These are (18×24 cm) reversals on paper, i.e. they’re actually positives in Real Life! Unfortunately it wasn’t quite enough light for this all to work. First one is ISO 0.4 (or 1.6 + 2 stops), and aaaaalmost enough but i also yanked it out of second development before it was done. That’s why the sky is so blotchy looking. Second one is ISO 0.8 and was only allowed to briskly walk by the second development, because it was on the way to all-black. Both on Ilford MGRC paper, both with the 00-grade filter, on an overcast day.
I think it’s a combination of things – the 00-grade filter might not be a good idea for reversals (will try again with much more light). And I didn’t have as much UV light around as on my other tries, so I should have compensated much more. Oh ya, the whole root issue is that reversals need much more light than normal negatives, at least on paper (haha. i mean on photographic paper). Had I done negatives, ISO 1.6 would have been enough, probably.
The reversal chemistry I was using is one containing Hydrogen Peroxide, EDTA, and citric acid. Specifically, what I did was this:
For the reversal bleach (prepare fresh just before using it):
- ~600 ml water (I used normal tap water)
- then add 15.7 g EDTA-4Na, stirr until dissolved
- add 11 g citric acid crystals, stirr until dissolved
- check PH, add Sodium Bicarbonate until PH is ~4.5 (I added maybe 5 g or so – slooooowly, it produces CO2)
- add ~500 ml of 3% hydrogen peroxide (recipe calls for 300 ml but that was too slow-acting for my taste)
Then I did:
- under red safe-light: normal development in paper developer to completion (the negative will turn pretty much completely black here, that is a good sign – if it still looks like a normal negative you didn’t give it enough light and you probably shouldn’t try to reverse this one)
- rinse with water
- put into bleach, wait until completely white (~5 mins or so)
- rinse with water (or wash in 20 g Sodium Sulfite + 1 l water bath for better results)
- turn on the lights
- develop in normal paper developer until completion (or until you see it turning almost fully black if you underexposed it like I did)
- put in rapid fixer for the good feeling (shouldn’t be necessary)
- wash as normal
The bleach worked pretty well – I’m relatively sure what I have here is an exposure issue. We’ll see next time 🙂
Leave a Reply