grain is a channel dedicated to film and sometimes other things.
My name is Chris Swartwood and I love b+w film photography, cinematography, super 8 etc. I love skate films even though I suck at skating and I love surf films even though i've never surfed. I created this channel as a way to document my journey and hopefully help and inspire others to pursue film and making films. Everyday I am learning and I hope to share some of my journey along the way.
Not sure if you watch the RU-vid page pictorial planet. His suggestion is to take two fb prints back to back and pin the together with small clothes line pins and hang to dry the tension from the water in the prints allows them to dry more evenly.
Can you tell how you are able to use this timer? I see that you have something on the back of your power supply. What is that? I don't want to use the old timer that came with mine, but can't figure out a way to switch it out. Thanks
I boutght a huge Seal 200 off ebay for $200 plus $50 shipping. This bad boy is huge and can handle 20x24" prints! I got a tacking iron for $35 off of ebay as well. It just arrived a few days ago and I'm in the process of rebuilding my darkroom, so I can't wait to start mounting my prints on some dry mount tissue and matboard. Living the dream!! ::D
Hi, some comment on your fixing process with regards to chemistry use, residual fixer and washing times… if you use a two bath fixing method with film fix concentration - 1:4 - this is good practice, and would enable you to get shortish washing times for baryta paper (see Ilford on that or Beyond Monochrome), one critical thing is a) use neutral fixer and b) use the shortest, necessary fixing time. Two bath fixing will get you this, but… tadaaah: 30 seconds in first fix and 30 seconds in second fix… discard fix 1 when it approaches 1g Silver (this can be checked with test strips, Tetenal makes them) ands replace it with Fix 2 and mix a new batch of Fix two. Proper safe washing can be tested as well, I use test strips which have been processed exactly like the final print, so I don't have to stain a fine print for this. This should keep down your chemistry use (this after all is chemistry which needs to be properly treated) and enables to get the silver back too. Mixing fresh developer every time is good practice, but keeping it in brown glass bottles with the air pumped out is another viable option.
Very nice! I too use my Holga for landscape photography. I don't quite use that much tape, but I too use electrical tape because I have a couple obvious gaps when I put the film cover on. I like the idea of focusing on one thing, I'll have to try that. I just look for nice angle for a nature scene, and just roll with it and hope it turns out. On the other hand I also like to fiddle with multiple exposures, so I tend to get less ideal frames. Not many tips on that out there for Holgas, so it's a bit of a guessing game for me, but I've had some limited success with some pretty amazing DE frames.
Nice mustache. And thanks for the insights. My opinions regarding them: 1: Totally agree. Chemicals are not that expensive, paper is, do not try to safe 50 ct per darkroom session for chemicals and ruin 30 USD/EUR of paper. 2: Maybe I should extend my fixing time, I usually do 3 minutes at a rather thick 1+5 I also have never had any problems with putting the light on after 10 - 20 s in the fixing bath. This is how it was taught to me by a master printer some years ago. The reactive part of the remaining silver will be gone after a few seconds. So I do much of the fixing in light. 3: Yes, I need new tongs :( 4: I have a Heiland LED red light on the ceiling replacing my old Kaiser lamps and was shocked by how bright it was. so I tested it immediately. I made a test strip test, moving the paper every 2 minutes 2 cm further, 15 steps. So in total a 30 minute test. no stain at all. 5. I use a Heiland Splitgrade Controller and I use a paper calibrated to the machine. So I can measure the exposure and gradient before I even start. My first image usually comes out perfectly and all I have to do is check, if there are places to dodge and burn. So as long as I do the rather cheap 8x10, I go for it at once. I did some prints on 60x40 cm paper. Now that I checked thoroughly by first making a good 8x10 print to figure out how to dodge and burn and then used test strips on the large image to determine that it really works as intended. 6 and 7: Obviously 8: Still battling with that. 9: As I described above, I will make one print directly with my Splitgrade Controller setup. I use this print later as my documentation. I note everything regarding the 8x10 exposure on the backside, mark the dodging and burning areas with a sharpie on the actual image, noting the gradient and time (in percentage of base time), etc. This is my most important reason to make one base print. 10: again obviously
Gorgeous pictures! I'm just starting out with analoge and I think I really fell in love with the gritty dirty look of the toy cameras. I have a sony if I want crisp sharp pictures I can review instantly, so this is a great change of pace and expectations :)
9 месяцев назад
Very cool video. Thanks for making. I just ordered a Nikon F from Japan for insanely low price and ordered a nikkor 24 mm F2.8 to pair with it. I can’t wait to try it out, especially the wide angle.
