Just realized I was overdeveloping my black and white negatives for years

A guy at the local camera shop in Portland told me my highlights were all blown out because I was pushing development time by 2 minutes like a maniac... turns out following that old forum advice from 2003 was ruining my shadow detail. Anyone else find out they were way off on their developing routine?

2 comments

2 Comments

beth_hunt18d ago

Man I used to swear by that whole "add two minutes for more contrast" advice. I thought I was being smart, getting all that extra pop in my prints. Then a buddy showed me his negatives from the same roll shot at box speed and standard development, and I felt like a total fool. His shadows had all this texture and life that mine just didn't have. That was the day I finally accepted I'd been wasting film for years chasing a look that wasn't even right.

craig.reese18d ago

Beth I know EXACTLY how that feels. It seems like every photog goes through that phase where they think they've cracked the code with some "secret" development trick. I ruined a whole batch of Tri-X once by overdeveloping like crazy, thinking I was getting punchy negatives. Turns out I was just crushing my shadows and making everything grainy and harsh. It's a tough lesson but a necessary one.