Only moments ago, I exercised what I can only describe as an admirable amount of restraint. Let me explain.
One of the remnants of the old Darkroom is a gallon jug (picture the things milk comes in) of Kodak’s Photo Flo 600. I figure it works the same way the old stuff we used to use in the Darkroom did: mix a tiny bit of it with a whole lot of water and use it to help negs dry. Squeegee the excess off with your fingers. It’s not exactly rocket science.
Fast forward. I’ve been using the stuff on all the film I’ve processed here at the house and have been getting water marks (the circles left on your glassware if you don’t use JetDry) on my film. When I was just scanning the negs for the web, it wasn’t such a big deal, but when I started thinking and realized that I’d be printing for shows from these same negs, it became a huge pain in the ass. There are marks on a couple of the prints I just finished at Gordon’s and they’re totally my fault. I can only hope that no one really notices them.
On to my restraint.
Instead of pulling my hair out when I got the same result (again) with film I fretted over earlier today, I did something I didn’t think I needed to do. I read the instructions. Wouldn’t you know, the amount of water I need to balance out a little of the 600 (the old stuff is 200) is even greater than I thought. All this time, I’ve been thinking that it was the location of the film dryer — in the basement — but it was that my mixture was too strong. That never effing occurred to me and now I feel dumb. (Hence the ersatz hair pulling)
This time, I struck a blow for the smartness I allege and re rolled the film and rinsed it for 30 minutes. I then mixed a new batch of Photo Flo 200 (the old standby) and am currently re-drying the negs.
I figure by tomorrow, I should be happy and streak free. Plus, I got a voicemail today that says that my slides from the other day are ready. This week will end in images for you all. So say I.
Things are looking up.
