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Developing

Can you develop 35mm film with energy drinks?

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Most film photographers know that they can use certain household items to develop black and white 35mm film. Hardcore film aficionados have even tried it themselves using stuff like beer, tea, or even red wine.

If you’ve ever wondered if you could do it with energy drinks, Sweet Lou Photography has tried it so you don’t have to. In his recent video, he experiments with two energy drinks in an attempt to develop two rolls of film. Can it be done? Well, sort of – so let’s jump straight into it and see where the catch is.

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How to turn your digital photos into cyanotype prints

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If you’d like to try interesting photography experiments, when is a better time than now? If you’ve always wanted to try making cyanotypes, Mathieu Stern will show you his process of turning digital images into cyanotype prints. You probably already have at least half of the necessary items, and you can order the rest online so you don’t have to leave home.

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How I made alternative film developers from peppermint and green tea extract

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By now most everyone dabbling in analog photography has seen articles on the use of “Caffenol”, “Beerinol”, “Redwineol” where people have developed film in mixtures of coffee, beer, red wine. While these can be fun experiments with show-able results they are somewhat pricey developers. Aside from the coffee-beer-wine you also need fairly consumptive amounts of sodium carbonate (wash soda) and ascorbic acid (vitamin C) to make it work. We are going to pare that down a bit.

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Cross-processing AGFA Precisa slide film in negative film chemicals

I’ve been wanting to try this experience for a long time now and finally got the opportunity to shoot a roll of expired Agfa Precisa CT 100 then got it crossed-processed in C-41 chemistry by my lab Nation Photo.

Precisa is probably one of the least known slide films that exists (at least it was to me) and I honestly had no idea how it would perform, knowing that it expired somewhere in 2005. After investigating a little, it appears that Precisa is actually a repacked Fuji Provia 100F but it costs half the price!

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Push-developing Kodak ISO400 film to ISO6400 at home

Today I’m developing a roll of Kodak Tri-X 400 shot at 6400 ISO.

I’ve been wanting to try this little experience for a while now. Some films are known for handling push processing very well and Kodak TX400 is one of them. Lots of photographers I know are even shooting by default at 1600 ISO but I wanted to push its limits 2 stops further.

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How to develop your own black and white film from start to finish

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As popular as film has become, a lot of people still mention the cost of shooting film being quite high. And we’re not talking about the price of gear, because that’s dirt cheap these days. It’s the actual shooting process that can be expensive. As the rolls are made in fewer quantities, manufacturing is more expensive. Because labs are developing fewer films, their costs go up, too.

The biggest way to help knock down this cost, though, is to develop your own film. In this 36 minute video from photographer James Stevenson, we see the complete process from start to finish. James covers the kit, chemicals, accessories and entire the process from start to finish. James covers a whole lot of information, with some great tips. And best of all, you don’t even need a darkroom to do it.
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How I develop black & white film with Rodinal

There are as many techniques to develop black & white film than there are photographers.

Today I’m going to show how I develop most of my B&W films. That doesn’t mean that’s the right way to do it and that you should follow my instructions word for word. This is just what works for me until now.

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This photographer combines digital photography with a 19th century printing process

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Even in the digital era, there are still those who shoot film and hand-develop all their photos. On the other hand, there are those who can’t even insert a film into an analog camera, but create stunning photos with a digital one. German photographer, Andreas von Grabowiecki, managed to combined analog with digital and create something beautiful.

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A crash course in developing colour negative film at home

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Lots of us still shoot and develop our own film, but many limit themselves to black and white, at least when it comes to DIY developing. C41 colour film is perceived as a complex process that requires an expensive Jobo or other specialised equipment.

Well, Michael Raso and John Fedele from the Film Photography Project are here to show you that this simply isn’t true in their new video using their C41 Home Developing Kit. Well, Michael’s going to show you, John’s there to heckle Michael.

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