By Mason Resnick

Honestly, developing negatives is boring; I know, you want to get to the fun part, watching that print emerge in the developer. I know I do. But when processing film, you actually have options besides that standby, Kodak D-76, that can control the size and even the shape of the grain, and as a result, will help form what your final print will look like. So it may not be the most exciting part of the process, but you do have creative options here.

Here are 6 film developers, and what makes them distinct from each other. Choose wisely!

Kodak D-76: A fine-grain general-purpose developer. Follow the directions and process at the optimal temperature (68 degrees) to get the best image quality and dynamic range from a well-exposed negative.

Kodak T-Max RS developer is especially designed for the super fine-grain characteristics of Kodak T-Max 100, as well as Ilford Delta films. It’s a two-part liquid developer, and some folks don’t use Part B.

Ilford Microphen: A fine-grain film developer, Microphen gives an effective increase of about a half-stop or more, especially when processing ISO 400 and higher films, such as Ilford HP5 Plus or Kodak Tri-X. The good news? Because of its low alkalinity, Microphen actually reduces grain size, and the resulting negatives are finer-grained.

Photographer’s Formulary MCM-100: This developer contains catechol and p-phenylenediamine and produces extremely fine-grain negatives with good sharpness and superb tonal gradation. It is recommended for Tri-X, TMAX and HP5 films; however, it is also excellent with slower films. The contrast can be controlled by development time. The chemicals in the kit will make a working solution with a capacity for six rolls of film. The shelf life of the working solution is six months.

Acufine ACU-1: An ultra fine-grain film developer, ACU-1 is designed to let you push-process lower-ISO films such as Kodak Plus-X. This is a one-time use developer, and cannot be replenished.

lford ID-11: This is a fine-grain film developer designed for use for any B&W film. It has been specially formulated to get optimum results from high resolution lenses. It is recognised internationally as a standard in many fields of scientific and technical photography. ID-11 produces excellent results with all films and is ideal where a wide range of films and film speeds have been used. ID-11 ensures the best balance of fine grain, sharpness and tonal rendition producing negatives which allow a high degree of enlargement.

What’s your favorite developer? Did we miss one? Leave a comment!

The post Buying Guide: 6 Top Black-and-White Film Developers appeared first on I Love Black & White Photography.

Lately, that change has come whenever another 250 people joined the group. Now, with this web site, I can start keeping an archive of current and previous Group Photos. Unfortunately, I haven’t kept older photos, but will do so going forward.

Here they are! Be sure to join the group and show the photographers some love!

Jorgen Klausen

Bill Rhodes

Abe Barron

Konuralp Doygun

Jane Veitz

Kristie Wagoner-Bonnewell

Matt Mischke

The post “I Love Black & White Photography” Facebook Group Photo Archive appeared first on I Love Black & White Photography.

Since then, Impossible has rolled out several new instant films as well as its own instant camera, the I-1. (Learn more about Impossible and Polaroid instant photography products here.) Meanwhile, the Polaroid brand has been sold and resold multiple times, with the Polaroid name and logo appearing on video cameras, digital cameras such as the Polaroid Snap, watches, printers, and other electronic devices.

Impossible was founded by Dr. Florian Kaps, Andre Bosman and Marwan Saba, using the old Polaroid plant in Enschede, Netherlands to produce film products for existing Polaroid cameras. Mass production began in 2010 and the company currently makes 24 different instant films, including 8×10 sheet film in color and black and white.

The post Instant Karma: Polaroid, Impossible Now Under Same Owner appeared first on I Love Black & White Photography.

The post 609 Portraits in 1 Afternoon: Steve Payne Gets Ambitious appeared first on I Love Black & White Photography.

Artist’s statement:

From the first click I had a simple approach: Is it interesting? I seek to capture not only an image, but timeless moments; a feeling. B&W photography always felt a shade moody, so that was a natural coupling with my spirit, being a long time amateur writer of poetry.

Moments are always happening, and very often I find myself wishing I had my camera on me to capture all that moves me. That being said, I find myself being more of an opportunistic photographer than one who plans an outing meticulously. I will give myself a vague direction or theme, then it’s like I’m looking for meaningful lines in a rough draft of a poem, seeking to exploit the expression. I do find myself gravitating toward water and clouds, something that has been with me since childhood.

This collection of photos can be seen as poignant to my mind’s eye. I’d like to bring someone into a place that’s somewhere in between a photo and a painting. To a place both emotionally familiar and at the same time, a sense of distant wonder. If I can take you away from your daily moments of life, even for just a moment, into the space of timelessness awe…. those are moments I’ll cherish with you.

Bio: “I live and work on a small family owned vineyard in California and that’s where I found a seemingly natural passion for photography. One day I was asked to take some photos to promote the business, and that was that. I took a short B&W film photography course and a Yosemite workshop, the rest has been my own composition exploration. Growing up in the tech world of the S.F. Bay Area and then moving to the Sierra Foothills CA for my second career has been a godsend in exposing this passion. I’ll continue to follow that passion as long as I’m in this world and, who knows, maybe it could lead me down the path to my third career. For now, the family business success is a priority, and photography my mistress and soulmate.”

Want to see more great black & white photography? Join I Love Black & White Photography on Facebook!

The post Gil Munoz Portfolio: “Photography is My Mistress and Soulmate” appeared first on I Love Black & White Photography.

Linda Wisdom Photo (Twitter)

Andrea Arbia (flickr)

Fernando Castellanos

Ale Macliver (flickr)

Luis Antonio

MolBavar (Twitter)

Patrizia Pernio (Twitter)

Jesse Pino (Twitter)

Nathan Wirth (Behance)

The post Best of B&W Photography: Week of 4/24/17 appeared first on I Love Black & White Photography.

