Hey Matt check my logic here could you?

[havoc]

We all know the golden hours to take pictures, sunrise and sunset. But if you are forced to shoot B&W during the day which i am sometimes forced to do you get alot of contrat, and usually flatter lighting. Not much you can do about the latter but i was thinking about the former.

If i run Tmax 100 at ASA 50, expose in sunlight normally and develop normally with 5 second agitation every 30 seconds then i get really contrasty gross negs. No fun to print, and look like ****.

So i was thinking if shot the same way in sunlight, then underdeveloped by say -10% or -20% that would bring down the contrast, perhaps only agitating once a minute or less to leave some detail in the the highlights. perhaps only doing one agitation.

From what i have read about highlights and bromide buildup and stuff this should make the prints alot more printable.... I'm i right in this assessment or way off base.

And what would happen if i dilluted the Tmax dev to say 1:3 so i can dev longer, agitating every 2 minutes or so.

I am curious about ways to lengthen developing times, and their effects on the emulsion.
I am also always looking for ways to fix bad lighting, as much as i can anyways.

 

[ksmattfish]

I'm not sure what you mean by "flatter" lighting, but your ideas about reducing contrast are sound, but I'd recommend only changing one thing at a time, so that you can track what works.

If you count the stops from the highlights where you want full detail to the shadows where you want full detail, and you get about 6 stops difference, then I'd try shooting the Tmax 100 at ISO 50, and then reducing dev time by 10% or 15%. If it's 7 stops shoot it at ISO 25, and reduce dev times by 20% to 30%.

Don't alter your agitation method until you see what this does; you don't want to get good results and not know what caused it. Tmax films respond much quicker to changes in dev time, so that's why you might want to only alter it 10%. If you were shooting Pan-X or Tri-X I'd say reduce the times by 20% for 6 stops, and 40% for 7 stops.

I don't use Tmax developers, so I can't really help you there. I usually stick with the manufacturer recommended dilutions.

 

[havoc]

Great thanks alot man, i got something new to try.

What i meant about flat light was that the sun is right above you so there is little shadow, everything seems to fit into the middle grey area. Creating very flat looking pictures.