My first darkroom prints

[JoL]

Alright, I finished my first ever darkroom prints.





The pictures are not too exciting, but the whole process actually worked, that's my great success
I have one question to the experienced darkroom users here: I find that the texture of single colored areas not very smooth (e.g. the sky on the second picture).
But it doesn't look like grain to me, or did I somehow amplify the grain size? Does anyone know what the major parameter is that influences the texture quality? (film, print exposure, developer temp, etc...)

Thank you!
JoL

 

[dxqcanada]

First you need to figure out if it is the negative or the print.
Take a close look at the negative through a loupe on a light table.
If it is on the negative, and the sky didn't actually look like that ... then it was caused by the negative developing process.

 

[JoL]

It's hard to assess it on the negative, but I think you're right. It looks like the problem is on the negative already.
Is agitation during developing a contributor to this effect?

 

[Rick58]

It looks like you may have a light leak. I see the same light streak in both shots. First horizontally, then vertically on the second shot. The blotchiness in the sky certainly looks like it was done in processing, but I'm not exactly sure how.

 

[JoL]

I noticed these streaks too. Would this influence/cause the 1st problem or is this an independent second problem?

 

[Rick58]

If you look at the I beams on the first shot, the blotchiness is also on them. I certainly think this is from processing. Possibly the developer wasn't completely dissolved if you used powder? I'm not sure. Normally light leaks a more pronounced which leads me to re-think that both may be from faulty processing. Maybe someone else has seen this before.

 

[AlanO]

It looks like you may have a light leak. I see the same light streak in both shots. First horizontally, then vertically on the second shot. The blotchiness in the sky certainly looks like it was done in processing, but I'm not exactly sure how.

Good call... More obvious in 2 but I see it on the bottom 3rd of 1. I wouldn't rule out the paper, I had a similar issue that was the paper.

I was getting this streak on all my prints


83080012 by Nokinrocks, on Flickr

 

[JoL]

I used liquid developer, no powder. Could too much agitation lead to a result like that?

 

[timor]

Could too much agitation lead to a result like that?

I don't think you used too much agitation. Prints look flat, low contrast, they look like from under developed negative. Too much agitation causes increase in contrast. My major question is what film did you used ? How old was that film ? From what source you've got it ? To me it looks like film was badly stored, in too high temperature, that will cause loss of contrast, bigger and uneven (sand like) grain, possibly blotchiness and uneven development. Let start from here. Then tell us what chemicals did you use, for film and print, what paper, how old. Old paper can cause loss of contrast to due to fogging.

 

[JoL]

Ok, here are all the details on my film developing process:
All items were purchased in January 2014. Stored at room temperature.

Film: Arista Premium 400
Film Developer: Arista Premium Liquid Film Developer
Process: - 6 min @ 20 C; 30s initial agitation, then 10s every minute
Print Developer: Arista Premium Liquid Paper Developer
Paper: Adox MCP310 VC RC

Does room temperature storing have a negative effect over such a short period of time?

Thanks for your help!

 

[Rick58]

I've always stored my stock at room temp.

 

[AlanO]

I'm no expert and Timor will certainly be a better resource, if it was me I would try and rule out potential print problems (paper, enlarger, print developer, etc.) first. Do you have any negatives from previous developement that you know are good? If so, I would try a print from one of those and see if you have the same problem. If not, you have narrowed the potential problems to your film dev or the camera. Even without a good neg you should be able to expose a test print and see if you have the streak.

 

[timor]

No, it is not the short period of your own storage, is the storage before.
Arista Premium 400 seems to be a batch of Kodak TX Freestyle bought some 7 years ago to replace Arista II "The Next generation" D Popular phrase from Star Trek title, new then.) Arista II was Agfa APX 400. So, the Arista Premium stock is aging, but that nothing if material is stored frozen or in fridge at least. But in big stores like that, mistakes happen. I've seen such films, happened to me to with exactly same results.
Your developer is a good one. This is Clyton F76, formula based on D76, but I believe it is a PQ, not MQ developer. (That's alright.)
http://www.digitaltruth.com/products/clayton_tech/PBF76PLUSFILMDEVELOPER.pdf
And you can get it also as FA 1023 from Photographers Formulary which I use and is good.
Another thread:
thinking about trying Clayton F76
Can't find the dev times. What is saying the label on the bottle ? Massive Dev Chart tells nonsense in this matter.
B&W Film Developing Times | The Massive Dev Chart
OK, found the time, yes 6min in 20C should be good enough (but not necessarily perfect for you).

Sorry for little messy post, it was the way I was finding info on the net.
Nevertheless I would not cry too much over this film, it didn't work out, but no reason to get frustrated. Get some better film, get some ISO 100 like Delta or even better FP4+ since you shoot at the day time, no point to use ISO 400 for that and try again. You have to remember, that film is very personal, what works for others may not work for you (and I am talkin about excellent, not mediocre negatives). It takes a little time to get there.

 

[timor]

I would try and rule out potential print problems (paper, enlarger, print developer, etc.) .

That will be next stage and here I would see if the enlarger is clean inside, then make a test for safety of red light, then test the paper.
What type of enlarger do you have ?

 

[vintagesnaps]

Have you been shooting film long, had other film developed at a lab? Wondered what camera you were using since it's on the negatives (and is it along the entire roll??) Did you squeegee the film?