Scanning negatives without a scanner
Wednesday, 7 October 2026
A dedicated film scanner is slow and expensive. A digital camera on a copy stand, a light panel and a cheap negative holder beat it on speed and, past a point, on quality.
Developing your first roll at home
Sunday, 16 August 2026
The step that scared me for a year turned out to be the easiest: loading the reel in a changing bag. Ten minutes of practice with a dead roll in daylight and it stops being…
The light meter in my pocket
Friday, 12 June 2026
My phone's meter app is accurate enough that I sold the handheld meter I rarely trusted. It is always with me, and it does incident and spot readings well enough for negative…
A changing bag is not a darkroom
Monday, 4 May 2026
I spent too long trying to do everything in a changing bag before accepting that some jobs need real darkness. Loading reels is fine in the bag; anything involving open film and…
Metering for shadows
Saturday, 7 March 2026
Negative film holds highlights far better than it holds shadows. The old advice to expose for the shadows and develop for the highlights is the single most useful thing I was told.