PUSHING FILM? I pushed for more contrast and this happened.

In this video.....
CHAPTER POINTS
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FACEBOOK
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INSTAGRAM
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EQUIPMENT USED IN THIS VIDEO
CAMERA - Chinon CS
FILM - KODAK TRI-X 400
DEVELOPER - KODAK D76 STOCK
STOP & FIX - ZONE / ILFORD
ENLARGER - DURST M605
PAPER - ILFORD MG RESIN
DEVELOPER - ILFORD MG
STOP & FIX - ZONE / ILFORD
PRODUCTION GEAR
CANON 6D, GOPRO 7 BLACK, Gopro 10 Black, TASCAM DR10L MIC, SENHEISSER SHOTGUN MIC,
NEEWER LED PANELS, GVM COLOUR PANELS, Valoi 360 Film Holder System for scanes, Zeapon Micro 2 Motor Slider,
Editing - FCP, PHOTOSHOP, LIGHTROOM,
ABOUT MY VIDEOS
If my videos inspire, create ideas and help others in film photography and darkroom work then it's worth making them.
I always welcome comments that are useful towards the video subject that will help others understand the process within.
Keep shooting and thanks for watching.
MUSIC CREDITING
KZbin Studio Music

[@tonyhayes9827]

This was actually very informative. Nothing new of course but you presented it really well Well done

[@ShootFilmLikeaBoss]

Thanks Tony.

[@yesteryear2237]

Honestly, that’s the first time I’ve really understood both the point and the technique. Thanks for all the examples.

[@ShootFilmLikeaBoss]

Glad it was helpful!

[@leoguenther5548]

Same here

[@Stephen.C.]

Well presented. Thanks, and nice to see the old Chinon CS working well. I had one back in the 70s and couldnt fault it at the time.

[@hifienthusiast8768]

Im a fan of B/W images looking B/W, not a fan of grey images that look like old newspaper prints. This is what I needed, thanks!

[@mfa8086]

My art journey started as a kid copying comics with pencil. The contrast is everything. Caravaggio.

[@arty2917]

It has been raining nonstop in the US (Georgia), too!

[@mpk33]

My favourite black & white "look" is Ilford HP5 pushed to 1600 ISO. It's the GOAT, as they say. That gorgeous grain (especially in 120), it's just magic to me. HP5 gives you great midtones also, which Tri-X doesn't at all.

[@luc5798]

Just too bad a 120 hp5 is now 7€... should be around 4€, not more...

[@loochan325]

TMAX 400 is more like 160 or 200 ASA realy. I like more Ilford Delta 100 developed in DDX.

[@mpk33]

@@luc5798 Mate, everything's gone up in price. You want the price to stay the same, but their power bills have doubled or tripled? Yeah, ok... 🙄

[@ivarwb4115]

May I ask what developer you use when you push the HP5?

[@mpk33]

@@ivarwb4115 Rodinol

[@Stan_o7]

The bus stop photo is legit.

[@ShootFilmLikeaBoss]

Lucky really. I just saw a different verity of people and took it. Might look out for more interesting bus waiters.

[@danem2215]

I took your advice and pushed Acros to 400 with an orange filter. Loved the results I got with some old train cars and locos as my subjects.

[@ShootFilmLikeaBoss]

Nice Dane!

[@Jerry10939]

I pushed film while working as a photographer in the Army. You know when you have to get that shot. I also liked it because I could get a fast enough shutter speed and depth of field so I didn’t need to use a flash. I natural lighting was so much better.

[@John-jl3ky]

It's always nice to see the buildings and Street scenes around your parts, they're a little different than Indiana. I appreciate the knowledge your sharing, I pick up things here and there.

[@lostintransitphoto]

Great, simple explanation. Thanks!

[@robertabboud3765]

Perfectly explained just how I remembered when I was in year 9 art class. Back in the early 80s.

[@ShootFilmLikeaBoss]

Thanks Rob. I never did photography at school! Wish I had done. It wasn't popular back in the 80s in my school

[@captaindebug]

Best explanation of pushing film that I've seen....

[@ShootFilmLikeaBoss]

Thanks Captain

[@dherring44]

Great video. Very well explained. Also so close to 30k 😯 🤩

[@ShootFilmLikeaBoss]

Fingers crossed!

[@neilmartin8143]

Very helpful and informative. Made it clear to me how to push film and the effects. Great for those of us who are returning to film and developing stuff. Cheers

[@ShootFilmLikeaBoss]

Glad it was helpful!

