Summerville PHOTOG’S JOURNAL: Love, and Black and White Film Part 2

Long-time friend and brother, Chuck, married his sweetheart, Sue, last Saturday, way up in Morristown, New York, at the Canadian border.  I was thrilled to drive up and spend two days with them.  They could not stop smiling together, and, naturally, I took black and white film photographs.  I think their union will last just short of forever; so will the photos I give them.

  Six rolls of Kodak T-Max 400 went through my Nikon F100 and Leica M6.  I had a ball.  Chuck and I hadn’t seen each other in some 18 years!  We had forgotten what each other looked like.  He and Sue were like teenagers (she is beautiful; he is simply lucky), so I was just pleased to be in the same town with them.  I was not the official wedding photographer (she shot digital).  I took casual moments, instead – important moments, I think, fully deserving of making permanent.

  When I returned I was drained of all energy for a while.  A 1000-mile drive can take it away.  My film students, however, were ready to go into the dark and print.  We made prints together for the first time, while learning about proper density and contrast.  In the darkroom the enlarger is like a reverse camera, which exposes a negative onto light-sensitive paper, which is then processed in the trays of developer-stop bath-fixer, which becomes a completed positive print. I maintain that a traditional B&W print appears nicer to the eye than digital.

  My friend and student, Ken, was impressed enough to send an email to me.  He said, in part, “I truly believe the tones I get with film beat the pants off of digital.”   

With excitement we controlled print density (lightness-darkness) with proper enlarger exposure, combined with a contrast filter choice.  We further controlled the appearance of the print by keeping a standard developer process time: one minute in the developer.  Photographers may process in developer anytime from one minute to two minutes. The trick is to use the same time, each time.  Exposure, then development - that is it.  Once again, the process is easier than we think.   

  No chimping, just photo skill

  Apparent was the shooting skill my students have.  Since there was no “chimping” from an LCD screen, I was impressed with the accuracy I saw in the film exposures.  They were not perfect, but nearly all photos taken could be printed.  April made the print of the day, a horse portrait of wonderful contrast.  Portraits taken by Steven and Ken required more adjustment. 

  Please note: if you are a digital photographer, you rely upon the camera to pre-set contrast and density for you.  Darkroom work forces you to learn to see the difference in your photos.

  The darkroom is not for everyone, but black and white photography lovers must try using film.  My brother Chuck has all he needs to shoot and process film, but he may give the stuff to me.  The enlarger, tanks, reels have been stored in his garage.  Before I left Morristown, after getting another hug from him and Sue, he handed me a wonderful gift: a 1950s Rolleiflex Automat 6x6.  “Do some artwork with this,” he said.  Wow.

Sue, not to be outdone, handed me a bag full of homemade jam, chili sauce, salsa and sweet pickles.  Whoop, whoop!  She also sent me a recipe for easy piecrust pastry.  Do I do artwork first, or bake a pie?

I invite my readers to email me at douglascarrcunningham@live.comAsk questions about photography.  Maybe I will learn something.