Wow, beautiful footage!!! Without a doubt, there is nothing like than film. Filming is something organic and exciting. Please do not give up in your search with the photochemical image. Your videos are excellent and inspiring. At least they are for me. I was pleased to see this material in 16 mm with a camera designed for amateur users, even more so after years without you publishing anything. Successes. I applaud this return. God keep blessing you!!!
Hi, I hope you're still there and this video hasn't beem _orphaned._ I stupidly decided that everything I did in the darkroom for almost 50 years had been bested in orders of magnitude by digital, so I got rid of my darkroom (probably the best _amateur_ in my home state). Having several fine film cameras that I wanted to keep using I kept the film gear but let go the rest (for a thank you). Fortunately, the ZoneMaster II was not included in the enlarging lot and I kept it. Sometime during the big lockup of 2020 I realized darkroom is not about results, *it's doing it* exactly like a trip is not the destination but the route. A friend gave me an enlarger, I had kept the trays and stuff (the GraLab 300 was my timer for film). A couple of EL lenses were around and I was printing chem in a week. My ZoneMaster II is getting me prints 90% perfect all the time, it's just got a quirk. I cannot adjust the step size. It's now at 1/6 but I want to increase it an 1/4. I enter the adjustment routine but when y press [X] it does nothing, the changes don't get saved and I have to turn the meter off. Do you know if there is a way to reset it to "factory settings"? The manual says nothing and their site seems abandoned.
I am trying to build a darkroom in my garage but my photo teacher says it’ll be an issue not having running water in there, but I feel like there has to be an easy solution to that?
I suddenly stopped watching when I saw D-76, because that's Equivalent to ID-11, which Ilford recommends when shooting at EI 400 and 800. Microphen is recommended for EI 1600 and even 3200 because it's a push developer, and the Kodak equivalent, DK-50 is out of production. Microphen is cheap enough to do it the way the manufacturer recommends and show the film at its best.
You can eliminate any risk of dust by carefully cutting one corner of the D76 packet and holding it slightly under the surface of the water. Interesting video thanks for sharing.
Of course these wash basins are an option. But I never make just a single print. Usually after a few hours in the darkroom, I end up with 10 sheets of paper and this washer type can wash only one paper at a time, otherwise they will stick to each other and the papers in the center will not get much water.
Watching this 4 years later when a box of Arista EDU paper now costs more than Ilford's specialty art paper in 2019 makes my bank account sad. Wishing this was still just $72! Thanks for this great review!
Hi, I bought Holga external flash along with this camera. However, it is working only with my Holgas. Not working on my analogue and digital cameras with hotshoe mounts. Is Holga external flash made only for working on Holgas?
Hello Grain Chanel I was binge watching all of your videos and suddenly….. no more vids… So sad, I hope you are in good health, hope to see your videos again, they are a delight to watch, the content, the pace, the rithm, music.. Hope to see more Giovanni Granada
Chris🌀 Nice to see Fine Art prints etc… I noticed that you focused on your baseboard directly. May I suggest that when you use your focus finder on your enlarger baseboard that you place a piece of scrap paper (or maybe the test wedge of the print you’re working on) on the baseboard first then place the focus finder on that. Only a small difference, but it will mean you have sharpest focus on the actual emulsion height of the paper being used. This might sound pedantic, but in Fine Art, it’s all about the Quality isn’t it. I used to be a Printer in Pro-Labs for 25 years. We would all focus like this. Hope this helps. Keep up the good work. May the Force be with you.🌀 Jim🌀 (-: <*> :-)
Another thing that pops to mind - which isn´t covered by the video - each paper responds differently. So there must have been some alignment of the sensitivity of the paper.