[@LachezarDolmov]

Thank you! I was THINKING about searching for the topic and here you are - the answer popped out on my feed :)

[@ShootFilmLikeaBoss]

Glad it was helpful!

[@christophersmithphotograph2275]

Great explanation! Thx for sharing

[@mueslimuncher1950]

Good stuff as usual. I've seldum resorted to pushing film, but this is food for thought. Dull days are all too common here in Glasgow. With a medium format folder I could get some punchy street scenes, and the extra grain would be negligible. It might even add some atmosphere!

[@ShootFilmLikeaBoss]

Good stuff!

[@m00dawg]

I tend to find HP5 at box speed can tend to be a little flat so I often tend to push it to 1600. Usually that's when I'm just shooting memories (family and friends stuff) and I often really like how it turns out most of the time. I tend to only do this in 35mm or in 120 if I'm using my Yashica Mat. If I'm shooting HP5 in my 4x5, it's at box usually. In large format I'll tend to use the zone system so often don't really push film but would be doing expansion or contraction (push or pull) based on fitting the zones into the scene. I don't tend to do that often though.

[@ShootFilmLikeaBoss]

I have to try that with HP5 Tim. I always shoot that at box.

[@m00dawg]

@@ShootFilmLikeaBoss I've actually got a roll of Tri-X a camera I'm shooting for the first time (at least in a long time). Opted to shoot that one at box. But yeah 35mm HP5 at 1600 souped in replenished XT-3 is my jam! I love it! If I'm doing something more serious, I'll probably be using a different camera (and also probably a tripod where I could switch over to say T-Max 100).

[@ivarwb4115]

What developer do you use shooting HP5 at 1600?

[@m00dawg]

@@ivarwb4115 Adox XT-3 (replenished)

[@ManCalledMif]

Thank you for explaining this so clearly

[@ShootFilmLikeaBoss]

Glad it was helpful!

[@amosk24]

Great job, Boss. I remember you suggested I shoot at box speed and overdevelop with my cloudy Seattle weather. Cheers!

[@ShootFilmLikeaBoss]

Did it work? I wouldn't over develop too much like in this video 50% for the sake of the highlights.

[@steven1000000000]

Was interesting seeing the difference in the highlights and the shadows. I didn't really think much about how it treater tham differently before.

[@studiojege287]

Great video, well explained! Thanks

[@theoldfilmbloke]

May Year ago when 'Practical Photography' Magazine was 2 Shillings and Six Pence ( 12.5 New Pence!! ) they invented the Double F Double D technique -- Fast Film Dilute Development and I tried it -- Rate film about 1600 ASA, dilute D76 1+4 with water, give 45 mins development time -- it worked well even with Adox KB17 I remember using Crawley's FX-4 Formula diluted 1+4 for 25 mins rated 500 ASA.

[@ShootFilmLikeaBoss]

I shall give that a try Pete. Its that at 20degrees?

[@Mark-el8sb]

Nice explanation of the pushing process!

[@billhackley3540]

you've convinced me to try it on my next shoot thank you for the outstanding information

[@podhoncisty]

Useful and interesting, thank you Roger 👍 I'v pushed film few times and I love the results 🙂

[@ShootFilmLikeaBoss]

Cool, thanks

[@brineb58]

Great explanation!!! I rarely ever pug=sh or pull film ... pretty much determine the light before i go out and pick the film i use ... but it's a good tool for the arsenal!!!

[@ShootFilmLikeaBoss]

I usually over expose one stop and develop normally with colour.

[@ChrisVidouras]

Great video! Thanks for sharing!!

[@ShootFilmLikeaBoss]

Thanks for watching!

[@ajbrennan6456]

there were unemployed Dolls, on the dole on a dull day ....if you come from Essex or London it's the same bloody word lol.... another Excellent informative video ...

[@tgchism]

Loads of information and explanation! Thank you!

[@nikcleese6058]

Finally I get it! Your use of examples was excellent.

[@ShootFilmLikeaBoss]

Glad it helped!

[@JohanSvenssongbgpixtures]

Great video ! Been horrible weather in Sweden to ,feels like forever. Hp5 + is easy to push with good results ! Fompan 400 , i can recommend to pull instead . Rate it at 200 and under develop at 20-30% !

