th, and I’ve processed around 40 rolls of film.

There hasn’t been a lot to figure out, but one bit of advice I would give anyone who decides to give film processing a go, is to read the documentation thoroughly. I noticed some of my films weren’t as vibrant as others, and when I looked into this, there are a couple of points to understand:

  1. Each kit processes around 12 rolls. As you get towards the end of the process run, the chemicals are getting tired, and the manufacturer tends to have a range of process times. The chemicals most critical for this as the first developer and colour developer. It took me about 3 days to figure out that I need to have 2 separate programs for my automatic film processor. Since I do two processes, each with 6 rolls loaded into one drum, I needed to use the times for 6 rolls, and for 12 rolls chemical exhaustion. Once I figured that out, the films are all looking really nice :-)

  2. Fuji films require a bit more processing that other films apparently. Something like 15% more. I haven’t gone anywhere near this as yet - I am quite happy with what the Bellini E6 kits are doing, but I am going to experiment. I’ve been advised to add a further 30 seconds on to each of the programmed processes I have. So this is interesting, as there is no documentation about this - I just found it on a forum, and someone pointed to a JOBO instruction manual which claims most Fujicrhomes require a bit more processing.

  3. You need to go do a bit more research, and understand that you’ll be on a learning curve for a while.

There is something very special about opening the lid of the drum to take the films out once processed. I have to go stick them in a stabiliser chemical mix for around a minute before I can go and hang them up to dry. I have noticed that sometimes the film curls and can end up touching the other parts of the film, so the stabiliser does not get to cover the film 100%. When that happens, I can end up with a streak in the middle of the film. It is recoverable by simply putting the film back into the stabiliser (a soapy bath) for another minute and make sure it’s evenly distributed. The streaks disappear.

But as I say: something very exciting seeing my films come out and get a glimpse of them before I leave them to hang.

Rather than feeling this is a chore that I’d prefer to hand off to someone else, I really enjoy processing my films, and it’s really nice to be involved now, with all parts of the process: Capture, Process, Edit and Print. Something very special and engaging about being involved all the way through that I can’t explain.

Delighted with where things are going, and I just need to order up a few more process kits, as I still have quite a few rolls to do !

The Dev.a film processor

Just a quick word on the film processor by Analogico. There are a few ‘gotcha’s that anyone approaching film processing has to be aware of. Being methodical, and doing a proper ‘reset’ before each new chemical mix is advisable, irrespective of whether you buy an automatic film processor or doing it manually. The Dev.a machine takes a lot of pain out of the process, is extremely well built.

I’ve had a few questions to ask about it over the past week and the support team have been extremely responsive. I normally get a reply within an hour or so, and the support is very knowledgeable. I’m still such a newbie to all of this and I really want to support any company that goes into making a film processing machine in this day and age. It is quite an undertaking, and I think they have taken the right approach to be as proactive as they can on any after sales support. This is in my view, going to help the machine be a success.

First Films Processed

The new film development machine is a beauty. I just got my first films out of the machine last night around 1am in the morning, and I am delighted.

It has been around three weeks of problems. Mainly due to either me not knowing something rather critical, or just bad luck. I have spent a small fortune in wasted E6 chemical sets, but I had anticipated that I would mess up quite a bit, and probably will continue to do so for some time to come. There is a learning curve, and I have found that I always need to give anything new at least a year, before I can give a valid appraisal of it.

The Dev.a film development machine is extremely well built and thought out, but that does not mean you can just put the films in and not think about things. I have found that I have to be extremely methodical in what I’m doing. For instance, I have an independent measuring jug for each chemical. I do not mix them, as this is going to cause problems for sure……

As for mixing and pouring chemicals, it is paramount that no contamination happens. It has been surprising to me to find out how easily I can put something down on a workbench, into a pool of liquid, only to ask myself ‘what is that?’.

First I found that I managed to spill chemicals outside of their trays, and so I ended up going to the local hardware store here in Edinburgh to buy some giraffe watering cans. They have long necks, so I’m able to pour the mix into each tray without suffering spill over.

Then a crucial part of the machine broke on me. I appreciate that the Dev.a is very much a young product. It’s a small company and so I can appreciate there will be teething problems with the machine. It was good to find out that their support is excellent. Very quick response, and very quick solutions also. I was posted a replacement fix for this which is more robust than what came with the machine.

The biggest error I made was buying 5 litre processing kits, and assuming I could mix up 1litre at a time. No no no no no! You need to mix up the entire 5 litres, as the dilution of the 5 L kit is quite different from the 1 L kits. I had two weeks of seriously underexposed images and it was only when I did a 2nd process on one of the 5 L kits that I realised some of the bottles were more than 50% empty. It dawned on me that the mix I was using was incorrect.

I am also finding that when I am loading the films onto the reels in the little silver dark tent I have, that it is becoming much easier each time I do it. I had done several practice runs, just sitting on my sofa with my eye’s closed, and when things don’t work - it’s good to have a look to see why you’re getting stuck. There are a few little ‘gotcha’s that once you know what’s going on, makes all the difference when trying to fix it inside the dark tent.

So, I think my Christmas is going to be full of processing films. I have around 160 rolls to do from the past year.

This has given me a lot of inner peace. I sometimes feel that if you want to do something properly, you really need to do it yourself. I got sick of putting my trust in film labs to do a good job this past 8 years or so. I think Covid has knocked many businesses and supply chains to smithereens.

Off to process more films…..

Merry Xmas.

Tending the garden of inspiration

Due to the whole covid thing, my own personal photography has been on hold for about three years. Well, in terms of pushing forward with new locations, and new places to go and visit.

