There has been a lot of complaining and intense examination taking place on the Internet concerning the recent Kodak Alaris’ price increase. In some cases prices have gone up by as much as 30%.

The following is a statement from the company:

“2019 has been exceptional year for film, Kodak Alaris has seen increasing demand for film with new interest in traditional photography growing and a decline in the volume of film our key competitor has released to the market. Our market share has grown and levels of positivity towards shooting film not seen for many years has returned. These changes have also come with some problems, in recent years film supply has only just kept pace with market demand during the peak season but this year the increased demand has resulted in the highest level of Kodak Alaris film sales for some years leading to supply issues for most of our film lines. We have had to prioritise production of the most important film types, for example Professional film which is critical to many Professional Photographers. Overall we have seen the level of customer back orders increase to an unprecedented level, we understand this creates a difficult issue for our customers and end users but film production has been limited by a finite supply of one of the key components used to produce film.

Alaris’s film supply comes from a single dedicated supplier, we are beholden to this supplier for all the film we sell across the world. Our supplier has recognised the increased demand for film and started to initiate plans to increase their volume capacity. A large ongoing financial investment has been made to increase production capacity but unfortunately the benefits of this investment will not be realised until much later in 2020, with some additional benefits being delivered in 2021.

As the level of customer orders has increased every step has been taken to supply film as promptly as possible to our customers, with nearly all film and the components needed to produce film being air shipped around the world. These actions have come with a fiscal cost and despite our and our suppliers best efforts we have not been able to keep up with demand resulting in the extraordinary level of customer back orders we now have.

Partly due to the investment cost related to increasing film capacity and other increases in operational costs our film supplier has passed on a significant price increase to us for all film products. This price increase is far bigger than Kodak Alaris can absorb and we are forced to announce a price increase will be made all of our customers across the world from the 1st January 2020.

Kodak Alaris’s Management Team have agreed to absorb some of the price increase but we cannot absorb all of the price increase, therefore a significant increase will still be passed on to all our customers.”

So here are my thoughts. If you have a problem with this, it’s time get over it and start moving on. In fact, you should thank your luck stars and be happy that Tri-X is still available! Be happy that Kodak’s other black and white films are still available. Be happy that D-76, HC-110 and Dektol are still available. Be happy that a company that provides fine products manufactured with strict quality control is making them available to us so we can pursue our vision. Don’t like Kodak, then use Ilford or some other manufacturer’s products, but Kodak’s continued well-being is important to all of us!

Film, paper, and chemicals are expensive. I get that.  Almost seven bucks for a roll of Tri-X certainly isn’t cheap, but I’ll gladly pay it.  I know I won’t convince everyone.  Still not happy; the next time you go through the Starbucks drive through think about how lucky we all are as you fork over nearly that much for a Venti of your favorite designer latte.

Things really are not so bad when it comes to black white film, paper and chemistry for silver gelatin work. Same goes for the chemistry and papers to make alternative emulsion processes.  Despite what some would have the uninformed think, film is not dead and traditional wet-based prints made from film are also alive and well.  There certainly was a time when the analog world was starting to look a little bleak, but that’s no longer the case!

Certainly if you are a fan of Kodak products there fewer films available and paper is no longer being produced, but Tri-X, for example, still lives on in its latest formulation along with D76 and HC-110 to develop it!  Ilford is still going strong; recently they introduced a range of new papers to update their VC line that compliments their beautiful Gallerie graded paper, and their films are still widely available. While the pickings might be slim in your local brick and mortar camera shop, Freestyle Photo, B&H and Adorama to name a few, have thriving storefronts and online sites so you can get whatever you need.

Checking out the Freestyle’s site I see listings for 26 brands of black and white film and 7 brands of paper available. In the case of film, there are a variety of choices up to 8×10. Less for 11X14, and beyond that you are talking about special orders to the majors, most likely for group purchases. But, Fuji Acros is back from the dead in the form of Acros II, available in 35mm and 120 formats.  Fuji originally discontinued Acros due to decreasing demand but according to the company “ due to recent interest from millennials and GenZs, who have become the newest film enthusiasts, Fujifilm developed a plan to revive black-and-white film to meet new market demands”.  Just like vinyl records, film will just not go away, due in part to resurgence of interest from younger generations.

When it comes to alternative processes, one only needs to visit the websites of Bostick & Sullivan, Artcraft and Photographer’s Formulary to stock up.  All three provide raw chemical components for those that like to mix their own, as well as premade products, including their own proprietary formulas.

