Jim Byers on Stand Development

Jim has been making some gorgeous images of Camellias in bloom, and I'm grateful for his permission to post some of them here, with his notes on development. I admire Jim's relentless persistence in his pursuit of excellence, and in bending his materials to his will, in service of his vision. Jim has really put 510-Pyro through its paces, using concentrated solutions and long, rotary development times to squeeze every bit of speed out of Tri-X, and using very dilute solutions with minimal and even full stand development to coax every delicate detail of a Camellia blossom out of Efke 25. I don't think the phrase, "Good enough" is one Jim uses often.

Jim's Notes on Stand Development

I found the Camellias challenging because it was difficult to capture the dark leaves without blowing out the highlights on the flower. If I increased the exposure to make the leaves more visible the flowers became too bright to show the highlight detail there.

So I needed to use a developing technique on the film to increase the development of the shadows while simultaneously limiting the development of the highlights. Fortunately “stand development” provides this benefit. By eliminating agitation for long periods of time the development of the highlights nearly stops since developer chemicals in the vicinity of the highlights become exhausted. In the shadow areas where development is much less, there are plenty of local developing chemicals in the vicinity and development continues strongly there.

Not all developers work for stand development. Using 510-Pyro I got great results using both semi-stand and stand development. For semi-stand I agitated for the first 30 seconds and then again for 10 seconds ½ way though development. I kept my development tank in a larger water bath to keep the temperature constant and the temperature differential between the top and bottom of the tank to a minimum. I got very nice results in the 35-40 minute range using semi-stand development for the Efke 25.

Encouraged by the semi-stand development, I next went for full stand development, - agitating for the first 30 seconds and then no agitation for the rest of the development. I went for a very extended full stand development time of 50 minutes. This is longer than I would have normally done and although it produced some overdevelopment on the edges of the negative I was able to get the result I wanted for this image.

I recommend people try semi-stand development with a 1:500 dilution and a time equal to 6 to 7 times the normal development time they use with 1:100/normal agitation. For full stand try 7 to 8 times normal development time. This is a fun technique to try and can provide very useful benefits. Experiment and have some fun with it!”

Main Photo information:

Film: Efke 25

EI: 25

Format: 4x5

Developer: 510-Pyro

Dilution: 1:500

Time: 50 min

Temp: 21C/70F

Agitation: Inversions for first 30 seconds then none for the remaining time. Place tank in water bath to keep temperature constant. Stir surrounding water bath occasionally to keep water a uniform temperature.

Presoak: 3 minutes water presoak

Fixer: TF-4

Information on close crop image:

This is a close up crop from the original image. If you click on the photo the image you will see has one pixel on the screen for each dot on the 2400 dpi scan of the negative. Note the very small fine grain and smooth transition of the tones. This is a much smoother transition of detail than I was able to achieve with Rodinal stand development.

Spring is here. The Camellias are blooming!

Thanks to Jim Byers for this beautiful image. The play of contrasts, between the delicacy of the luminous petals and the substance of the velvety leaves, between sharpness and softness, and between detail and void, is so harmoniously composed, I've been staring at it for long periods since Jim sent it, and I'm still discovering it. Jim offered this image as an example of his film/ developer combination, but I see it as an example of a simple subject elevated by Jim's sensitivity and command of his materials. I'm sure Jim could have made this image with any number of developers, but I'm glad he chose 510-Pyro!

Film: Efke 25
EI: 20
Format: 4x5
Developer: 510-Pyro
Dilution: 1:100
Time: 5:06
Temp: 21C/70F
Agitation: Rotary
Presoak: 3 minutes water presoak
Fixer: TF-4

Pyro for Pushers!

Kodak Tri-X Pan, EI 1600

When I started this blog, I hoped it would become both a venue for discussion and repository for data, related to the use of 510-Pyro. Recently, I was contacted by Jim Byers, a 510-Pyro user interested in push processing. Jim told me he wasn't able to find much information here, or elsewhere, and I suggested he find the information he needed by experimentation, which he did. I am impressed by Jim's logical, and dispassionate approach to finding the answers he sought, using his materials and equipment in both real world, and carefully arranged settings, and his intelligent use of his film scanner for analyzing the results of his experiments.

Thank you, Jim, for your contribution.

Jim's comments:

The 510-Pyro/Tri-X combination at EI 1600 produces surprisingly small grain for a two stop push. In addition it held the highlight detail and the shadow detail extremely well. A very effective two stop push is easily attainable with this combination.

Film: Tri-X 400

EI: 1600

Format: 120 Medium Format

Developer: 510-Pyro

Dilution: 1:100

Time: 18:00

Temp: 20C/68F

Agitation: Rotary

Presoak: 3 minutes water presoak

Fixer: TF-4

When pushing to EI 800 the following time and dilution have been working well:

Film: Tri-X 400

EI: 800

Dilution: 1:100

Time: 11:00

Temp: 20C/68F

Agitation: Rotary

Presoak: 3 minutes water presoak

Fixer: TF-4

A New Scanner!

Julia and I have a new scanner, and she is working diligently to scan our archive of negatives and prints. The scanner is the bottom of the line Epson 4490, retailing for $149. It wil scan 35mm and MF negatives and prints up to 8x10. Julia has never scanned a negative before, so she's a good tester of the scanner's user-friendliness. This image is from Julia's first ever negative scan, and is not cropped, adjusted or edited in any way.