[@attrell64]

This would be a great follow up video

[@sushimann83]

Really informative. Cheers

[@thomaschipman]

if you haven't already, it'd be interesting to see a pushed-vs-semistand video where you shoot the same scenes but push part of the roll and then semistand dev the other.

[@ShootFilmLikeaBoss]

For sure. The stand would have a compensating effect making the negs less contrasty but worth a try to see. Cheers.

[@baggerrider8073]

Would have been interesting to see a third photograph for comparison shot at 800. I’ve seen some great tri x images taken in somewhat flat light shot at 800 but developed for 1600.

[@georgesealy4706]

Thanks for this video. I learned a lot.

[@ShootFilmLikeaBoss]

Glad it was helpful!

[@FerrisThomas]

Great explanation, Roger! Keep on keepin' on.

[@davecarrera]

An excellent video with real world examples.

[@stefaanverlinde9726]

Thanks Roger, very informative vlog !

[@ShootFilmLikeaBoss]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@roger263]

Roger, came at the right time as I have been wanting to push more film. Cheers Roger in Australia

[@ShootFilmLikeaBoss]

Cheers... Roger.

[@edwardcrosby5034]

The old Kodak TRI-X (pre 2007) was a great film for pushing, and gave a very arty gritty grainy look. Now I think HP5 pushes better. The developer can make quite a difference. I usually use HP5 in D76, although I believe DDX works well when pushing.

[@Socrates...]

Loved the photo of the bus stop

[@mickcookson8009]

Some very nice shots there Roger

[@ShootFilmLikeaBoss]

Thanks Mick

[@mohammadazimi5899]

Hey boss ! Tanx . It was very useful

[@georgesealy4706]

Great photos.

[@ShootFilmLikeaBoss]

Many thanks!

[@Erik-dc3ki]

When rinsing papper, you can feel When fixer is gone.... The papper becomes less slippery on The surface.

[@ShootFilmLikeaBoss]

I've never noticed that but makes sense.

[@ivarwb4115]

To a novice like myself, this is pure education!

[@ShootFilmLikeaBoss]

Glad you got somehting from it.

[@erichstocker8358]

I enjoyed this episode as I do almost all of yours. I never have been a big fan of pushing film because of the increase of grain and contrast. However, I've thought about it on those very drab, overcast days where a contrast increase is desired. However, the big increase in grain generally turned me off. However, (at least on youtube) I think your pushed photos came out looking pretty good without a huge increase in grain. I find that stand development does a good job maintaining tonality. However, the problem is that it generally reduces contrast. Thanks for the episode.

[@ShootFilmLikeaBoss]

The grain was hardly noticeable on those prints. If I stood the film I wouldn't have got the results I wanted because of the compensating effect. Possibly would have been back to square one. Flat contrast.

[@tomislavmiletic_]

I've spent years of my career pushing film. Good for sports at night (football in a stadium and everything indoors), concerts and street photography in a dull weather but not much more than that...

[@JasperBunschoten]

I always overexpose my pushed film by a stop. Gonna develop it as 800? Then I shoot it at 400. Likewise for 1600 and 3200. Only when there are a lot of highlights I adjust my metering to the pushed speed.

[@ShootFilmLikeaBoss]

So you under expose by one stop and over develop by two stops? Sounds good Jasper.

[@IainHC1]

Reallllly informative m8 🙂 You've explained and really simplified quite a subject!! 🙂

[@ShootFilmLikeaBoss]

I left out the Coffee scenario. LOL

[@largophoto]

Hi Roger ..a Triumph Herald ..( not sure ..about gloss paper .. possible high contrast ..) ..

[@ShootFilmLikeaBoss]

That car was awesome.

[@guillermoperezsantos]

Try Microphen, its far better than D-76 for pushing

[@Uwe_Ludolf]

I have pushed film but regularly not more than one stop*, pushing HP5+ to 800 gives you some nice extra contrast. With Christmas I shoot an adorable photograph of my niece/cousin (in Dutch we don't care who's kid it is, just one word for it 🙈) on pushed HP5+ with my Canon EF with FDn 50 1.2. It looks like it was shot wide open, I'm going to make a print of that. Rain... I doubt if we had 6 dry hours in a row last week, the barometer hit 971 hPa tonight 😲. I was planning to make some kind of shelf for what's going to be my darkroom, this weekend. But since it was windy and raining cats and dogs even under the carport I want dry. *Well... I have a roll of Agfaphoto APX100 laying around that I accidentally shot at 400. I couldn't find times for that in XT3 nor Ilfosol 3. Souped it in XT3 but still need to scan that film.

