Processing my film

All of my films had the same processing method which was using C41 to develop the black and white films. There are 6 steps involved in processing the film; putting the film in the tank, using the developer chemical, using a stop bath chemical, washing out the tank with water, using the fixer chemical and drying the film in the airer.

Before developing the film, the chemical need to be in water and heated to 30°C as the chemicals won’t develop the film properly; the way to do this is to measure the temperature of the water that the chemicals are in using a thermometer.

Step one 

The first step is to put the following items into a light-proof tent so no light is exposed to the film when taken out of the canister as this will expose the film and ruin it. The items are as followed:

• rolls of film
• developing tank
• film reel
• can opener- to open the film canister
• scissors

In the tent, you open the film canister with the can opener and remove the film from it. From there you even off the end of the film using the scissors, cutting it off and loading the film onto the reel. To do this you feed the first piece of the film into the reel, passing it through the ball bearings, where it goes onto the track. You then rotate one side of the reel to feed the film through, and then rotate the other side to feed more in and continue this process till all the film is loaded. Once this is done, you put the reel with the film into the developing tank and put the lid on and take it out of the tent ready to start developing.

 

Step two

From here, I put about 170ml of the developing solution into the tank and put the lid back on. I developed the film for 3 minutes, using a device to turn the developing tank so that the chemical develops all of the film. After 3 minutes, I empty the solution back into the developer container.

 

Step three

After emptying the tank of developing solution, I go onto putting about 170ml of stop bath into the tank. I stop the film for 6 minutes and after that emptied the solution back into its container.

 

Step four

After emptying the stop bath solution, I wash out the tank with warm water for 3 minutes ensuring that all of the previous chemicals have been removed. After that I go onto fixing the film with the fixing chemical.

 

Step five

I fix the film using the fixing chemical for a minute, turning the tank using the device and keeping it warm in the water. After that is done I empty the solution into the developing tank and prepare to finish this process.

 

Step six

The final step is removing the film from the tank after developing the film and fixing it. I put film clips onto the bottom of the film so it doesn’t curl when putting them into the airer to dry off. After doing this, I wait for 20-30 minutes till the film is dried and then the process is complete and I can go into the darkroom to start producing work.

 

 

 

 

 

Darkroom Experiments: First shoot

Some negatives from first shoot:

Darkroom experiments:

I used a test strip to determine how many seconds I should expose the image for, I started off at 5 seconds and found the image needed more exposure.

I exposed the image for 20 seconds, 10 seconds and again 5 seconds. I found that 10 seconds was the best exposure time for the image. Now that I have found the correct exposure time, I decided to start experimenting with the image and how I can manipulate it to look more interesting. I had decided to combined two images together, one on top of another to form a double exposure. It wasn’t an obvious juxtaposition of the two images to form a double exposure however, it still added a bit of depth to the image.

I tried to think how else I could manipulate this image, and I thought about juxtaposing more images together, but two different images of the models put next together. Below is the two negative images next to each other.

When I went into the darkroom, I used a test strip to see whether the exposure was still on 10 seconds or whether it needed longer, I found that 10 seconds was enough.

I then went onto experimenting, starting off by just exposing the image as its original self.

I liked this image and found it interesting however, I wanted to create something more interesting and experimental. So I chose to move the image down the paper so it moves.

I really liked this piece and I think it was my favourite, I like how abstract the mage became and how much more interesting it was. It wasn’t just an two images I had juxtaposed together to form a new image but something more. It created a bit of depth to the image.

I then went onto moving the image faster in towards one angle  of the image to see the effect of this.

I found this image particularly interesting as it looks like the image is falling; it starts of small however and enlarges, exposing the true image. I find when looking at this image a few times, you notice different details in the image, which I liked about this photo.

I then thought about just exposing the image as normal like my first go.

When I had exposed it and developed it, I found an interesting mark on the image to the right, which looks as if the film has burnt down. I found this particular image very interesting as I wanted to incorporate photographic processes and add marks to give it more substance and add something to the image I produce.

