[Leica] Nathan's PAD 25/7/2016: portrait of my children and a film processing question

[Frank Filippone]

I see what looks to me a shadow like area at the top.....   maybe a zone's worth.... Was there any overhang in the actual scene that would have caused a shadow?

Was the shadow also on the area above the image area, on the periphery of the film?

It is a dark positive area, so it was not caused by a light leak in the camera,  or a roll that was mishandled....This would show as a bright area and probably a streaky look... not what you got....

Testing is always a pain... but next time, take a  picture of an evenly lit wall....or a band of sky, and see what you get.....

Did you process the film in fresh developer ( not used before)?  Ditto the fixer....

It could be an agitation issue, what type of agitation did you give the roll?  What developer?  Time in the developer?
    
Take the empty reel, and tank.  Put enough water in there to cover the reel.... measure the amount needed.... is this what the tank told you was the correct MINIMUM amount of fluid?  ( My most likely culprit solution)

Note that unexposed film is clear.....creating a positive image that is black..... what you see in the "print".....  So too is a shadow.....



Frank Filippone
Red735i at verizon.net

On the last day of my children’s visit here last week, I shot a roll of medium format portraits of them. It sounds like a lot of pictures, but given that I was shooting with the Texas Leica (Fuji 6x9 cm rangefinder), it just means 8 images on a roll. I am quite pleased with the results except for a weird processing flaw—look at the dark strip across the top—it was not there in real life, and it appears on all 8 frames. I wonder if I did not agitate enough—I certainly put in the quantity of developer indicated on the tank. In any event, I am happy to have these images, flawed or not:

http://www.greatpix.eu/All/Picture-A-Day/i-VmrGzGv/A
http://www.greatpix.eu/All/Picture-A-Day/i-7Fdd8pC/A

Cheers,
Nathan