Hey, even instant film is back along with the cameras to use it! 35mm, medium format and large format cameras are still being made and there’s a ton of high quality used gear out there that will work flawlessly for years to come. Enlargers are still being manufactured too and Jobo is producing their wonderful film processors again.  And more good news – used darkroom equipment still can easily be found at great prices.

Yes, film and paper costs have risen and we don’t have all the choices we once had. On the other hand we have some wonderful new film, paper and chemistry choices that were not available in the “good old days”!

All things considered, I would say the state of things is fine and life is pretty good!

On Saturday I spent several hours with my friend and outstanding photographer, Jim Kipfer ( www.jameskipfer.weebly.com ).  Jim was visiting and brought a clamshell box full of contact prints to look at. Most were made from 8X10 negatives, with a few from 4X10s. Some were made using the beautiful and now discontinued Lodima silver-chloride contact printing paper, and the others with a platinum solution, hand coated by Jim onto watercolor paper.

Looking at his prints was like a breath of fresh air; portraits of friends and family, intimate landscapes and vignettes of small towns.  What did they all have in common, besides being well seen and expertly printed?  They were gorgeous jewels with a depth you could truly reach into and feel! Even the platinum prints that tend to have a “softer” look to them were a sight to behold. And one other thing … they were of the size that I prefer, which forces the viewer to get close and really look into and study the image.

The experience made me wonder for a moment why I ever gave up on large format (actually I know why … snap out of it!).

Don’t let anyone tell you that there isn’t something special about contact prints, or that they can make an enlargement that looks as good or can rival a contact print.  If they do, they’re just flat out wrong or clearly can’t see!

Marveling at the quiet beauty of these exquisite images was something to really savor, as they exhibit something my enlargements from small negatives can never have. That doesn’t mean my 35mm and medium format-based prints are dogs; they’re made with the right tools for the types of pictures I wish to make. Rather in this case the artist has created the best final product he can with the large negatives at his disposal. To me, that’s an important statement and tells you an awful lot!

Now for those that use large format film (even 4×5) and have never tried contact printing, you owe it to yourself to make some contact prints to see what you’ve been missing. If the subject matter is there, the small print will knock your socks off. On the other hand, if your vision is lacking or you have become lazy, then making really large prints will be the way to go. Hey, they fit in well with the current gallery scene and are good for taking up unwanted wall space!

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about not getting stressed out over not getting into my darkroom over the winter holidays as planned. Well I finally found some time where it wasn’t expected and made some prints that I am happy with. My printing procedure is composed of two steps.  First, I make my prints, stop (using a water bath), fix with a non-hardening formula, then wash and dry on screens. Next, when I have enough prints they’re selenium toned, washed and dried again on screens.

So I worked on 5 images and the next morning came downstairs to take them off the screens and see how they came out.  I immediately noticed one appeared a little dark overall.  I even showed it to my wife for a sanity check and she agreed. This doesn’t happen too often but when it does that’s what the wastebasket is for.  Certainly not the end of the world! Better to admit your mistake earlier rather latter in the process when more time has been invested in a bad outcome.

I planned on getting back into the darkroom with a different printing strategy and went back into the darkroom on Saturday morning expecting to be finished by noon. Usually I can make a print that I’m satisfied in an hour or two. So far so good … or so I thought.  This turned out to be one of the most difficult printing sessions I’ve ever had.  I won’t bore you with the details but I came upstairs six hours and a lot of paper later.  It wasn’t that the negative required heroic measures to salvage a usable print, but rather that I wasn’t getting what I wanted.  Here’s the thing, if I can’t produce something I’m proud of then what’s the point?  The point is not to settle!  There’s so much in our lives that is disappointing; the empty popular culture, our mostly second-rate elected officials and boring breakfast cereal.  One thing we should be able to do is make a damn print we’re proud of and willing to append our signature to!  Not something that’s almost good enough!

Ok, maybe I should have taken a short break to grab some chow, but I was determined. As frustrating as things got, the more unwilling to give up I became. I even thought of a split contrast idea I hadn’t tried before. Why not … it worked!  Sometimes it’s almost like willing yourself to succeed. I/we must be as creative as possible, for as much as I love what I do, all things considered I’d be foolish not to admit that the tools at our disposal are pretty crude.

I finished up a little hungry but happy in my work.  The prints got washed and dried overnight.  I didn’t settle … unlike many of the things that disappoint me I have control over what I create in my darkroom.  Sunday morning I came downstairs again, shut my mind to all nonsense, looked at the prints … and all was well again.