I think each of us needs to ‘tend the garden of inspiration’. All creatives / photographers, whatever you like to define yourself as, need to work on tending their own creativity and one major area is to look for ways to bring inspiration.

I have been feeling stuck. The last three years really put a stop to some of the places I had hoped to go and visit, and I had envisaged that by now, I would have new portfolios of new locations. This was not to be. Instead, I had to go backwards to a degree: revisiting places that I have been doing so for a long time now, or places that I had thought I’d outgrown.

The silver lining of being stopped in my tracks was that I did find it very beneficial to return to some old haunts. I have particularly enjoyed going back over some of the landscapes here in Scotland as I feel that I am seeing them differently. It stands to reason that this should be so, as we are never the same person if years pass between visits to a landscape.

But I am yearning to go somewhere new this year coming, and this is always a difficult thing for me to do, as I have to find the free time between my workshop schedule to go somewhere. I am not looking for anywhere new to run a tour or a workshop. I am talking about personal development here. Going somewhere without the pressures of thinking about it as a potential business opportunity for my workshop business is key to just being able to be creative.

I have two places in mind, of which I am not prepared to say where right now. I just think I’d like to not have the pressure of making it known where I want to go, only to find out that perhaps I don’t get there. All I really want to point out is that I think it’s really healthy to keep looking ahead. To think about where you want to be in a year’s time, and to try something out that you’ve not done before.

Home film developing report

Around September, my film developing machine turned up. But due to work commitments I have only got round to start learning / testing how to use this machine this week.

The machine itself - the Analogico Dev.a looks like a brilliant machine and well thought out. But I have to confess that I was getting nowhere with processing test rolls this week and I just figured out what the problem was.

All the films I tested (3 rolls - shot in my back garden), were all coming out extremely dark. I had double checked the chemistry mix instruction sheet, and also double checked that the machine is operating properly - which it looks like it is.

So I decided that it might be the chemistry I used, as I bought it in the summer. I assumed / hoped it had expired (it had’nt). And today I have just realised where I went so badly wrong….

In an attempt to economise, I had decided to buy the 5 litre kits, and here is where I went wrong: I didn’t realise that the 5 litre kits are intended to be mixed in one go. Not split into 5 x 1L processes. Which is what I was trying to do. I got 2 1L processes in only to find some of the bottles were more than half way used up, which made me realise that something was off.

Massive rookie mistake, and the shops have told me that this seems to be a common assumption that you can just split the chemicals down, when really, they are intended to be mixed in one go.

It’s a learning process. And so I now have ordered several 1L kits. More to follow.

The machine itself is a quality build operation with a bright touch screen on the front. I bought some giraffe watering cans for use with the machine, as this helps ensure the mix pours into the trays with no spill over.

Below you can see the list of programs that the machine comes with, and it’s very easy to create your own.

Due to the Royal Mail strikes, and postal delays I think getting through my 160 rolls of film before I go to Japan this January is going to be a stretch. But I think it would be good to just get a few batches done and see where I’m at. Once I’ve done some further testing with the 1L kits that are on their way to me.

I intend to write more about this as I continue to learn about this whole process.

Music Studio

It’s my downtime.

But I am someone who needs sound, as well as visuals in my life. I am a constant music listener at home, and when I’m not listening, then I am hopefully playing around in my home studio.

One of my ways to regenerate and get some new energy, is to focus my attentions away from photography, and onto something else. I write music, and this is me tinkering around with a Eurorack modular synthesiser called a Qu-Bit Data Bender. It simulates ‘faulty electronics’. I love ambiences, and effects on sounds and this machine does that. All the stuttering you are hearing is it generating it from an audio input from a keyboard.

The landscape never judges. But, do we?

I have found myself at loggerheads with many friends over the past few years. We live in divisive times. I now believe that: ‘you cannot change someone’s mind’. All you can do, is leave them with what you want to present to them, and hope that they might follow it up.

In my view, pressing harder your point of view, just increases the resistance from whomever you wish to convince of your point of view.

In artistic terms, this is why I do not believe in pushing my work too much. I think that by trying to force your work upon folks who are either not into what you do, or are just simply not ready: you are just putting them off.

An analogy to this, is that I am a big fan of the Icelandic band Sigur Ros. Their music in my opinion is an acquired taste. It is not for everyone, and for a few years, it wasn't for me either. I had several friends try to show me the right way, to enlighten me. Their efforts failed. Instead, what had to happen, was that had to find them in my own time.

It took about 2 years of a slow ‘drip-feed’ of finding their music in car adverts and on the radio.

It had to happen in my own time. When I was ready.

What I love about the landscape is that it doesn’t care what you or I think. It’s not even aware. Landscapes are confident in being themselves. You can take them or leave them, but no matter what you think - nothing is going to change for them. They just ‘are’.

So, when we come away from a place and say ‘I didn’t like it’, or ‘there was nothing there to photograph’, what we are doing is placing our own expectations or judgement upon the landscape. If we have a great time, we think the landscape is great. If we have a bad time, we think the landscape has nothing to offer.

The landscape doesn’t care.

It really doesn’t.

It has eternity to deal with. The least thing it has to worry about, is what we thought of it,.

The landscape just ‘is’.

And the sooner we realise it, the better. Landscapes are much older, wiser and constant than we are.

Thank you for the present

I received a bottle of Harris gin today. No card. Nothing. I can only presume it is from someone who wishes to say thanks? I really am guessing here.

If you sent it - then thank you.