Topic: The first roll!

[Soap]

I got my %$%$ together and finally developed my first roll of B&W. A fine specimen of Ilford Delta 100 I shot in central London on my (now broken and replaced by an OM10) Praktica MTL50. In my amazement at the magical pictures that appeared out of thin air I wondered if everyone here remembers the first roll they developed and what it contained?

Who doesn't love a story? Tell yours!

[original_ann]

Congratulations and welcome to the joy!  For the life of me I cannot remember that first roll.  I was a senior in highschool, that's all I remember.   

[Terry]

I was eight or nine years old; my brother and I had a Brownie Starmite and a contact printer.  We would turn the bathroom into a darkroom.  I don't remember the first photo but it was probably of our dog.

[Mojave]

I dont recall developing film in high school. I think we only made prints and did pinhole shots. But, when I recently started to develop my own b&w film at home, my experience was a mix of happiness and confusion. LOL! I was excited to see images but they didnt look right either. I lost about 7 rolls of film, some 35mm and some 120, to inexperience but yeah, when I finally got it right, I was so excited that I couldnt sleep. I developed film until Midnight or so, hung it to dry, then tossed and turned in my bed and finally got up 3 hours later and scanned and scanned until the sun came up and I had to log in for work. Only just recently did I let a roll of b&w film sit for a week or so before I developed it. So coming up on a year of doing my own film I've calmed down enough to let a roll sit for more than a few hours. 

[Late Developer]

The first camera I "owned" was an un-metered "Edixaflex" 35mm with a waist level finder and a 50mm f2.8 lens. My mum and dad gave it to me for my 13th birthday in 1974. I'd already been bitten by the photographic "bug" and had been allowed - under strict supervision - to take the odd photo using my dad's Rolleiflex. He wouldn't let me near it on my own and, in retrospect, I don't blame him one bit.

As I was born near Manchester, my two passions as a kid were Manchester City Football Club (that passion remains to this day) and Belle Vue Speedway. The first roll of film I remember using was Ilford B&W from that era (400 ASA as I recall). I developed it and - under my dad's supervision - found I'd managed to get about 3 of the 36 exposures correct. The rest were just rubbish. My dad's friend enlarged the photos for me as we didn't have a darkroom.

I was incredibly proud of what were rubbish photos - but they were mine. Sadly, divorce and job moves mean I've lived the life of a nomad since about 1988 - so all my old negs, trannies and prints have "disappeared" down the years.

[Francois]

I still remember the first roll I processed some 20 years ago. They were shots of a water tower on Saint-Helen's island. I didn't fully understand that depth of field thing and the pictures are somewhat ordinary...

But if you'd ask me what was my first Polaroid shot... that would be a problem

[rkbry]

I am still a.) working up the courage to try to develop my own roll, and b.) collecting all the items necessary. I am a bit nervous because following instructions is not my strong suit.

But I will definitely try it sooner rather than later. I sent in 5 rolls of 135 and it's costing me US$54 for processing and scanning. And the whole process is terribly sloooooooooow as well. There is little more disappointing than opening my mailbox after work to find only junk mail and bills, no negatives... 

[Thom Stone]

I remember my first roll pretty well as it was only just under a year ago in July 2010. I did it with old chemicals from my uncle and it came out ENTIRELY blank.

but a few days later I had bought a yashica TL-super slr from a 'retro' shop in town, I would call it a junk shop but the prices were far too high for junk, £30 it cost (on a side note I recently purchased a Yashica mg-1 from the same shop for around the same price).

anyway I couldnt wait to start shooting it, so I rummaged in my bag for a roll of film and to my suprise and excitement I found a roll of Fp4+ so loaded it straight up and despite not having a battery in it for the light meter I did a bit of guess work (the first guess work when it comes to metering I had ever done, had someone said sunny 16 to me I probably would have replied 'yeah I am pretty thirsty') so I headed up to nottingham castle and took a shot of an interesting old door.

a few days later I went into town with my photographer/model friend and did a bit of a shoot and decided to head to a shop called 'vintage warehouse' which is basically a never ending hipster jumble sale. we took some shots in there and then went outside down the road to the lazer quest and took some shots out there because we thought it would be all retro and funky.

decided to dev the film myself when I got home because I wanted to TRY and succeed at the whole developing lark so I could feel more like a real photographer and also I was desperate to see some of the shots :-P anyway about an hour later, a lot of that time was spent wrestling the roll into my dev tank in the dark, I had these shots, which I am proud of to this day and still think the one entitled reflection is the best shot ive taken (still could be better, wish I never chopped off annas feet)

anyway I actually used reflection in the print exchange as it was also the first ever photograph I printed in my darkroom. its a whole load of firsts for me that photograph.


reflection by Thomo_Lomo, on Flickr


Door by the castle by Thomo_Lomo, on Flickr


Benched by Thomo_Lomo, on Flickr

apologies for the essay, but you did ask for a story and I'am an ex english student :-P

[Terry]

rkbry:  I would recommend giving stand development a try.  It isn't the answer in every case, but it's a great way to get your feet wet (so to speak).  I had been away from darkrooms for many years (about 30) and tried stand development a while back.  It helped rebuild my confidence and got me back into traditional by-the-book processing and experimenting with caffenol.  I haven't had this much fun in years.

Oh yes--it costs me about 32 cents to develop a roll of film this way (40 if I use photo-flo)

[rkbry]

Oh yes--it costs me about 32 cents to develop a roll of film this way (40 if I use photo-flo)

This is music to my ears. Thanks for the encouragement. 

[Terry]

Glad to help; let me know if you decide to try it.  I went from "Oh dear I'd better frame this shot up carefully because it's going to cost me 15 bucks to get this roll developed" to bracketing dodgy exposure situations and shooting multiple rolls in one day (like in the old days when labs were cheap and plentiful).  Now I bulk-load and it costs me under two dollars a roll, all in.  (For 35mm black/white, I should add; 120 costs more of course, but still only 30-odd cents to develop)

[Francois]

Funny thing is when you buy a used bulk loader, the previous owner has often left the remains of a spool inside. This happened to me so now I'll have to do a bracketted test roll to figure out what the heck it is I have in my hands

[Terry]

Don't you love a mystery?