1974 Buick Century Regal

I didn't take this picture, but I did develop it. It was a from a roll of 127 film that was in a Brownie Starmatic I got off ebay. In fact, when I was developing it, I didn't even know which film it was, since I had four separate developing tanks all loaded up with film. When I hung it up, I realized that I hadn't taken any of the shots I saw. Unwittingly, I finally did it. I was able to release some images after they had lain dormant for over 35 years.



The other pictures were various views of the house in the background. No people.

NOTES:
The film was Kodacolor-X (for mature photographers only). It was discontinued in 1974, though that doesn't mean this picture was taken right then. Though the car does look pretty darned new and shiny. I was unable to make out what state the license plate was from, despite all of my photoshop contrast finagling.

For those who want to know the really exciting technical stuff, I used Ilfosol 3, 6.5 minutes, 20 degrees celsius.

Since I've done this, I've now looked even more into what the authority I like to call the "internet" has to say about processing old film. Well, such as is the nature of the internet, I'm faced with all sorts of advice from all sorts of people who know they're "right." And then as I'm planning my next vintage process, be it with found film or some of my unused old stock, all of that sage knowledge will be buzzing around in my head, filling me with doubt, tightening my chest with anxiety.

This is now heaped onto the anxiety of getting a shutter tester and finding out how way off all the speeds on my cameras really are. Mo' info = Mo' problems. Now I understand why all the pros have gone digital. There's so much less bullshit, but I'll continue as I have been, with anxiety by my side.

I need to go back to using The Force. Or maybe I can use one of my favorite words here, "Fingerspitzengefühl." I learned it in a class called "Weapons, Strategy, and WAR" (the caps and bold were my addition). It was a word the Germans used to describe a certain quality a general must have in battle, to be able to feel the pulse of the action, as if with his fingertips, and to be able to make decisions accordingly, as if by instinct.

If that ain't The Force, then I don't know what am.