Ilford's Darkroom Process
By Melissa Hymen
Ilford Limited published manuals on photography which were books for customers detailing recommended processes and techniques on how to do photography. The information that follows is sourced from these books which are kept in Redbridge Archive.
When handling light-sensitive film used in non-digital cameras, it is essential to prevent further exposure to natural and artificial light as this causes the film to darken. This designated space is aptly named “the darkroom
Under total darkness except the light of a dim red bulb, the photographer can load or unload their light-sensitive film safely without concern of further light exposure damaging their session's work. Trays full of chemical bath are poured out to fix the light-sensitive chemicals in the film and cease any further light-sensitivity. The resulting film is called a “negative” which has a reversed image and inverted colours– it needs to be developed into a “positive” to reverse the colours to as intended.
A darkroom should have suitable ventilation for chemical fumes, a wood sink lined with lead to prevent the sink corroding, a functioning tap and gloves and an apron for handling the chemicals.
Printing a negative into a positive print requires an enlarger. There are two separate types of enlarger for black and white or colour printing. The paper used for printing colour is more sensitive to light the printing process needs to be in the dark with no safe light.
When developing rolled film using a specially designed tank you would need to unroll the exposed film in the dark removing paper and then roll on to a separate spool and load in to your small tank this needs to be done in the dark to prevent the film being fogged. Once your tank is loaded and lid placed on you can turn your safe light on and begin the development process, starting with the developer solution, the stop and then the fixer. You can remember the order simply as dev, stop and fix. During this process it is important to agitate the small tank every 30 seconds doing a few inversions of the tank, this is to make sure the chemicals are evenly distributed. After this process you need to rinse in water this will wash the residue of chemicals off and then you can hang to dry.
Each step with the film emerged in the chemicals needs to be measured for a certain amount of time. How long you develop your film for and the type of developing solution you use depends on the type of film. For example when developing an Ilford HPS+ ISO 400 35mm the recommended time for developing this film is five minutes. Two minutes of this time is used for the developing agent, 1 minute is used for the stop and then two minutes for the fixing solution/agent. The recommended developing chemical for this film role is HC-110.
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Using the dish method requires no special apparatus and is useful in an emergency but it must be carried out in a dark room. For this method you need to unroll your film and at both near ends of the film attach stainless steel clips. You will need to detach the paper and spool from the end of the roll.
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​In a see-saw fashion pass the film through clean water 2-3 times to make manageable, drain for a moment. You will need separate dishes for your developer, stop and fixer. When you’re ready transfer your film to the developer dish taking care to evenly cover your film with the solution. Continue with the see-saw motion, and then place in your stop dish. Move your film to the dish with the fixer in next and after suitable amount of time rinse your film in dish of water and hang to dry.
The principle of using a developer, stop and fixer in the development process remains the same from when this process began; the only variant is the type of chemicals and techniques the photographer wants to use to achieve certain desired results. A photographer can read the Ilford Limited Manuals on photography today and find that the information within is still relevant.