TexasGirl Photography

A few weeks ago, I finally pushed the boat out and bought a C41 kit, so I could develop color film at home. I’ve rejected the notion of doing this for years, since I don’t use much color film, and since I like to support a local lab when I do. . . . . but the truth is that I DO use a lot of color film during the summer, and a combination of factors has made me reticent at best when it comes to driving into Austin to visit the lab. I’ve had a pile of exposed color rolls sitting around since last July, and it was time to do something about it.

Enter the Arista Kit, via Freestyle. Being completely ignorant about the process, I ordered the gallon kit, which was clearly overkill but will hopefully last properly stored.

I spent a long time meticulously reading the directions and asking questions to clarify things, and by the time I had done that and carefully mixed the chemicals I was ready to quit for the day, but of course I didn’t. I’m not a detail orientated person in general, but when it comes to photographic chemistry on a new process, I switch into crazy obsessive scientist mode. I loaded up tanks with rolls that were less important to me (I had no clue what they were, they had been sitting for so many months, but I knew they weren’t from the road trip; I wasn’t going to subject those to tests) and took the plunge.

To make a long story short, the developing process was messy as all get out and super labor intensive. The water bath was irritating, especially as it made everything more difficult to handle. One of the tanks slipped out of my hands on its way back in, the lid came off for a second, and a bunch of developer spilled into the bath. Fortunately there were no adverse affects, as far as I could tell anyway, since the roll in the soup at that time was a wreck to begin with. The Holga I was using didn’t wind the film tightly enough, so I knew it was riddled with light leaks. I had not idea just HOW much of a wreck it was, and wrecking film isn’t my thing, but I will admit that I don’t hate the results, so I will share them here. I’m also sharing samples from other rolls processed on the same day. All in all I am pleased with the quality of the color and looking forward to making a mess again before too long.