Working in an Analog Photography Class

The camera we use
to take photos for
our assignments

On this post I will explain the process of developing film and what it's like to be in an analog photography class. As mentioned before, the photography class uses an analog film cameras instead of digital. The picture to the left shows the camera that is used whenever we have assignments. Every time I hold the camera, it's like I'm holding a baby because the camera can easily break. It's also very expensive therefore I need to try to be as gentle with the camera as possible because I don't want to pay over $300. 

I love the sound the camera makes whenever I take a photo because it's very soft and short. It just sounds very appealing for some reason and it makes me feel like I'm a professional photographer. I also love the gentle press when taking a photo and thinking about how the picture would look like after taking it. Once you take a picture, you won't know if the picture turned out like how you would want it to be. You will know if your picture was well-executed only after you develop the film. It's not like a digital camera where you can just use the screen provided to look at the pictures because if you open the case where the film is, it will expose all of your pictures and the film will get ruined. 

A digital picture of the setup when
the film is taken out from the case

When you are finished with a role, you then move into the dark room where, you can guess, is a very
dark with no light. AT ALL. In my opinion, this is the most difficult and frustrating part of the photography class because it's just darkness so I had no idea what I was doing and since I am new to this whole experience, it made the situation even more frustrating. The film is then quickly rolled and sealed in the container, shown on the picture to the right, along with other films since it is a class. The only frustrating part of the class is probably trying to get the film out of the packet and rolled onto the roller thing.

Main chemicals used when processing
film

When the pictures are ready to be developed, they are mixed in with these chemicals on the picture to the left. This process is very crucial and has to be done properly because it will depend on how the photos will look. Again, if the film is exposed to light, then the whole role is wasted. The time and the way of processing the film is different for each type of chemical. The chemicals that will be used are the film developer, the stop bath, the fixer and the hydro clear. However, the chemicals are very hazardous therefore safety is very important whenever you are using the chemicals.

There are a lot of things to remember and to be in mind of when processing film although I will try to keep it as simple. The steps for processing the film are as follow;

1. Pre-soak: 1- 3 minutes.
2. Film developer: 20 - 40 minutes, agitate every 5 minutes.
3. Stop bath: 1 minute.
4. Fixer: 5 minute.
5. Hydro clear: 2 minutes.

It is fairly important that the chemicals don't get mixed with one and another because they won't work properly therefore wasting the whole chemicals. After going through all of that fairly long process, the films are hung in the closet using clips to make sure that are parts of the film are exposed to air so that they will dry quickly. Overall, the whole process of developing the film is quite fun as there isn't really much to do although it can be quite serious with all the ways and times that comes with developing the films.