I’ve made the inevitable move to developing my film at home. I’ve been developing black and white since my last post about the Greek Festival. It’s more rewarding than I could ever have imagined.

Not only is it much quicker and easier than I had anticipated, but being in control of the process from loading the film all the way to seeing it come out of the tank perfectly developed is incredibly liberating creatively and in terms of process. I’ve gone out in the morning, taken photos around town, then come back home, developed and scanned by noon. The whole process before would have taken from four days to a week. Maybe more.

So, color will probably be lacking on this site for a while. Eventually, I want to start developing my own color film at home. This is a bit more involved but definitely possible. The lessons I’m learning with black and white should pave the way. In the meantime, I’m discovering a whole new world and learning to look more at shadows and light and shapes and lines. I’ve somehow meandered my way to photography 101. A good thing indeed.

These shots were taken at my parents’ house in Gum Spring, VA and while driving back home on Route 250. The film is Ilford PanF+ 50. It’s by far my favorite at the moment. It resolves color to monochrome much like older films and has drool-worthy contrast.

Happy fourth. I hope you enjoy these black and white amber waves of grain as much as I do.