Film: Arista EDU 100

Developer: 510-Pyro

Dilution: 1:100

Time: 7:30

temp: 70F

Agitation: 10 sec/minute

Scanner: Epson 4490

Resolution: 300dpi

The Darkroom Cookbook, Third Edition

510-Pyro has been published in the third edition of The Darkroom Cookbook, by Steve Anchell, thanks to editor, Mark Booth. I'm honored to have my formula included in this indispensable darkroom reference book.

Donald Denison

I'R Wigwam Burner - Dolores, CO

IR Barn - Egnar, CO

Film:Rollei IR 400
EI: 25
Filter:89B



Developer: 510-Pyro
Dilution: 1:1:00
Time: 12:00
Temp: 70F
Agitation: JOBO Rotary Processor

Introduction by Jay DeFehr

When I began my photographic education, I was fascinated by the lengthy and technical descriptions of equipment, materials and techniques that accompanied so many Black and white photographs. It was clear to me at the time that I would have to master not only the use of the equipment, materials and techniques of the medium, but also the science behind them, and the jargon used to describe them, if I was to produce anything I could be proud of.

Being slow witted, I was frustrated when I saw excellent work that didn't include these kinds of detailed descriptions, and surmised the photographers were guarding their secrets. Only much later (again, slow witted), after much study and practice did it begin to occur to me that the equipment, materials and techniques were only tools, and differed only superficially among photographers, and the photographers who produced the best work most consistently were typically the ones who wrote little or nothing about their tools. When pressed, these same photographers would disappoint many technophiles by revealing their very simple tools and working methods. Their equipment is most often not old enough to be vintage, or new enough to be state of the art, their techniques differ little from those recommended by the big manufacturers, and their materials are more often off-the-shelf than exotic.

510-Pyro is certainly an exotic developer, but I suspect Mr. Denison uses it because it's reliable, economical, it simplifies his process instead of complicating it, and because it works, and I am certain his work would be every bit as remarkable, regardless of the developer he used.

I am grateful to Mr. Denison for posting his images here, and I hope they inspire all visitors as much as they have inspired me. Enjoy!

Yellow Jacket

Yellow Jacket In Snow

Donkey

Used Boots For Sale

Above Image-

Film: Ilford Delta 400-120 (ISO 400)

Dilution: 1:100

Volume: 300ml

Time: 9:30

Temp: 68F

Agitation: Rotary (Jobo CPP2)

Scan: Negative

Combine Detail

Crop Duster

All Other Images:

Film: Delta 100 - 120 (ISO 100)
Dilution: 1:100
Volume: 300 ml
Time: 7:00
Temp: 70F
Agitation: Rotary (JOBO CPP-2)
Scan: Negative

Artist's bio

Donald Denison first became interested in photography at nine years of age and he has maintained an interest (passion) up to his current 72 years of age. The last twenty years have been dedicated to solely black & white photography with all processing and printing being done by himself. A huge bonfire will be built by his daughters when he expires and all conventional photography equipment and boxes of prints and negatives will keep the flame going for several days. That same bonfire will be used to process Mr. Denison.

Staining and tanning

What is the difference between staining and tanning?

There seems to be confusion among some photographers regarding the terms staining, and tanning, and the terms are often used interchangeably, probably because most staining developers are also tanning developers, and most tanning developers are also staining developers, but there are exceptions, and the two mechanisms perform very different, but highly complimentary functions in negative development.

Stain

Stain is the rock star of the staining/tanning duo, and gets most of the attention and press in the ultra-geeky photo community. The oxidation products of staining developers stain the film emulsion in proportion to exposure, meaning; more stain in the densest parts of the negative (highlights) than in the thinnest parts (shadows). The stain is useful because of its color as it relates to the spectral sensitivity of the printing paper. There are basically three sensitivity-types of printing papers: Graded silver papers, sensitive primarily to blue light, Variable Contrast papers, sensitive to Blue and Green light in various proportions, and Contact papers, which are sensitive to UV light. The effect of a stained negative on Graded silver papers, and Contact papers is essentially the same; to increase contrast. The effect of a stained negative on VC papers is more complicated, due to the Yellow Filter Effect of the stain image that creates an automatic split-filter effect with simultaneously reduced highlight contrast and increased shadow contrast.

A stained negative is a composite, composed of a silver image and a superimposed stain image that combine to create print density, and therein lays the magic! To achieve a given print density, less silver density is required, meaning less grain, because the stain has no grain. And since the stain density is added to the silver density, the total contrast potential of the negative is increased, meaning greater expansion potential, which is critical for long scale and self-masking UV contact printing processes. Stain density is also immune to the Callier Effect produced by condenser equipped enlargers, so stained negatives benefit all formats and printing processes.

Tanning

Tanning is the unsung hero of acutance. Tanning developers harden the emulsion in proportion to exposure, creating a relief image, and inhibiting the migration of the developer to the depths of the emulsion, and between areas of high and low densities, simultaneously reducing the appearance of grain and increasing apparent sharpness. Hardening is proportionally greater in the highlights than in the shadows, so shadow areas are developed to a greater depth in the emulsion, increasing emulsion speed by the compensating effect.

Synergy

Staining and tanning each deliver great advantages in film development, but in combination represent an almost magical set of characteristics that seem to defy conventional wisdom on the subject of developer formulation. It’s important to remember that conventional wisdom is based almost entirely on non-staining/tanning developer formulation, and very little has been written on the subject of staining/tanning developers over the last century, and much that has been written is ill informed or just plain nonsense, so when you’re told staining/tanning developers produce coarse grain, or give away emulsion speed to produce enhanced sharpness and tonality, so they’re only really good for large format contact printing, consider the mechanisms of staining and tanning and the benefits they confer to all formats.