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My darkroom refrigerator finally gave out over the summer. I felt lucky that we noticed it right away and were able to clean it out quickly. It stored mostly film, with some expired film too. The enlarger is also in our basement, that has no running water, and the "basement" can only be accessed from the outside. So, it's become more a convenient place to just store everything, rather than a working darkroom these days.
The big surprise for me at the time was realizing how much Polaroid film I still have. Some years back, I got depressed and detached from photography when, within a couple years' time, both Polaroid and Kodak HIE (best IR film ever, IMO) were discontinued - along with a few of my favorite enlargement papers. I used those papers for bromoil prints, lith prints, and other alternative photographic processes. So those losses really felt like a gut punch. Straight photography bores me for the most part - I like using my negatives as a starting point for other processes. That's my jam.
Anyway, my silly attitude just allowed my remaining stash to get even MORE out of date. It hopefully won't matter as much with the 4x5 Type 79 sheet film I found in there, but matters a lot with the 4x5 pack film. The pack film is designed to hold its own battery, and they will definitely give out and refuse to eject each piece of film over time.
Quickest way to find out if the pack film (re-named Artistic Z) was headed for the trash was to just open a box, and load it into one of my SX-70 Land cameras. This is an old photo of them - I used the one on the left.
Once you load the film into these cameras and close it, when the battery is working, the dark slide automatically ejects - which it did. Eureka! I was happy it still works! This film is called Artistic Z. It's one of the last batches made by Polaroid. It replaced the fabled Time Zero film, which I used to use a lot to manipulate the soft emulsion. This replacement film contains different dyes due to environmental concerns, so it was never as bright and clear as Time Zero. But color is never an issue for me, so that's a secondary concern.
A couple of the pieces of film did stick, but most came through fine. These prints show the film's age. The dyes have definitely faded, and run together in some areas.
But - the emulsion is still manipulable, even though I pounced on it too soon. I should have waited a couple of hours, but I didn't and it shows.
Once that dark slide popped out, I went outside and took shots around the house and yard.
Miss Finn sat for a portrait:
Front yard:
Snake plant:
Flowers on the deck:
As far as my manipulating technique, using my old burnishing and sculpting tools, I did a fairly terrible job.
Too impatient, and the areas where I pressed too hard can be seen as blobs. But - so what? The film batteries are holding!! The expiration date is 9/09. I'm gonna say the refrigeration helped.
My main tools for SX-70 film manipulation:
I'm pleased enough with these results, for all their faults, to order some slide film, so I can pull out my Daylab slide printer, which is designed to accept this pack film. I love my SX-70 cameras, but prefer to use my Pentax MZ 35mm for better photographic control. I can scan, hand color, etc., once I get a better manipulated piece of film. I consider this exercise a successful test run.
For an alt-process geek like me, it was happy dance time.
Thanks for looking! I'm always happy to talk about this stuff, so please let me know if my happy babble makes no sense to you.
The big surprise for me at the time was realizing how much Polaroid film I still have. Some years back, I got depressed and detached from photography when, within a couple years' time, both Polaroid and Kodak HIE (best IR film ever, IMO) were discontinued - along with a few of my favorite enlargement papers. I used those papers for bromoil prints, lith prints, and other alternative photographic processes. So those losses really felt like a gut punch. Straight photography bores me for the most part - I like using my negatives as a starting point for other processes. That's my jam.
Anyway, my silly attitude just allowed my remaining stash to get even MORE out of date. It hopefully won't matter as much with the 4x5 Type 79 sheet film I found in there, but matters a lot with the 4x5 pack film. The pack film is designed to hold its own battery, and they will definitely give out and refuse to eject each piece of film over time.
Quickest way to find out if the pack film (re-named Artistic Z) was headed for the trash was to just open a box, and load it into one of my SX-70 Land cameras. This is an old photo of them - I used the one on the left.
Once you load the film into these cameras and close it, when the battery is working, the dark slide automatically ejects - which it did. Eureka! I was happy it still works! This film is called Artistic Z. It's one of the last batches made by Polaroid. It replaced the fabled Time Zero film, which I used to use a lot to manipulate the soft emulsion. This replacement film contains different dyes due to environmental concerns, so it was never as bright and clear as Time Zero. But color is never an issue for me, so that's a secondary concern.
A couple of the pieces of film did stick, but most came through fine. These prints show the film's age. The dyes have definitely faded, and run together in some areas.
But - the emulsion is still manipulable, even though I pounced on it too soon. I should have waited a couple of hours, but I didn't and it shows.
Once that dark slide popped out, I went outside and took shots around the house and yard.
Miss Finn sat for a portrait:
Front yard:
Snake plant:
Flowers on the deck:
As far as my manipulating technique, using my old burnishing and sculpting tools, I did a fairly terrible job.
Too impatient, and the areas where I pressed too hard can be seen as blobs. But - so what? The film batteries are holding!! The expiration date is 9/09. I'm gonna say the refrigeration helped.My main tools for SX-70 film manipulation:
I'm pleased enough with these results, for all their faults, to order some slide film, so I can pull out my Daylab slide printer, which is designed to accept this pack film. I love my SX-70 cameras, but prefer to use my Pentax MZ 35mm for better photographic control. I can scan, hand color, etc., once I get a better manipulated piece of film. I consider this exercise a successful test run.
For an alt-process geek like me, it was happy dance time.
Thanks for looking! I'm always happy to talk about this stuff, so please let me know if my happy babble makes no sense to you.
these (and I don't give out emojis lightly) First thing I noticed from the compositions was that these were shot by a photographer.
