Here’s 35mm HP5 PLUS image shot at a whopping ISO 10,000
I could have made this shot at ISO 400. But very much wanted a low key nostalgic mood which is imparted by this exposure/processing technique. Please note, this not for a composition with predominant middle greys (zones 4-5). I determined this exposure with an incident reading via a Gossen Variosix F. Camera was a Nikon F4 with a Tamron 28-75 f2.8 lense.
The secret formula is now revealed:
- ID-11 diluted 1+3 for 1.5 hours, semi-stand with 3 gentle agitation cycles at 68F. I add 3 drops of wetting agent to the developer which is mixed and processed with distilled water.
- 1 minute rinse in running tap water before second developer.
- Microphen undiluted for 22 minutes at 68F. Again, semi-stand with 3 gentle agitation cycles, optional would be vigorous agitation every minute, in fact I’ll give this a try.
Expect a very low contrast negative with very sharp grain structure. My choice is to add a bit of softness along with increased contrast for a greater feeling of depth.
Give this a try and we’d love to see your results and welcome your comments.
About the Author
Crombie McNeill – My career spans 40 years with credits in National Geographic, Time, Newsweek. Maclean’s, Chatelaine, Stern, Fortune, Sports Illustrated, Financial Post, Paris Match, ELLE… and lots more!
Simply excellent craft of blending technique to fit an artistic vision. Well done.
Thanks Don!
The film manufactures recommendations for exposure and processing are spot on. But should you want something special then it’s wide open for experimenting and for this shot my radical departure from the norm paid off.
Cheers,
Crombie
Very interesting photo and technique. I’m trying to understand the lighting, looks like one above, oblique from left to right shoulder on the back,also lighting the hat, and one on the side, both very focused. Was there any zone 4-5 material that would have shown if shot at ISO 400?
Hi Alex,
Your lighting analysis is perceptive and accurate, but I take no credit for it as mother nature did the lighting. This was shot outdoors in open shadow.
The background was a clutter of trees with more distracting stuff to the sides and foreground, so being a minimalist I went for the essence and got rid of it.
I’m an advocate of the zone system and strive to retain details in both the shadows and highlights. So I flat out avoid high contrast lighting scenarios as 35mm does not have technical abilities of larger format negs for high contrast shots… just my personal experience.
Good shooting!
Crombie
Thanks, I’d be interested to know if this image was as a result of darkroom printing or processed in something such as LR or PS? I plan to try and create a similar shot and submit my result