Photographic developing

If photography "is the art and science to obtain visible images of an object and to fix them on a light sensible material layer "... Which are the properties of that fixing process?
Much can be discussed on the potential differences between the developing process of film photography and digital printing. It is a very important subject at the time of analyzing both types of photography, since these are two forms of developing an image, two archival mediums. Is one better than the other? Is one more lasting tha the other?...
We'll look for answers first with film photography then with digital.

Black & White film Developing Procedure

A roll of exposed film contains the latent images of the exposures that you made, these latent images must be amplified and stabilized in order to make a negative that can then be printed and viewed by reflected light. Before we cover the development of a color negative film, it might be best to step back and process a black-and-white negative. If you used black-and-white film in your camera, the same latent-image formation process would have occurred, except the silver-halide grains would have been sensitized to all wavelengths of visible light rather than to just red, green or blue light. In black-and-white film, the silver-halide grains are coated in just one or two layers, so the development process is easier to understand. Here is what happens:

1. In the first step of processing, the film is placed in developing agent that is actually a reducing agent. Given the chance, the reducing agent will convert all the silver ions into silver metal. Those grains that have latent-image sites will develop more rapidly. With the proper control of temperature, time and agitation, grains with latent images will become pure silver. The unexposed grains will remain as silver-halide crystals.

2. The next step is to complete the developing process by rinsing the film with water, or by using a "stop" bath that arrests the development process.

3. The unexposed silver-halide crystals are removed in what is called the fixing bath. The fixer dissolves only silver-halide crystals, leaving the silver metal behind.

4. In the final step, the film is washed with water to remove all the processing chemicals. The film strip is dried, and the individual exposures are cut into negatives.

When you are finished, you have a negative image of the original scene. It is a negative in the sense that it is darkest (has the highest density of opaque silver atoms) in the area that received the most light exposure. In places that received no light, the negative has no silver atoms and is clear. In order to make it a positive image that looks normal to the human eye, it must be printed onto another light-sensitive material (usually photographic paper).

In this development process, the magic binder gelatin played an important part. It swelled to allow the processing chemicals to get to the silver-halide grains, but kept the grains in place. This swelling process is vital for the movement of chemicals and reaction products through the layers of a photographic film. So far, no one has found a suitable substitute for gelatin in photographic products.

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Masters of Photography I

I'm very excited to start a review of the greatest names of photography of all times. It's difficult to choose whom to begin with, there's a great number of them and all around the world, I also thought about beginning by alphabetical order, but it didn't seem right, maybe you can help me. I believe that the best way to start is to decide quickly and without thinking... mmm how about, Robert Doisneau. Yes, the one of the last name I've never been able to pronounce right, even after taking French classes, but whose photographs I've never forgot.

Robert Doisneau (April 14, 1912 - 1st of April, 1994) is one of the most well known French photographers. Noted for his frank and often humorous depictions of Parisian street life, he focused on people photography, making images of common people as he wandered through the streets of Paris and its suburbs. His work stands out because of it's spontaneous, real or pretended, images that often present defocused areas.

Among his most recognizable work is Le baiser de l'hôtel de ville ("Kiss by the Hotel de Ville"). In April 2005 a signed copy was sold for over $ 200.000 in an auction and acquired by a Swiss collector. The original print of this iconic image was sold by Françoise Bornet, the woman in the photograph. Bornet and her then boyfriend Jacques Carteaud posed for the seemingly spontaneous photo in 1950. Doisneau apparently saw them kissing and asked them to recreate the action for his camera in front of the Hotel de Ville. The casual quality of this very posed image captured the romanticism of after-the-War Paris. Doisneau took the picture for a series on lovers in Paris for Life magazine through the French picture agency Rapho.

Robert Doisneau "Kiss by the Hotel de Ville" 1950












Francoise Bornet holds the copy
of the photograph in front of the
Hotel de Ville.

This is a selection that I did of some of Doisneaus works as representatives of his humorous style:

Robert Doisneau "Sidelong glance" 1948



















Robert Doisneau "Picasso and the loaves" 1952



















Robert Doisneau "Hell" 1952















Robert Doisneau "Barbarian prisoner and Callipygian Venus",
Versailles 1966

Profesional Photography & Digital Technology

I continued my reserch in the subject from the last post: digital & film photography.
That's why I want to recommend an interview were you'll be able to read the opinion of a long trajectory photographer, Jim Brandenburg, a USA nature specialist.
I believe that it can be helpfull to know the opinion of a professional photographer concerning the inclusion of the digital technology in the professional photography world. I'll give you an advance of what you're going to find in this interview with this photographer's opinion about: when did he start using digital photography and why did he make the switch from film, what are some of the advantages of digital over film, disadvantages to digital cameras, the cost of digital cameras, and what should the average photographer buy.

If you are familiarized with spanish, I have a second interview to recommend that's also very interesting to me. This can be usefull to us in order to confront opinions, since both photographers are professionals, but have different origin, style and background. In this second interview we find the opinion of Gerardo Suter, a Mexican professional photographer.
I hope my recommendations are usefull and I'll wait for your comments!