I wanted to use a different image and add put something on top of the image so when I project it, it has a bit of texture. I decided to get some materials from the studio like string or thread.

The first thing I did is cover the image with a layer of cross-hatched thread.

I didn’t like the outcome of this image as I found it too harsh for what I want to portray in my project. I think that the white tones were very harsh and didn’t go with what I wanted, I would have preferred the thread to be softer and a lower contrast tone.

After this experiment, I decided to use the thread in a different way. I rubbed the thread so little strands would fall off onto the negative image. I then went into the darkroom and exposed the image.

10 second exposure

I found that the outcome of this experiment was successful and I really liked the effect the strands of thread had. The thread was quite soft and added a delicate touch to the image and found it added texture too. I decided to expose the image for a bit longer to darken it.

15 second exposure

I found that the longer exposure had a greater effect and the details appeared more. I think that this image looked better than the first attempt and I feel that this photo would be good in my final piece.

I went onto exposing another image. I decided to double expose two images; a portrait and flowers. I used test strips to determine the right exposure. I exposed the image for 5, 10 and 15 seconds.

I found that even 15 seconds was very under exposed. I went on to exposing another test strip for 30 seconds.

I found that this was still under exposed so I exposed the image on 5×7 paper for 60 seconds.

This exposure was just right and I found that this image looked really effective. I like the exposure of the image on the paper. I decided to expose the image onto 10×8 paper to see whether it would look better on 10×8 than 5×7.

I thought that this image was better than the one on the 5×7 paper. I think that the full exposure of this image rather than a part of the image looks more effective, and you are able to see parts of the film which displays the artistic process.

Now that I have decided upon the right layout of the image, I decided to double expose another two image together. I exposed the image onto 5×7 paper instead of using test strips to see the outcome and exposed the image for 60 seconds.

I liked the image and found that the double exposure effect was successful, however it was just a little under exposed so I decided to expose the image for 30 seconds longer.

90 second exposure

This exposure was a lot better and I found that it revealed the details a lot more. I like this image a lot and find that the rough edges and exposure of the film perforations give the image substance. I wanted to show the flaws and process of the image, and I didn’t want the image to be perfectly positioned on the paper as it would take away from the imperfections of the photo.

I decided to position the image slightly off the paper for the next one and expose it onto 5×7 paper.

I found this image really effective as it cuts off her face giving the impressions that she’s insecure about her looks which is what most women feel. It’s a natural thing that women have and most women do have insecurities. I thought it was a subtle was to portray this notion and thought the imagery was successful and really effective.

I wanted to double expose more images so I went onto using the first image I double exposed and use an image of a tree. I exposed the image for 60 seconds like the others.

I found this outcome unsuccessful. The portrait didn’t come through however, the tree came through a lot. I found it too harsh and didn’t fit with my project.

I went on to expose another image. I exposed it for 10 seconds on 10×8 paper.

I think that this image looks very interesting, I like that it is quite out of focus and the satin she had over her face when I photographed her created a nice effect. It’s quite mysterious and you can’t really see her facial expressions which is what I like about the image; it makes you look more into the photo and notice little bits of detail.  I decided to see whether it would look better darker.

I found that the darker image didn’t look as good as the first image and that it was a bit too dark. I chose to use the first image as the second one was too over exposed and didn’t fit in with the other images.

I decided to expose the image, however this time I would hold the paper up to the lens exposing the image up close to the paper and then slowly moving the paper away.

I really liked the effect that this experiment caused, I found the abstract imagery very fascinating. The photo is blank and faded which I particularly like, and I find that the simplistic image is very powerful piece and I do think the experimentation was successful. The only issue with this image is that the portrait isn’t shown in the photo so wouldn’t work with my project however, it’s a good image and it’s a very successful experiment.

 I used another image; this time adding sellotape to the middle of the image to see the effect this would cause.

10 second exposure

This image was under exposed so I tried doubling the exposure time to 20 seconds.

