AuRA Rotary Assist Film Developing Machine by Viktor Falendysh — Kickstarter

Here’s a rotary film processing assistant on kickstarter that looks very well made.   I’m curious about how much difference in processing times a rotary drum makes, and whether drum speed, reversal matter.   I see that the AuRA’s standard processing turns fast for 30 seconds then slows down.  Is this really the equal of agitation?   Should a vane or other protrusion be put in the drum to assist with mixing?   I’m guessing that the film reels will provide enough opportunity forRead more

Oh no! Learn from my mistakes

Lesson Learned!  Don’t use fibrous blotter paper to dry your prints in neat little stacks or notebooks! And definitely don’t use any fibrous material to wipe your prints dry either.  Perhaps there are better ways to speed up drying?  I was looking for more images to add to my direct positive portrait gallery and came across this old scan.  It was taken in 2013 while trying out the Harman Direct Positive Paper with my Linhof 13×18 Technika III.     Do youRead more

Local Darkroom finder

I’m lucky, I live in walking distance to one of the largest public darkrooms in the country, the Harvey Milk Photo Center.   It’s got something like 45 enlarger bays in their darkroom, a film processing area, a digital lab, and some class rooms.   I just came back from printing in the darkroom tonight and wondered where I might go if I wasn’t in San Francisco. A quick google pulled up Local Darkroom.  It’s a web tool that allows youRead more