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Processing your own film can speed up your workflow and give you quicker access to your negatives. It is also typically more cost effective and best of all there is nothing like the sense of satisfaction you will gain by taking control over the full end-to-end process of your photography. While trying it for the first time might be a daunting prospect, fear not. Below is our guide on what equipment, chemistry and method would be suitable for anyone new to processing films. For more detail, you can downlo...

Why print? When you can get excellent prints from your black & white negatives by sending them off to commercial processing laboratories, why make your own? For many photographers, making a photographic print is as much a part of the process as shooting the image itself. For a start, it is a creative process that is both enjoyable and fulfilling and, much like the role of a post processing tools such as Photoshop or Lightroom in any digital workflow, (although much more fun) a darkroom provides film...

What are paper developers? Paper developers allow the latent exposed image to become visible to the naked eye and form part of a processing workflow along with a stop bath and fixer.  Read our guides, for more information on picking the right paper for you or which chemistry to choose  When shopping for photo chemicals always check the application. We produce a range of photo chemicals including stop baths, fixers, toners, wetting agents as well as paper and film developers. Film developers are speci...

One of the best things about film photography is that the creative process doesn't end in the camera. Processing your images in a darkroom is not only great fun, but it also allows you to exercise complete creative control over the final look of your image. We cover some of the essentials needed to set up a darkroom in our beginner's guide and have also developed a series of short animations which cover essential darkroom equipment, darkroom safety tips as well as how an enlarger works. Below, we cov...

The future of photography The year 2020, it sounds very futuristic to me. So, what does that future look like for photographers? Well, no doubt technology will be getting more advanced than ever and we will see huge leaps in digital development this coming decade as the megapixel war continues. There will likely be be new initiatives and more collaborations with smartphone companies. Will the digital SLR camera start to disappear? Will mirrorless take over? Or will there be a new hybrid on the market...

Crombie McNeill has been shooting film for longer than some of us have been around, and his story is fascinating which makes him the perfect interviewee for our 45th In Focus interview. Share your favourite image / print shot on ILFORD film and tell us what it means to you? Shot way back in the early 70's. By happen chance I discovered this fishing dory beached on Newfoundland's Eastern coast. I very much like this shot, and even more so because I was on my very first major assignment. Twenty thre...

And suddenly, something that looked like a dandelion head floated into view, and I stood mesmerized as it hovered before me. When I peered inside, I realized that I could see a tiny winged creature within. I turned to my mother and said, “Look at that!” But all she could see was a dandelion head. Inhabitants Thirteen years ago I lost my father to Lung cancer, three years ago I lost my best friend to breast cancer. Besides cancer they both shared the same belief, that when we die, it’s lights out, th...

We had no idea when we originally started this series in April 2020 with Em from Emulsive that it would still be going strong 50 interviews later. This week's interviewee Debra Wilson was already on our radar before being nominated by Margaret Fitzgerald last month. Section 1 - Background Share your favourite image / print shot on ILFORD film and tell us what it means to you? I chose this image of Another Place on Crosby beach.  I don’t often get to the sea so although the setting is not typical for m...

Six Weeks Ago It started six weeks ago. A Sinar Norma 4x5 Large Format Camera off eBay arrives and my paper negative journey begins. I had spent the previous weeks poring over the in-depth forums and articles on large format photography, now it was time to put it into practice. My first shoot was on ILFORD MGRC paper. I hastily sat a teddy bear on a table, pointed 2 x 400 watt Elinchrom strobes and a 400 watt continuous light and fired. So 1200 watts in total at 1/30 of a second, that should do it. Flas...

My camera is a passport to a world of amazing discoveries My adventures began as a five year old. I started spending wondrous times with my dad in the quiet glow of his darkroom. I took great pride with my responsibility to gently rock the prints in the hypo tray. Ah, the sound of gurgling water and the warm orange glow from the safe lights. I was totally enthralled by seeing an image come alive in the developing tray...pure alchemy! It comes as no surprise when I say I frequently retreat to this magical z...