1/2000 at f2.8
I could spend hours at this keyboard waxing away about my experiments, tests, those of others, quotes from all sorts of books, advice from the photo pundits, the online stuff etc. etc. and in the end, I’d only have contributed to the confusion.
When I was shooting professionally there was no time for experimentation. I had to produce or my reputation was down the drain. If you were commissioned to shoot informal portraits: do you have a go-to film and a processing flow to give you excellent negatives? If you don’t have this absolutely nailed to the wall, you’re on very thin ice and good luck.
1/250 at f5.6
A bit of background. I’m fortunate to have several of my photographs in The National Arts collection and many in The National Archives. All shot on either Tri-X or HP5 and all processed in ID-11, so it comes as no huge surprise what my choice is for film developing.
Very recently I’ve discovered the outstanding results with 35mm Delta 100. Fine detail with a beautiful tonal scale… it makes 35mm look like medium format. I rate the film at ISO 125 and carefully meter for zone V with the spot option on my Nikon F5. Please note all Delta films require careful metering to benefit from their superior image quality.
1/250 at f4
I’ll reveal my not-so-secrets for processing – there’s nothing esoteric or exotic about it.
Distilled water with two small drops of a wetting agent, ID-11 mixed as per instructions for 1 gal to which I add about 8oz of semi exhausted well used ID-11. I learned this from Karsh’s lab tech, its purpose is to take the ‘edge’ off a freshly mixed developer.
1/125 at f3.5
ID-11 diluted 1:1 for 11 minutes at 68 degrees F with 2 gentle tank inversions every minute. A word of caution about your agitation, DON’T overdo it! This will cause loss of highlight detail accompanied by difficult contrast with shots of people. The stop, fix and washing are by the book.
1/60 at f2.8
There is a magic with photography – it’s your eye and mind.
Very best shooting!!!
*All images shot with Tamron 70-200 f2.8 on my Nikon F5 with Delta 100
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!