This exposure time was just right. The sellotape didn’t have a huge effect on the image  but it did adjust the tone of the image making it lighter than the left and right side. I liked this image and think this effect was good and I’m glad there wasn’t a bigger difference as I feel that the image wouldn’t have looked as good.

I decided to change the sellotape to film perforations. I wanted to see whether the holes did anything to the appearance of the image.

30 second exposure

I exposed the image for 10 seconds longer as the film negatives is much thicker than sellotape. I liked the effect the film perforations had on the image as it gave it different tones and showed the faint perforations of the film. I like that they added texture and had a range of tones which added dimension. However I felt that although it looked effective, the image was a bit too over exposed.

I went on to exposing the image again however holding the paper up to the lens and then slowly placing it back down and leaving it to expose the image fully. I wanted to see the effect of this and whether it would work.

 This experiment left shadow marks from where the paper was held up to the lens and the image was shown fully beneath the shadow. I found the effect worked however it’s too over exposed and harsh. I don’t think the image works well or goes well with my project as the lines are too harsh and the overall image is too dark.

Mt tutor showed me some ways in which I could experiment with my film but in a more unconventional way. I got a single frame from a piece of film and cut it up into little pieces to collaged them and sellotape together. I then put it in the neg carrier and exposed it in the darkroom. I exposed the image onto a test strip for 15, 10 and 5 seconds.

 

I found that 5 seconds was the best exposure as 10 and 15 seconds were too over exposed.

I went onto exposing the image for 5 seconds onto 5×7 paper.

The images came out well however, they’re not suitable for my project. The shapes are too harsh and sharp which is the opposite of what I’m portraying in my project. The image doesn’t feature any portraiture which doesn’t fit in and the contrast has very dark tones. I like the effect however it just doesn’t go with my concept as the imagery isn’t soft but rather too focused and clear.

Overall, I found this darkroom session was very productive. I was able to experiment in a lot of different ways to create abstract imagery. I enjoyed using materials and transforming the film into different forms as this allowed the image to be portrayed differently. Although some of the processes didn’t work, it allowed me to be creative and display the images in a more interesting way which did work and created a very effective photograph. I really enjoyed finding small flaws and marks on the images when developed as originals as they made the photographs more real and added solidity. I found the overall experimentation of this darkroom session was very successful and productive, giving me a variety of pieces for the exhibition.

Contact Sheet of potential final pieces:

Third Shoot: 19/04/16

For my third shoot, I went to Doffcocker Lodge with my friend Julia who was being my subject. We went here for the scenery and because there’s a lot of greenery which is what I like to incorporate into my work. I took my Holga 120 film camera and Canon 35mm camera, including two rolls of 120 film and one roll of 35mm. The plants and bushes made for interesting backgrounds for my shoot and the woodland area allowed me to incorporate some of my second shoot into this one.

My friend wore a dress which is what the past two shoots have consisted of dress wise. She also wore converse shoes to add a touch of unconventionality. She had her hair down as I wanted to capture the feminine qualities and catch movements of her hair through the wind and her own physical movement. Having her hair down would produce an elegant and feminine appearance which is what I am looking to portray.

We went to different locations within Doffcocker including a grassy area which daffodils and a tree stump, forest location and bushes which made for a good background. I asked Julia to display a set of movements that portray femininity to her and asked her to use certain aspects of her body like her hair, facial expressions, hand gestures and so on. We used the nature around us, posing on the tree stump as well as using the daffodils as props.

I used the film Daisies that I had watched at college for inspiration. Julia twisted the daffodils in front of her eyes and breasts, as well as biting off the petals, spitting them out.

Daisies is a 1966 Czechoslovak comedy-drama film which is regarded as a milestone of the Nová Vlna movement- Czechoslovak New Wave was an artistic movement in cinema which evolved out of the earlier Devětsil movement of the thirties. This film follows two teenagers both called Marie who engage in strange pranks. This surrealist cinematography explores eccentric and experimental ideas portraying them in modern ways. The picture is very unconventional in the 60s and displays outbursts of lucid and harsh colours giving a contemporary approach.

