temperature and shooting film

[zach_original]

There is a certain amount of control you always have with film. Not necessarily the amount of control you have when shooting digital (in my honest opinion). For me, the fun of film is how much work you put it to achieve a result: shooting, developing, making prints. I really feel like an image is mine after that process.

It is fun to experiment without a doubt, but if you want to shoot film but don't want to experiment, there's nothing wrong with that. Like limr said, film isn't exclusive to people who want to experiment because they can certainly do the same shooting digital. That's just my opinion, though.

 

[gsgary]

There is a certain amount of control you always have with film. Not necessarily the amount of control you have when shooting digital (in my honest opinion). For me, the fun of film is how much work you put it to achieve a result: shooting, developing, making prints. I really feel like an image is mine after that process.

It is fun to experiment without a doubt, but if you want to shoot film but don't want to experiment, there's nothing wrong with that. Like limr said, film isn't exclusive to people who want to experiment because they can certainly do the same shooting digital. That's just my opinion, though.

Take a look at this guy

 

[gsgary]

There is a certain amount of control you always have with film. Not necessarily the amount of control you have when shooting digital (in my honest opinion). For me, the fun of film is how much work you put it to achieve a result: shooting, developing, making prints. I really feel like an image is mine after that process.

It is fun to experiment without a doubt, but if you want to shoot film but don't want to experiment, there's nothing wrong with that. Like limr said, film isn't exclusive to people who want to experiment because they can certainly do the same shooting digital. That's just my opinion, though.

I use lots of control but i also experiment, the negative to this print was stand developed starting off with cold water 15 degs and then placed in the fridge to make it even colder and then wet printed

 

[zach_original]

There is a certain amount of control you always have with film. Not necessarily the amount of control you have when shooting digital (in my honest opinion). For me, the fun of film is how much work you put it to achieve a result: shooting, developing, making prints. I really feel like an image is mine after that process.

It is fun to experiment without a doubt, but if you want to shoot film but don't want to experiment, there's nothing wrong with that. Like limr said, film isn't exclusive to people who want to experiment because they can certainly do the same shooting digital. That's just my opinion, though.

Take a look at this guy

Yeah, I've seen that video! Really cool stuff. Personally, I love experimenting. My point was that film isn't for one set type of person, we're all different

Nice print by the way, love the detail in the dog!

 

[Mike_E]

Paints on a pallette.

You may not like a certain color but unless you use it you may not know when it will actually be useful.

It's the same with experiences to a degree. Give it a try, on some film meant for just this sort of thing, you might even like it.

 

[Josh66]

If you don't care what happens, as long as it "might" be cool (but it might not be), go wild. The problem with heat distortion is that it isn't repeatable. You may get results that you like once in a while, but you won't be able to replicate it. And you will get much more that you don't like.

Yes, sometimes it can be cool, but I wouldn't do it on any film that I cared about. In B&W I don't think it would necessarily ruin the film, but color is another story.

 

[JoeW]

Let me respond to the OP about hot weather and film (both print and slide). A lot of us when we used to shoot film often kept it in refrigerators. If you went on vacation and the power went out, your fridge heated up (often in a hot house). It often got wet (as condensation formed in the fridge). The film that came out of those fridges (and I speak from personal experience) often produced pictures but they were inconsistent...muddy colors or streaks or weird emulsion. Now, speaking specifically of film that gets hot (but not wet), B&W is usually pretty resilient. But I left a body with color slide film in my car once when I was shooting at Lorton Reformatory (Federal prison outside of DC). I got detained and held by the guards there until everything could get straightened out (they also exposed the body I was using to shoot with and ruined all of that film--that's another story). But the body (with a roll of mostly exposed slide film) in my car spent several hours heated. What I found when the slide film was developed was that the pictures lost most contrast, were grainy (but unevenly so) and were streaky (as if they had been developed poorly). Basically they looked like a crappy job in the dark room with chemicals applied unevenly. A separate roll of negative print film that was in the car (but I hadn't exposed, I shot with and nothing turned out--the entire roll was foggy. I knew it was an experiment. But it was a total waste of time.

I understand your instructor but frankly, heating film and then shooting with it isn't about experimentation or stretching the boundaries...it's just about saying "let's try this and see what it does" as in "let's spread mustard on the lens and see what the picture looks like" or "let's throw the camera in the water and pull it out and see if it still functions." You may get mediocre pictures, you may get crap, or you may get nothing. Heating film to see what it will do isn't much about creativity.

 

[Derrel]

I think the time to heat B&W film is right after you have developed it, right after the stop bath has been dumped....put in a few tanks' worth of some nice very,very warm water, maybe 125 to 135 degree water, for three or four tankfuls over about five minutes at least, then immediately after you have poured out the last tank of warm water, quickly fill the tank with ice-cold water, then pour the ice water out after a couple minutes, then proceed to fix the film, and then wash it normally.

The effect you are trying to create is called reticulation.

 

[photoguy99]

I'm completely uninterested in experimenting with film when I shoot it. I'm interested in predictable controlled results.

And film is just fine for me thanks.

 

[SoulfulRecover]

drop it in the microwave on high for 30 seconds. Things should get pretty interesting