[@ShootFilmLikeaBoss]

Hope the APX turned out well!

[@briglnai]

I did push a lot, HP5 and Tmax400, also Tri-X400 on 120. But I never did more than +1 stop... some film stocks get grainy quite fast when being pushed.

[@ShootFilmLikeaBoss]

Yes they do. Because of the under exposure.

[@1973sonvis]

Its hard to be a photographer in Norway during the winter without pushing film. I prefer HP5 exposed as 1600 ISO. More often than not I get good results. Keep it up! 😊👍🏻

[@ivopetko2162]

I can imagine that, same in Sweden. What developer do you use to push HP5?

[@1973sonvis]

@@ivopetko2162 My go-to developer is ID-11 (or D-76), but I recently discovered that DD-X 1+4 gives great results with pushed HP5.

[@attrell64]

A really clear lesson. Can you explain the difference between panchromatic and orthochromatic film please?

[@steven1000000000]

Panchromatic = Sensitive to the whole range of visible spectrum of light. (Most "normal" films such as HP5, Tri-X, FP-4, Kentmere, Fomapan etc. are Pan films). Orthochromatic = sensitive to all colours/light, except red. Therefore red subjects tend to be darker in the final image and blues lighter. Portraits of people with freckles can be quite dramatic with ortho film.

[@ShootFilmLikeaBoss]

As Steven said. Thanks Steven. There are very few Ortho Films out there. Ilford Ortho 80 is relatively new and one I like to shoot. Ortho Films were all they had before Pan Films were invented in the early 1900's (1906 ish). If you google photos of London back in the early 1900's you'll notice the buses (which are red) and Post boxes are very dark. Also if you look at the old Charlie Chaplin films. Lots of pale make up and dark eye liner was put on the face. You only need to take a portrait of someone with a nice orange glow tan to get a dark face on ortho film. Not nice. Also someone with deep orange freckles. They become more pronounced on a portrait. It's a nice look for a change.

[@lowpassman]

May i ask a question？If i shoot in a low light situation，my film iso is 400，i open the aperture to the biggest it‘s can be and i set the shutter as low as i can shoot without blur，the light meter still show that it's still one stop below the “right” exposure. In this case，can i have the exposure “right”，to have more detail in the dark part ，if i tell the lab to push the film by one stop when they are developing it？

[@alfepalfe]

Thanks to a challenge in a discord server I've got a little project to just for fun try pushing fomapan 200 to iso 6400. We'll see how terribly it goes, I can find no times so I am just guessing. The last time I could just barely see the edges of the frame so it did get *something.* (I'm developing one negative at the time from a bulk roll so I'm not wasting that much film.) Oh by the way, I also tried pushing Tri-X to 1600 and am happy with the results, I can post a link to a print in a reply to this comment, it's by the way developed in rodinal at the time from the massive dev chart.

[@alfepalfe]

Here's the link to that 1600 iso tri-x print. media.discordapp.net/attachments/440022363128594442/1076627407341109309/20230218_230948.jpg

[@ShootFilmLikeaBoss]

Hope it turns out for you. Nice to experiment

[@SilntObsvr]

Another thing to know is that some films push better than others. Tri-X and HP5+ push very well -- Fomapan 400 not so much. Fomapan 100, on the other hand, pushes pretty well; in fact, it looks almost as good at EI 400 as Fomapan 400 does. T-Max P3200 and Delta 3200 are both actually 800-1000 speed, but designed to be pushed, and they can be pushed to 12800 with good results -- but T-Max 400 is at its limit at EI 1600 (where Tri-X can go to 6400 in the right developer). In all of these cases, you're still giving up highlights to get more favorable aperture or shutter speed when the light is insufficient for your film -- and using high contrast development to salvage the highlights and midtones -- but this works better with films that intrinsically lower contrast and true speed close to box speed, vs. those that are already being pushed, after a fashion, just to get to box speed. There was a time when I discovered after exposing that I'd loaded 9x12 Tri-X 320 backward in the film holders -- and I needed to push *five stops* to get anything that resembled a usable exposure. I threw together a developer from Dektol, HC-110, ascorbic acid, and some extra washing soda (sodium carbonate), and developed fifteen minutes with constant agitation at 24 C -- and dang if it didn't bring out those images to a very printable condition!