Great! You now have made some photographs and need to develop your film. Some people can’t wait to develop their film and look at their negatives.  So they do it as soon as they can.  Then there are others like me who wait until they have a certain number of rolls.  Then I set aside a couple of hours and get it done.  There’s a reason for that. I really don’t enjoy developing film very much.  It’s pretty mechanical and not a very creative process compared to other parts of my photographic life. That having been said, it is absolutely essential and has to be done. I’ll bet there are a bunch of photographers out there that never get around to developing their film (as well as those that never print their negatives).  A striking example was the discovery after Gary Winogrand’s death that more than 2,500 roles of his exposed film were not developed. To repeat … develop your film. There just might be some keepers lurking about!

A critical prerequisite is the establishment of your personal film speed and development time. As I have mentioned before, I’m not a prolific tester.  But it’s essential to establish the proper film speed for each of the films you use and the correct development times for those films with your developer(s) of choice (see a previous discussion of this in My Photographic Process – Step 1 and 2 – Film Speed and Development Time Testing).

I’m not going to get into a discussion here on how to develop film, what types of tanks and reels (or trays for large format negatives) to use, or manual verses automated processing (OK, I have used a Jobo processor for over twenty years and I would not be without it!).  I am hoping you know how to do that and if you don’t there are many fine books that can describe the step by step process, and if you prefer to watch things there are may how to demonstrations available on YouTube.

So now you have developed your film. Congratulations! A critical step accomplished!  What next?  Well, it is essential that you store them in an archival and protective manner, and in a way that you can easily and quickly access them for printing.  Again, there are a number of approaches to this. One thing you don’t want to do is shove them into some paper envelopes that are then stuffed into an empty VC paper box!  Here’s what I do and it works for me. I use clear Print File pages for all my film sizes. They’re archival, protective and keep dust away from my negatives. They are also pretty inexpensive and can be easily found.  What’s more, they also have holes on the left side of the pages so they can fit nicely into loose leaf notebooks, or better yet into Vue All archival binder containers that seal shut to provide further protection for your precious negatives.  They too are inexpensive and easily obtained.  I don’t know how else to say it, but protect your negatives or you’re bozo!

The other thing I like about the Print File system is that there is space on the pages so that you can number them and write a short description of what is contained on the negatives. I think this is essential, and the number on each page corresponds with the one on its associated Staples Clear Sheet Protector that holds my proof sheet (more to come on that when I discuss my next step!).  So easy, and to my way of thinking, so logical!

What matters though is not what I do, but that you develop your film and store it in a safe manner for easy retrieval that works for you.

Now, do it!

Well things didn’t work out as I had planned during my so-called time off between Christmas and New Year’s. I had hoped to print some keepers I had made during the latter part of the year, but work and other issues conspired to keep me from getting into the darkroom.  I could have pushed myself to print a couple of hours here and there between all the chaos and anarchy that was going on but I just could not get the proper motivation, and I think I know why. I simply knew I would be forcing things. I wouldn’t really enjoy what I was trying to accomplish and the results would probably show it; I would also be totally stressed out.

Better to step back and realize it just wasn’t going to happen and move on until I could have the time to work under much more favorable and pleasant conditions.  I know I will get it done. Not because I feel I have to, but because I want to!  I’m not burned out or in a slump; the whole point of this is to be creative and to enjoy yourself. If not, why bother in the first place?

The above having been said, I hadn’t stopped thinking out photography during my so-called time off. Even though I wasn’t doing what I had wanted to, I kept my head in the game and was planning, reading, and yes, even daydreaming about what I love. So it wasn’t really a loss at all, just a delay.

So now what? Hey it’s a new year and just like spring training camp all things are possible. Like a great pennant race or winning the World’s Series.  I know, once the season begins reality isn’t always as we dreamt, but this year your team is full of hard workers that come to play every day wanting to prove themselves. All things are possible!

So things didn’t work out as planned. No sweat. It’s going to be a great photographic year.  I’m going to get my printing done and even get to some older previously unprinted negatives and get them done too. Then I’m going to get out there and make some new images at some favorite places and some spots I’ve never been to.  And I have some other exciting things in the works (more on that to come!). I’ll get everything done. Mind you I don’t have a schedule for any of this.  I don’t need one because I love it all. I’ll do all these things, not because I feel I have to, but because I want to!