Developing black and white film

Welcome Readers !
Today I just want to quickly talk about how to print black and white prints and what is the process of it. 

Processing the films is a great fun and amazing form of relaxation ( for me) and keeping right state of mind ( unless you're not doing the prints right). 

So let's say I would like to print some black and white pictures that I have taken by SLR camera with a film inside.

After that, I was told to use a pitch black room , where there can't be any light going through. 

 In this dark room the equipment is need  is following : 

• 35mm Cassette Opener - In order to open the 35mm cartridge

• Scissors- To cut unneeded bits in 35mm film 

• Reels- The size of them depends how big the film is, but mine was plastic made for 35mm films. 

• Developing cans- These cans need to fit the reel , but the one I was using was Paterson 35mm Tank ( You can find it online together with the reel ) 

• Hanging clips - To dry the entire film 

• Measure Cups- They are very important to own, because they gives the right proportions that are necessary in order to produce the film in correct way. 

• Thermometer- To measure the temperature of the "start" 

• Timer- To set up the time that is needed. 

Then another step is to make sure there are the correct materials for it. The materials needed:

• Developer
• Stop Bath 
• Fixer
• Tap Water
• LFN 
• Clear tissue sleeve where the film could be stored. 
• Soft tongs - to take off all unnecessarily water of the film

Be aware: All these chemicals above were stored in a special big containers with a fit lid to prevent licks or any other issues. 

So let's get it started..........

• Once I have all shots on my film, I go to pitch black room with my film, developing can, reel, scissors and cassette opener.

• I organise my equipment, making sure everything is next to me and I'm trying to remember where things are. Film in my left hand, cassette opener in my right hand. 

• I make sure there is no light in the room at all and the room is sealed and pitch black. ( In this case I had to lock the door to prevent anybody coming from outside into the room, as this could ruin all the film! ).

• So now is difficult to do anything , but lets try. I remembered that I have my film cartridge on my left side and the cassette opener on my right hand side, so I take both of them and trying to open the film cartridge. 

• Then I push the film out of the cartridge. 

• I "look" for starting point in my film (which is slightly cut already) and I take scissors and try to cut that starting point.   (Be aware not to cut too much of it though ! )

• Once I have sorted everything above, now I have to take the reel and find two starting points in that reel. The point have to equal to each other and in a right way. (very difficult to do).  Be aware: I was struggling to put my film onto those two starting points , because they were positioned in a opposite direction, which means it was impossible to put the film onto the reel! 

• Lets say I have found the right points, now I have to be very careful and insert starting point of the film between the reel's two starting points.

• Once I have even little bit of staring point of the film already in the reel I can help it go a bit further down the reel by strain it with my hand. I have to make sure the film is still in the reel , not outside it ! 

• If everything feels ok in my hands, I can start wind the film all the way till the end. I still have to be careful how I do it though. I have to have my two thumbs on the reel, holding the film, and rest of my fingers at the button of the reel , in order to wind it. 

• When I have ended winding the film onto the reel I felt the end of the film, so I cut the end of it , but still not too much !

• Everything's nice and winded, so now the next step is to put the reel together with the film inside the developing can, and cover it with a lid that has a included whole to pour the chemicals in , and then cover it with a full lid.

If I could give anybody some advice on this process I would say, take your time, and be patient. Not everything will be perfect, but you can always have a play with reel and spare old film. Winding the film onto reel in pitch black is very hard , but there is always some sort of easy way to do it, its called PRACTICE ! And if its first time when you're doing it, nothing have to be perfect but following the steps is just easier way to do it. 

This is the end of the first process step ! 

Process of pouring the liquids inside the can :
Now is the important process of all, as if I misunderstand or misdo something I can ruin my whole film. Therefore it's important to follow the procedures:

• Measure 300ml of "developer", check the temperature of it, pour the "developer" to the can with the reel and close the lid. 
• Check the time chart, and how long the "developer" have to be inside the can for. Mine had to be for 20 minutes because the temperature of the developer was 21*C..
• I have set the time for 20 minutes, shacking the can delicately in between, and doing little taps as well. This prevent air bubbles that could cause stains on the film at the end.    
• After 20 minutes  I open the main lid and pour the "developer" to the "bin" as this chemical can't be used anymore. 
• Then I do the same process with a "stop Bath", but this time I have to wait 1 minute (without checking the temperature) from the time I have pour it to the can. When I finish I can pour the chemical back to the container, and do the next step. 
• Then the "stop" , waiting 5 minutes, and pour the chemical back to the container. 
• Then take the reel of the can and drop it to the clean tap water container. Making sure the tap water is still running, as it filters all the chemicals from the container for 15 minutes. 
• Then take the film off completely of the reel and drop it to the container with LFN for 5 minutes. 
• Once it's done roll out the film and take excess of water of the film with a soft tongs. 
• Now I can use clips to hang all of my films. Time wise depends if the film is drying naturals or in a drying machine. I was using one for half an hour but it can take longer. 
• Once the film is totally dried with no signs of water drops, I have to cut my film in small pieces. 
• Once this is sorted I have store the film in tissue clear sleeve to prevent any damage to it. 

Be aware of any wet areas on the sleeves or on the film ! Once the film is inside the sleeve and there is water between sleeve and film it cause stains or damages the film ! It happened to me while I was producing my very first film and I have learned to be 100% sure there is no water at all ! 

The whole process take a bit of time and effort especially when you're not experienced and you're confused with all of this, but I did it as well, I made so many mistakes but because I have learned from them now I can say that it's not a good thing to be in a rush and do something like this. Once somebody done it 2 or 3 times the whole time process gets quicker. 

I would like to thank to my University technician Chris who explained me each step very clearly, which made my life a lot easier. 

And this is it for a day of developing my film. First time it took me short time because my teacher Chris was next time me , but when I was trying to do it on my own the next week I was struggling to rewind the film onto the reel mainly because I forgot simple tips. So when I was doing it for the third time I was a lot quicker than before, and the developing process wen very smooth without no further issues. 

Have fun! :)