• 1249: Michigan. (3 June 2021. Fomapan 100 as Lomography Earl Gray 100 @ EI 100.) (On top.)
  • 1248: Michigan. (2–3 June 2021. Fomapan 100 as Lomography Earl Gray 100 @ EI 100.)
  • 1247: Michigan. (2 June 2021. Fomapan 100 as Lomography Earl Gray 100 @ EI 100.)
  • 1246: Michigan. (1–2 June 2021. Fomapan 100 as Lomography Earl Gray 100 @ EI 100.)
  • 1245: Michigan. (31 May 2021. Kentmere Pan 100 @ EI 100.) (On bottom.)

Five rolls of 100-speed film, most Fomapan, all from our trip to Michigan. Developed on 35mm rolls in the five-roll tank. Previously, Fomapan 100 and Kentmere 100 have been substantially overdeveloped at 70 minutes, so I’m trying this at 55.

Loaded inside daylight changing bag. Pre-wet film for about an hour, changing water once.

During the pre-soak, mixed 1.25L Caffenol CL in 1L water, then topped off to 1.25L. 20g waterfree washing soda, 13g Vitamin C, 10g iodized salt (HyVee store brand, 67mcg iodine/1.5g iodized salt), and 50g Kroger Original Roast instant coffee, distilled water. Poured into tank. Agitated 40x over first minute, then 15x over 15 seconds at 27:00. These are half-agitations, gently (i.e., gently twisting to a 90-degree inversion, then gently back). Kept orientation the same throughout development: this larger tank leaks a bit.

After 55 minutes, disposed of developer, rinsed in 68 degree water, filling and emptying the tank until the water rinsed completely clear, then four more times. Fixed in a new batch of Ilford Rapid Fixer 1+4 for 6 minutes (that’s now 5 rolls from this batch of fixer), inverting 10x over 15 seconds at the top of every minute. Recaptured fixer and rinsed for ten minutes, then emptied tank, added a few drops of Photo-Flo, filled tank again and agitated 20x, and hung negatives vertically to dry.

Evaluation and notes

Roll 1245

Kentmere 100 is kind of high-contrast in Caffenol, though there are plenty of shots that are saved by via-HDR scanning (e.g., 1-5, 14). Partly this is because the roll is overdeveloped: too much agitation, I think. Some of the landscapes here are gorgeous, though (7, ). More experiments here with scanning the B/W negatives as color here; I think there are shots (7, 20) where it pays off with the same sense of depth and richness as in other rolls I’ve tried this with. Caffenol winds up leaving a brown tone, of course, which sometimes leaves the negative’s negative looking purple, though it often resolves into sepia or other medium- to light browns.

Response curve is nice and steady here, giving good solid greys; it kind of looks like FP4+ in places (10, 18). There’s some really gorgeous textures here (12, 20).

Sand in the dunes (16, 17) is really blown out here; it’s the real loss to overdevelopment on this roll.

photos posted

Roll 1246

Not one of the most impressive rolls I’ve shot and developed: a fair amount of it is overdeveloped, and again I suspect I should reduce agitation. There’s too much contrast in many shots and this roll, of all in this processing batch, has noticeable mineral stains on several frames. But some of the shots are gorgeous, especially those in the meadery (6–16), especially when scanning the negatives as color. Color scanning once again restores details in some overexposed shots. So does via-HDR scanning, though not as often.

Once again with the cat hair and the scratches.

photos posted

Roll 1247

Much better, all in all. Still overdeveloped, though.

But less unrecoverably so: partly because there’s not much sand in these shots, so there’s a lot less swaths of pure white.

The sepia toning works really well in certain parts of the roll, especially those that include quasi-archaic subject matter like period costumes (21, 25–31) and horse-based transportation (39, 51, 55). Some shots of Lake Huron (05) also look great.

Roll 1248

Still overdeveloped; here, it’s more apparent because many of the shots were harder to correct. Also, jeez, it’s hard to keep the last finger from winding up partly in front of the lens when shooting on a boat that’s bouncing around in a high wind. Again, via-HDR processing and scanning as color save shots that might otherwise have been lost.

The sequence in the middle of the roll tracking the single cloud (33–45), all (or most?) shot with the red filter, are lovely, I think, and kind of otherworldly. I think the sepia tones from the coffee work well here. Sepia tones also work well on the photos of the falls and the trees near Tahquamenon Falls that finish out the roll are also pretty great.

All in all, I’m happy with this roll, overdeveloped or not.

Roll 1249

Possibly my favorite of this Earl-Gray-in-coffee sequence. (Well, Fomapan in coffee and vitamin C, anyway.) The museum pieces are dark and brooding; they really show what stand-develop Caffenol can do with underexposed Fomapan. Some of the lighting on the light pieces in the museum is just fucking gorgeous. Similarly the campground shots are deep and pretty, with lots of texture, especially on the wood.