These ideals and unconventional cinematography is something that I find interesting about the film, and the imagery portrayed appeals to me and what I want to portray in my work as well as the movement and characteristics of the protagonists. Daisies is very much childish and evocative which is why I find the film so fascinating, and I find that this shoot has been influenced greatly by the film’s themes and ideas.

Sedmikr?sky

I went onto creating images like those in Daisies and these ideals came together. We went on to merging the imagery I created in the second shoot with this one by going into the forestry area. Julia came from a dance background and did a lot of ballet so I used those motions and gestures to create delicate imagery. Julia did poses that she had learnt from ballet whilst I photographed her; leaping, standing on her tip toes and using technical ballet poses to produce elegant movement photographs.

When we went into the woodland area, it was sunny which meant shadows of the branches and twigs reflected on to Julia’s face which made for an interesting image. I found that these reflections looked almost like double exposure and I found it really fascinating.

The overall shoot was productive and I feel that the images are going to come out really well. I look forward to seeing the final images and feel that they will go well with my project, especially the photos which capture the movement of Julia doing ballet and using the flowers as props.

 

 

 

 

 

Third shoot plans

For my third shoot, I wanted to stick with the idea of a forestry settings so I thought about going to Doffcocker Lodge. I wanted to go in a different direction and still portray femininity through garments however, I wanted to incorperate a more gender fluid concept by combining trainers so that my subject is the stereotypical female but steps outside the boundaries a little.

My friend has quite long hair which is something I wished to work with and use her hair as movement and to narrate the imagery being captured. I asked for her to wear it down on the day so that this could happen.

The area itself is quite open and has a lot of greenery which is why I chose the location; I wanted to incorporate flora and fauna into it, getting my friend to use what’s around her to tell a story and connect with the environment.

Overall, I am hoping to create some interesting images in this shoot and approach it in a different way which isn’t just portraying femininity but empowerment also.

 

 

 

 

 

Second Shoot: 06/04/16

Location: Edgworth, Woodland area/ forest

For the second shoot, I went to Edgworth to photograph my friends in the woods. This setting was great as it was similar to artists I had looked at and would add an earthly tone to the imagery which would portray the connection between earth and beings. It would display femininity of the subject and the strong and pure environment of the forest.

The forest had fallen trees and lots of branches on the floor which created a nice setting. There were many trees which I could use in my photography and as a background.

My friends wore dresses; Megan wore a long, black maxi dress which was appropriate for this shoot as it would be able to flow with her movements and the simple black didn’t draw too much attention away from the long exposure images. My other friend Hannah wore a short dress which was patterned and was suitable as it flowed very freely and created some very nice movements.

 

The weather was good however there was very little wind as the area was quite closed in with the trees so I wasn’t able to get images showing the movement of the wind and how nature flows through women and portray this very delicate and feminine imagery.

I shot three rolls of film; two on my Holga camera with 120 film and one on my Canon SLR with 35mm film. This was the first time shooting on my 120 film so I was excited to work with a larger format, however I also used 35mm as a backup incase the images didn’t look as good when developed.

I asked my models to think of femininity and produce movement that corresponded with their ideas. They came up with movements like flipping their hair up, turning their head to the front and spinning to produce movement from the dress.

When shooting, I had a feeling that this shoot was almost like a mythological, fairy tale look that seemed to portray a look of fairy, pixies kind of setting and appearance. The forest created a very magical setting which I particularly liked as it kind of fitted which the elegance and femininity that I wanted to portray in my project.

Overall, the location and the all-together shoot went well. My friend wearing the maxi dress I feel worked better as it suited my vision for my project and worked especially well when photographing the movement. I feel that I will have to see how the images come out to see whether the other model worked well however, my overall impression of the shoot was very positive and I was able to produce two different formats of film and had plenty of images shot- x2 12 images on the Holga and 24 on the Canon SLR.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Plans for Second Shoot

My second shoot was the first one that I had planned which didn’t go ahead. I wanted to shoot in a woodland area/forest so I decided on Edgworth as it is a countryside location.

