# HDR developing in film? Possible?



## robertandrewphoto

Is this possible? 
I just bought a new film camera and I do HDR shots with my digital photography and I would like to do the same with film.
I would think that you could simply overlay the 3-howevermany shots on the enlarger but I don't know what the outcome would be.


Any insight is greatly welcome


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## c.cloudwalker

Considering HDR dates back to long before digital cameras came out, the answer is yes.

You may want to ask on a film forum.


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## robertandrewphoto

did not know this, i havent really had any classes on photo history
thanks


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## c.cloudwalker

Neither have I. Just things you pick up here and there.

Sorry I can't help you more than that. Never used the technique myself.


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## Randall Ellis

Black and white film has the ability to record quite a bit more range than a digital sensor depending on how it is used. There are a number of techniques that you can employ to extend your control over the tonal values as recorded on the negative with a single exposure. Don't get me wrong, printing different negatives can certainly be done, and has been done by many people, but there are far easier ways to do this with film than going that route.

Read up on a technique called 'Expose for the shadows, Develop for the highlights'. This is a method of controlling both the exposure and the development of your film. It allows a great deal of control over the resulting tonal values in the negative, which if I understand the concept behind HDR, is the main idea, albeit using a number of exposures that are later combined rather than achieving this using a single exposure. The method I mentioned is, essentially, the basis of the Zone system - a more finely controlled method of doing the same thing, again, with a single exposure.

Once you have that idea down, you might want to also look up 'water bathing', which is another method of controlling the tonal values. This method retards development in the highlights, thereby preventing them from losing detail, and allows development to continue in the shadows, thereby providing detail where there would be less, or none, with standard development. And, if you're really interested, read up on the Zone system and development by inspection. Both of the later take a bit more work than the previous methods, but there are many people who use these techniques regularly and swear by them. Myself, I prefer to stick with the Expose/Develop technique, but you might gain something by learning a bit more about all of these, even if you don't use them in the end...

- Randy


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## christopher walrath

We have just finished running a beginner's series in Creative Image Maker regarding gear, exposure and enlarging.  We run the whole gambit.  And, of course, you can ask questions here.  I honestly cannot imagine too awful many situations where you would need latitude of more than eight or nine stops with black and white negative film and as Randy suggested, it can handle those circumstances well.


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