Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2001/05/30
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]This past weekend I returned from a trip to New York where we gathered with our far flung family. When I got home I went to the basement and set the JOBO to spinning to stabilize the temperatures of the various chemical solutions. After about an hour I returned and loaded 6 reels of HP5+. I don't know about anyone else, but I load film with my eyes closed as it seems to help me concentrate. I needed to because I'm still not comfortable with plastic reels after using stainless steel for decades. Anyway, after I loaded the last reel I opened my eyes and turned around only to discover that I had left a safelight on since the last time I printed several days before. This safelight reflects off the white ceiling for general illumination, so my film was all fogged nice and evenly. I developed the film as usual and I'm hoping to be able to print through the fog; we'll see. If anyone is interested it does seem to be a good technique to control contrast-these are VERY flat negatives. After processing black and white film for more than 35 years, I thought I had made all the possible mistakes. It just goes to show, it is never too late to learn something new. Why does this kind of thing always seem to happen only to the irreplaceable shots? Crying in my developer, Richard Wasserman