My two friends were willing to be my subjects for the shoot and as they lived in Edgworth, there was easy access to the forest. From there, I messaged my friends and arranged a day that they were free which was Wednesday the 6th of April.

I asked my friends to wear something floaty which would be able to portray movement and femininity well. We decided that they would wear dresses which would depict the stereotypical ideal that women are more feminine when wearing dresses and portrays them as more elegant and alluring.

This shoot would depict the stereotypical ideal of women and how they are standardised in the world. I wanted to shoot on my 120 film camera as I was supposed to shoot 120 for my first shoot but it didn’t go ahead. I will also use 35m as backup on my Canon camera as I am more familiar with this camera so am less likely to mess up the film.

 

 

First Shoot: 03/04/16

My first shoot on Sunday didn’t go as planned; we had to change location. This is because one of my models couldn’t make the shoot so I had to resort in using a different model and going to her house to shoot. Even though I wanted to shoot in a woodland area (forest), her garden was very big and had lots of flora and fauna which is ideally what I wanted.

I collaborated with my friend Julia, who is also a student as Blackburn and had a similar shoot to me. I was focusing on movement and femininity and the clothes that Julia had picked out for the models went with my project.

Even though there was a last minute change of plan, I managed to adapt to the surroundings and shoot on two cameras.

Another issue I faced was that the camera I bought for this project hadn’t been delivered as there was a delay, however I decided to use a different camera which I wasn’t too familiar with but thought it was better then cancelling the shoot. I used the Diana F+, and instead of using 120 film which was originally what I was using, I used 35mm. I also brought along my other film camera which I use more often as a backup incase the photos on the Diana F+ didn’t work out. I used black and white for the film camera and colour for Diana F+.

Whilst I photographed both mine and Julia’s work, I also videoed as well and added effects like slow motion and reverse. Here is one video that worked out particularly well and fits into my project of movement.

I found this video particularly interesting as the fabric looks as if it is moving itself and almost controlling the subjects movement. The reverse mode has a more diverse effect then the original video.

I looked back at some of the images that I had taken in collaboration with Julia, on my phone and found some really interesting images; 2 in particular. They reminded me of Elena Oganesyan’s work. I had originally decided to use only film, but after looking at the effects I could do with these images on photoshop; I chose to use some of these are interlink with the film as experimental pieces.

I then went onto experimenting by importing them onto Photoshop. I selected the square tool and placed a square over the photograph.

When I did that, I used the effect tab and tried out different effects till I got to one that I thought worked.

I then went on to adjust the colour of the image to something more suitable by selecting the square layer and changing the colour.

I found that changing the square from block colour to gradient which gives the image more dimension and tonal depth.

I did a variety of these, adjusting the tones and hue to see which images looked more like what my project is about. I wanted to create eerie images that also portrayed a feminine and delicate image.

This is the contact sheet of all the images;

I found this particular image the most interesting and appropriate for my project:

I found it fitted well with what I wanted to portray in my project and found it was similar to artists like Elena Oganesyan’s work as shown below:

 

Overall, the images I shot even though I haven’t seen them, feel as if they have gone very well. I shot on two cameras, my Diana F+ camera with 35mm (24 shots) and my Canon SLR with 35mm (24 shots) also. I felt like I could use some images I had photographed on my phone like the ones above as the fitted in with my project, as well as the videos as they portrayed movement which is what my main ideal is on. It allows me to look back at the images and videos I have recorded on my phone and use them as influence for my other shoots. The colours used were very feminine like tones of pinks, purples and whites; they add a soft quality to the images and almost connote the innocence and purity of women. Having the hair down also created this kind of innocence and transforms the subjects into more elegant and feminine forms. The movement of the hair is very light and flowing which develops that notion of femininity.