For black and white photographers, this means more choices for stunning exhibit-quality digital prints.

The only drawback? These products will make a significant dent in your bank account. But for pros, they may earn their keep rather quickly.

Here’s a quick overview. Click on the links to learn more and if you can afford them, please buy them through these links to help support “I Love Black & White Photography”:

Sony a9 
Sony’s most advanced digital camera ever, the a9 is aiming squarely at pro shooters with its 20fps blackout-free burst rate, silent vibration-free shooting, and 693-point focal plane phase-detect AF system. But most importantly, Sony is the world’s leading sensor manufacturer (Pentax and Nikon use Sony sensors in their DSLRs), and the a9’s 24mp sensor is the world’s first stacked CMOS sensor—a design that Sony claims is 20x faster than previous sensors. The result? We may see a lot of Sony a9s at the sidelines of sporting events, displacing ubiquitous Canon and Nikon pro rigs.

Fujifilm 23mm  and 110mm GF  Lenses
Fujifilm’s GFX-50S  medium-format interchangeable-lens camera is winning accolades among studio pro photographers, but with only 3 lenses available it is somewhat limited. That has changed with the introduction of not only a 23mm ultrawide and 110mm portrait medium tele, but also with the introduction of a Large Format adapter that allows GFX-50S users to mount Fujifilm large-format lenses on their camera. Suddenly, Fuji’s got an ecosystem.

Nikon D7500 
What’s the difference between the Nikon D7500 and the D500? It’s the same APS sensor and viewfinder and both cameras offer 4K video, the D500 has the edge on AF speed and fps and a more high-end body, while the D7500 is more compact and has a pop-up fill flash. Oh and one more thing…the D7500 is about $600 less expensive. Choices, choices.

Panasonic 8-18mm f/2.8-4 Lens 
Panasonic has Partnered again with Leica to offer an ultrawide zoom lens (16-36mm 35mm equivalent coverage) that’s lightweight and a great choice for architecture photographers using Micro Four Thirds mirrorless cameras. The convenience of the lightweight package may outweigh the fact that the sensor is half the size of a full-frame.

Panasonic ZS70 
While not as exciting new as its predecessor (after all, it’s simply a selfie-friendly update of the ZS60), the Panasonic ZS70 should be a popular choice thanks to its sick 30x superzoom lens, the longest focal range to appear on a camera of its size. It now has a flip-up LCD monitor that faces forward for selfie compositions, but for travelers who want to reduce payload, it’s a great choice.

One thing all of these cameras and lenses have in common? They all can beat the crap out of your smart phone.

The post Round-up: It Was a Good Week for High-End Photo Gear appeared first on I Love Black & White Photography.

Caturla was an enigmatic photographer who worked her magic on the streets of Barcelona, Spain. She was discovered by Tom Sponheim, a tourist who was visiting Barcelona in 2001 and decided to buy an envelope in a flea market for three and a half Euros. When he returned to the US, he discovered the amazing photos inside, but had no idea who the photographer was. The photos depict everyday life in Barcelona.

Sponheim turned to Facebrain, setting up a Facebook page to help him with the detective work. Many researchers went to work, and, after 16 years, finally unravelled the mystery. So, who was Milagros Caturla? She lived from 1920-2008 and was apparently active in the 1950s and 60s, prowling the streets with a Leica M2. We don’t know much more yet, but there’s a pretty good chance we will soon.

The first major exhibit of her work will take place from May 19-28 in Barcelona at the Revelat Contemporary Analog Photography Festival.

The post The Next Vivian Meier Has Been Found. Her Name is Milagros Caturla appeared first on I Love Black & White Photography.

@fairplagiarism (Twitter)

photograph magazine‏ @photographmag (Twitter)

Magic Black pictures‏ @Blacwhitfoto (Twitter)

Franck BERTRAND @bertrafr (Twitter)

Miguel Calabria @MiguelCalabria

Rinzi Ruiz (flickr)

RushImages (flickr)

Raul Barrios  (flickr)

Simon.Carter (flickr)

The post The Best of B&W Photography: Week of 4/10/17 appeared first on I Love Black & White Photography.

It went down to the wire, but the Kickstarter campaign to fund the final steps in the production of Sasha Waters Freyer’s feature documentary film about Garry Winogrand, All Things Are Photographable met its fundraising goal of $50,000 to cover production costs. With less than a day left the campaign had raised around $41,000, $9,000 short of its all-or-nothing goal. The final amount was $50,250. This thing’s gonna happen.

From the film description:

“Decades before digital technology transformed how we make and see pictures, American photographer Garry Winogrand made hundreds of thousands of them with his 35mm Leica, creating an encyclopedic portrait of America from the late 1950s to the early 1980s. When he died suddenly at age 56 in 1984, Winogrand left behind more than 10,000 rolls of film – more than a quarter of a million pictures! These images, as well as hours of never before seen 8mm films, capture a bygone era: the New York of Mad Men and the early years of the Women’s Movement, the birth of American suburbs, and the glamour and alienation of Hollywood. He produced so many unseen images that it has taken until now for the full measure of his artistic legacy to emerge. Endorsed by his gallery and estate, Garry Winogrand: All Things are Photographable is the first cinematic survey of that legacy. The film tells the story of an artist whose rise and fall was – like America’s in the late decades of the 20th century – larger-than-life, full of contradictions and totally unresolved. ”

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