Even though today colour photography is the dominant form, black and white photography is considered an exotic art and has its own takers among photography enthusiasts. There is something special about black and white photography, take away the colour and you are left with shape, form and texture in the raw. It also has the advantage of being a viable option for home processing being much less complex than colour processing.

The most obvious requirement is a darkroom which must be absolutely sealed against any light intrusion while processing often the bathroom is used much to the annoyance of partners and housemates. Few chemicals are used with Ilford and Kodak producing a good range and most people find their particular favourites very quickly.

Before starting to process the film a photographer must collect all the chemicals and solutions. It is vital that you can prepare enough of each solution for the number of rolls you are processing to cover the reels loaded in the tank. Otherwise, the film will not be properly processed.

While developing,  most of the standard tanks take eight to ten ounces which is approximately 240 to 300(ml) of solution for each roll of film.Check the instruction sheet for your tank  if you are unable to find your instruction sheet then check the manufacturers web site if not trial and error is always an option for finding the quantity needed by seeing how much solution is required to cover one reel in a spare tank.

After loading a tank you are not supposed to open it before it is fully processed . The solutions should be at the proper temperature otherwise it will effect your film and proper developing may not be possible. Most black-and-white film developers are used at 68 degrees F (20 degrees C). Some developers recommend different processing temperatures, usually above 68 degrees F. When purchased most film boxes have the times and temperatures on the inside of the box. These figures are important but can be varied for different effects but this is not for the beginner.

If you want to make your processing easier then fill a bucket with tempered water because tempered water is simply water at the recommended developing temperature and it saves time and water. Tempered water will hold its temperature long enough to process the film. Tap water can fluctuate wildly in temperature.

Once the tempered water is ready you can mix the developer. The other chemical used is the fixer. If you want to check the density of your solution then hypo-check solution is used by putting a drop into a small amount of fixer.

When you are ready to start the processing of your film set the timer according to the developer's directions for the film you're developing. Fill the film tank with tempered water. This is called pre-soaking the film. then we hit the developing stage its important to agitate the developer while soaking the film as it passes fresh fluid over the surface of the film.

Once you learn to develop a film you will fall in love with it because when you see your negative changing into a print the pleasure that you feel while seeing the image form will draw you back again and again.

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