[@ShootFilmLikeaBoss]

I took a portrait the other day on digital at 6400ISO, clean as a whistle. I needed the extra sensitivity due to low light and no flash. Wasn't planned. Just off the cuff. Got me thinking if I could get that clean with Delta3200 and Microphen. Never tried I don't think

[@SilntObsvr]

@@ShootFilmLikeaBoss Based on what I've seen from Ari Jaaksi (Shoot on Film), you're unlikely to get that "clean" with Delta 3200 at that EI in any developer -- remember, EI 3200 is already about a two stop push (real film speed is 800-1000). Make no mistake, Delta 3200 or P3200 *can* get there (I've seen Delta 3200 pushed to 25000), but it won't look "clean" by any reasonable definition. If I needed 6400 today, I'd probably start with XP2 Super, give a three stop push (to EI 3200) in development (for C41 that would be 5:45 at 39 C, or less time if you can stabilize a higher temperature -- and that's about the limit for C-41), and fix without bleaching (which gains approximately another stop from the retained silver -- if using a blix based kit you can fix with regular B&W rapid fixer). The combination of dye cloud and silver image will tend to reduce grain compared to silver-only, and XP2 has super-fine grain anyway (roughly like Delta 400 even if you develop in B&W developer like HC-110/Ilfotec HC).

[@moha2131]

hi what happened if I shoot film at 1600 but pushed at 3200 ? is it going to give me 1 stop light over ?

[@raywilson9450]

...and you see just how forgiving HP5 and 400TX is.

[@Yosser70]

Been trying to get my head around pushing film, watched loads of videos but this one really made it click for me. One question, if I’m just dslr scanning and inkjet printing (will get into wet printing eventually), does anything change with the process?

[@ShootFilmLikeaBoss]

Just get the best negative you can. There is no difference changes to the negative for either process.

[@chilecayenne]

Great timing…I just discovered that a roll of color film I shot over Xmas, was 100 iso, and I metered it all at 400…2 stops off. My local developer place only pushes B&W film, not color. I’m not set up yet to develop myself, so starting to research a reasonable price place to send to Develop for me. Nice to see here what sorts of things to expect. I’m in the US Anyone have suggestions of a U.S. service that pushes color?

[@mpk33]

Most pro labs should be able to do it for a few dollars extra per stop.

[@ShootFilmLikeaBoss]

Reminds me of those under exposed prints from the lab with the sticker on

[@jonareli]

Push it real good

[@ShootFilmLikeaBoss]

Classic. Showing your age ha ha

[@TrueFisp112]

Hi Roger and thanks for your always interesting and inspiring videos! I'm a complete newbie at this, but is there some kind of a thumb rule how much (in % of the default development time per stop) you have to overdevelop a given film when pushing? Or is there so much difference between various films and developers that no general rule can be applied? Greetings from Sweden (spring is coming here too!)/Johan

[@ShootFilmLikeaBoss]

Have a look at the info on this page about pushing film. www.digitaltruth.com/devchart.php?doc=pushproc I usually add 15 or 20% onto my time per stop.

[@TrueFisp112]

Thanks!

[@RickMahoney2013]

Roger I use to shoot a lot of color film and I always overexposed by 1 stop but had it developed just like it was never overexposed the only exception was and still is slide film could I benefit by doing it another way? Thanks Rick.

[@odukar2315]

I always push development by approximately +20% on a dull, overcast day. I never pushed a film.

[@michaelrasmussen3347]

Nice. Do you think it have would any difference if you have used stand develop?

[@ShootFilmLikeaBoss]

Yes. Stand development would have given me a less contrasty negative pretty much back to square one! At least I imagine,.

[@kayhankayar531]

Which film developper did you use? I mostly use Rodinal 1:25

[@ShootFilmLikeaBoss]

Kodak D76 Kayhan. Stock.

[@stevebutcher6117]

If you pull film will you get less grain? I dont hear of people pulling film whats the reason people dont do that?

[@Uwe_Ludolf]

You can use PanF if you don't want grain. Or develop in Perceptol. I don't like HP5+ in Perceptol 1+3 but 400TX does.

[@ShootFilmLikeaBoss]

Pulling film Steve, usually somewhere were like a coffee shop. I want detail inside and also outside the window at the people walking by. The negs result in a flatter negative with much less grain and more detail or latitude. More often on a contrasty day I won't over expose but I instead under develop slightly for a less contrasty negative.

[@luc5798]

A lot of photographers used to pull their trix or hp5 to 200 to have better results !