Home Developing: My First Roll
When I started taking photos on film again a few years ago, I wasn’t so much starting new as I was starting over, or picking up somewhere I had left off long ago. Sure, the price of film shocked me a bit, as did the cost of developing. Oh, how I remember working at the mall as a teen, dropping off rolls of film at Ritz Camera, ordering triple prints (sometimes those BIG prints!), and picking them up later during a break at work. This time around, I’ve found a local lab about an hour away, and I’ve learned to be patient as I wait for the film to be developed and scanned and digital images sent my way via file transfer. Not quite as romantic I had remembered, but alas…
One of my goals this year has been to learn how to develop my own film at home—in fact, that goal was the driving reason behind enrolling in a photography course at the college where I work. While I learned that the enlarging and printing processes aren’t necessarily where I want to spend my time at this point, there’s something incredibly appealing (and gratifying!) about being able to take a roll of images and develop them myself. So, feeling like I had enough experience and knowledge to try the process out at home, that’s exactly what I set out to do with my first roll of Ilford HP5 off my new-to-me Leica M3.
First, the supplies. A few weeks ago, I purchased an all-in-one kit through B&H as well as separate bottles of Ilford developer, stop, and fixer and Kodak Photo-Flo. I also purchased a changing bag so I could ensure that I’d be loading the film onto the reel in complete darkness. While the kit included the Ilford Simplicity starter pack of chemistry for being able to develop two rolls of 35mm and one roll of 120, I decided to mix my own, since I would only be developing one roll. Next, the plan. I reviewed my class notes, watched (and rewatched!) a few YouTube videos (thank you, Kyle McDougall!!), reviewed the data sheets and guides from Ilford, crossed my fingers, and got to work—a little while later, I had negatives! And soon after that, I was able to use my Fuji XT-3 and the Valoi Easy35 scanning system* to digitize the negatives. Magic…well, chemistry, but it feels like magic to me!
My first roll featured some family photos from an afternoon at my mom’s house, and I love the images I took of her, my sisters, niece and nephew—and, of course, of G, who is a good sport about having his photo featured here! Also on the roll were images from a morning jaunt trip up to King Arthur Baking Company in Vermont—if there’s one hobby I enjoy as much as photography, it’s baking bread and pretzels! I didn’t use a light meter with this first roll, instead relying on Sunny 16. Unfortunately, I didn’t write down my apertures and shutter speeds for each frame, but I was pleasantly surprised and even a bit thrilled with the images!
Along with the standard Valoi Easy35 system, I had also purchased a separate sprocket holder, which allows for the film sprockets to show. I found that using that holder also allows for cropping a more precise border when I’m importing/converting the negatives. Other than the crop/straightening after scanning, I’ve done nothing to the images—hell, I don’t love editing digital images, so I’m not all that inclined to edit film ones!
*I wrote more about the digitizing process in this post, so I won’t repeat all of that here!