Boats on the dock (031708-1)

[mark_goode]

I'm beginning my "adventures with Rodinal," the classic developer from the 19th century. I took this image in Annapolis this weekend and developed it in Rodinal. M7, 35 Summicron ASPH, Agfa 400 APX, Rodinal, 1:50, 14 minutes. Thanks for looking.

[roguewave]

Mark, now you are onto a form I can love. What a fine harbour and great village. The sailing is superb and the Chesapeake just gets cleaner each year. The jewel of the mid atlantic states. BTW, great capture. Get in one & then post us snaps.

[mark_goode]

Originally Posted by roguewave

Mark, now you are onto a form I can love. What a fine harbour and great village. The sailing is superb and the Chesapeake just gets cleaner each year. The jewel of the mid atlantic states. BTW, great capture. Get in one & then post us snaps.

Thanks Ben. Yes, Annapolis is lovely! We had a great time walking the docks, eating crabcakes, sipping some great wine . . . oh, and the boats! My better half used to own and sail a CS36; I could barely keep her away from the craft. I suspect we'll find our way on to one of these before too long. The bay is calling!

[roguewave]

Smartest move you'll ever make, besides her of course. Nothing like a real lady sailor. Very rare indeed.

[stuny]

Mark -

Excellent angle, composition, geometry, patterns, contrast and tonal range.

[cbretteville]

Mark,
This is a great image! Looks like you're getting good results with Rodinal. I personally never liked the results I've gotten with it, not even with Tri-X. Maybe I should try again. That is all part of the fun.

- Carl

[mark_goode]

Thanks for the positive feedback Stu. Carl, I just developed another roll with even better results (IMHO). The "trick" is in how you agitate the film during development . . . and trial and error is the only way to get it down. Like you said, it's all part of the fun . . .

[cbretteville]

Mark, this I know. But getting pointers is always useful. How did you agitate and what was your temperature?

- Carl

[mark_goode]

Hi Carl - I developed at 68 deg F in a solution of 1:25. I agitated by "swishing" the developer in the tank clockwise for 3 secs and then counter (anti) clockwise for 3 secs. Call this "one cycle." I repeated this cycle for a total of 30 seconds at the very beginning of the development process and then repeated the cycle once every 30 seconds during the remaining time of the development.

Another agitation technique that I tried and that failed me was to gently invert the tank twice during a 5 second interval. I found that the developer unevenly coated the emulsion and that the agitation was therefore uneven resulting in uneven development. So, no more inversion . . . just swishing. I hope this helps.

[photophile]

great shot... i usually take my dinghy down spa creek for a leisurely "stroll" in the water. we'll have to get some shooting in sometime! best. coos

[Doc Henry]

Mark
Really a nice picture in b&w
Do you think it will be better with Ilford or Kodak than Agfa ?
Have you already tried them ?

[mark_goode]

Thanks Coos. I'd enjoy getting together to shoot around the Annapolis Harbor. It's beautiful . . .

[mark_goode]

Hi Doc - thanks for the feedback. Re Rodinal and other films: I've developed one T-grain class film (Ilford Delta 100) in Rodinal and it certainly has less grain than Rodinal+Agfa. Given that I used the same temp + agitation technique for Delta 100 and Agfa APX 400, the variable that affected the appearance of the grain is the T-grain design of Delta 100.

What I am exploring are the distinctive signatures of various developer and film combinations. Rodinal+Agfa like Rodinal+Tri-X will appear "sharper" than the T-grain films because of the high acutane in Rodinal. They will also appear grainer because of the fact that the Agfa film and Tri-X are "old style" emulsions (not T-grain).

The T-grain films such as Ilford's Delta series and Kodak's T-Max series have much less apparent grain especially when they are developed in the newer formulas, DD-X and T-Max.

As you can imagine, given the number of films and developers there are many permutations. My approach is to experiment with the combinations that are considered "mainstream" before venturing off into territories such as special formulas, different development times, various agitation techniques (or no agitation such as Stand Development), pusing and pulling, and the many other variables that can affect the outcome.

The combinations I have tried so far are Ilford's DD-X + Ilford's Delta series films (T-grain developer + T-grain film, same manufacturer), Kodak's T-Max + T-Max films (again T-grain develepr + T grain film, same manufacturer), and Agfa Rodinal + Agfa APX films (legacy developer + legacy film type, same manufactuer). I will also develop various films with Clayton F76+ (a derivative fine grain developer) and Kodak's HC-110 (Ansel Adam's favorite developer).

What I've observed so far is that the best combinations for fine grain development are Kodak's T-Max developer + Kodak's T-Max 100 and 400 (and the new T-Max 400 emulsion is amazing: very fine grain for the speed). The Ilford Delta films are excellent as well and seem to have "deeper blacks" but I'm not using any measurement instruments on the negatives (just my naked eye) and so the observation is subjective. I like these films for portraits.

As I said above, Rodinal + legacy B&W films like APX and Tri-X yield a very distinctive high actuane, "apparently sharp", grainy negative that I like for certain subjects.

This experimentation process will take quite a while and the results I get are still subjective in that my agitation technique is unique to my own arm-wrist-hand muscle movements and the pH of the water (and any contaminents) are particular to my locale.

While this high degree of variability is bothersome to those who prefer developers that are less sensitive to these variables (such as Diafine) and/or development processes that are highly predicatable (Kodak's 400CN B&W C-41 film developed on a Fuji machine in a retail store), I find that the variability opens up a new range of creative possibilities This, of course, is old news to folks who have been developing their onw film for decades.

What developer and film combinations have you tried? What conclusions have you reached?

[junglehs]

Lovely Image!

Congratulations.

A>

[elansprint72]

Originally Posted by mark_goode

I'm beginning my "adventures with Rodinal,"

Mark,
You are not turning into Lord Byron, are you?

Lovely shot, keep 'em comin'.

[sharookh]

Outstanding!

[azzo]

Mark,

An excellently composed and presented image.

[samwells]

Mark: Great b&w composition with a lovely rhythm to it.
cheers:
Sam

[rob_x2004]

How did you arrive at 14min? Any chance you can post a photo of a neg? Is it flat or curled?
Its hard to tell from your shot but it seems very developed, what are teh details like in the highlights?.