# What happend here ?



## timor

A little quiz guys. Pictures bellow are showing some weird emulsion behavior. Pictures show whole sheet of 8x10. 



 


One hint: it is not bad fixing. Fixing was fine.


----------



## 480sparky

A whole sheet of paper,  or a whole  sheet of film?


----------



## timor

That prints of whole 6x6 negative on 8x10 paper. The empty space beneath pictures is unexposed portion of paper.


----------



## 480sparky

So the issue is on the film, not the paper?


----------



## timor

Neg is fine. Normal print from it is in my gallery and also here:
B&W Chemicals? | Page 2 | Photography Forum
Except for the fact, that it was shot with really primitive camera, neg, Across 100 is beautiful.


----------



## vintagesnaps

Yeah, that's some weird emulsion behavior alright!

I would have thought fixer, because doing ferrotyping I managed to drop too much glycerin into the fix once and ended up with a mess... so I could maybe recreate some sloppy fixer. lol Did you by chance spill/drip something else into the developer or stop? That's all that comes to mind.


----------



## 480sparky

Weak developer is my first suspect.


----------



## vintagesnaps

I know what the Imperial Reflex is, it wouldn't be just the camera...

It looks like a big schmear of some sort got across the paper. An oil slick?? lol Did something or someone get into your chemistry? one of the trays had a greasy or oily substance of some sort in it before you filled it?

(I didn't do it, I'm staying away from your darkroom with my glycerin! lol)


----------



## timor

vintagesnaps said:


> I know what the Imperial Reflex is, it wouldn't be just the camera...
> 
> It looks like a big schmear of some sort got across the paper. An oil slick?? lol Did something or someone get into your chemistry? one of the trays had a greasy or oily substance of some sort in it before you filled it?
> 
> (I didn't do it, I'm staying away from your darkroom with my glycerin! lol)


Nope. I have 300 sheets which will print like that right now. Lol...


----------



## timor

480sparky said:


> Weak developer is my first suspect.


No, it is RC paper, image would be faint if the developer would be spent, but not mottled.


----------



## timor

One more hint; what happened to this emulsion, happened outside the darkroom.


----------



## Dave442

OK, was what happened to the paper a mistake or did you do this on purpose? 
I take it that it happened outside the darkroom before the printing was done as you have another 300 sheets like this.

Interesting that the effect on both images seems very similar.


----------



## 480sparky

It got x-rayed.


----------



## timor

Dave442 said:


> OK, was what happened to the paper a mistake or did you do this on purpose?
> I take it that it happened outside the darkroom before the printing was done as you have another 300 sheets like this.
> 
> Interesting that the effect on both images seems very similar.


OK. It was sort of accident. Not intended, I wouldn't destroy on purpose 500 sheets of 8x10 and another 500 of 5x7. It happened on the way between store and darkroom.


----------



## 480sparky

You were abducted by (bacon-eating) aliens whilst toting your mysterious light-sensitive sheets home and their.......... um............... 'medical exam' of you exposed both you and the paper to some mysterious energy field.


----------



## terri

480sparky said:


> You were abducted by (bacon-eating) aliens whilst toting your mysterious light-sensitive sheets home and their.......... um............... 'medical exam' of you exposed both you and the paper to some mysterious energy field.


Well, that certainly makes more sense than dropping the box and having the paper exposed to light!     It's always about the bacon, at the end of the day, isn't it?


----------



## timor

480sparky said:


> It got x-rayed.


Correct !
I brought this paper across US - Canadian border in the car. This way, quite costly to me, I proved above any doubt X-rays are no good for unexposed emulsion. However for 10 months paper was still good, went bad just two weeks ago. I noticed, that it was a little less sensitive over the time, not much, at first I had to add to metered exposure 10 %, but at the end about 25, but the image was fine. Until this. Looks like x-rays are destroying sensitizers, it doesn't happen uniformly hence this mottled look. And it took 10 months. I don't know, it is good that 10 monts or bad and shouldn't happen at all.
 Nevertheless, you guys take material across the border in the car, process it quickly. LOL.


----------



## timor

terri said:


> 480sparky said:
> 
> 
> 
> You were abducted by (bacon-eating) aliens whilst toting your mysterious light-sensitive sheets home and their.......... um............... 'medical exam' of you exposed both you and the paper to some mysterious energy field.
> 
> 
> 
> Well, that certainly makes more sense than dropping the box and having the paper exposed to light!     It's always about the bacon, at the end of the day, isn't it?
Click to expand...

I like bacon.


----------



## 480sparky

timor said:


> 480sparky said:
> 
> 
> 
> It got x-rayed.
> 
> 
> 
> Correct !
> I brought this paper across US - Canadian border in the car. This way, quite costly to me, I proved above any doubt X-rays are no good for unexposed emulsion. However for 10 months paper was still good, went bad just two weeks ago. I noticed, that it was a little less sensitive over the time, not much, at first I had to add to metered exposure 10 %, but at the end about 25, but the image was fine. Until this. Looks like x-rays are destroying sensitizers, it doesn't happen uniformly hence this mottled look. And it took 10 months. I don't know, it is good that 10 monts or bad and shouldn't happen at all.
> Nevertheless, you guys take material across the border in the car, process it quickly. LOL.
Click to expand...


You can still buy special bags to protect film & paper from x-ray machines.


----------



## timor

480sparky said:


> timor said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 480sparky said:
> 
> 
> 
> It got x-rayed.
> 
> 
> 
> Correct !
> I brought this paper across US - Canadian border in the car. This way, quite costly to me, I proved above any doubt X-rays are no good for unexposed emulsion. However for 10 months paper was still good, went bad just two weeks ago. I noticed, that it was a little less sensitive over the time, not much, at first I had to add to metered exposure 10 %, but at the end about 25, but the image was fine. Until this. Looks like x-rays are destroying sensitizers, it doesn't happen uniformly hence this mottled look. And it took 10 months. I don't know, it is good that 10 monts or bad and shouldn't happen at all.
> Nevertheless, you guys take material across the border in the car, process it quickly. LOL.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> You can still buy special bags to protect film & paper from x-ray machines.
Click to expand...

Yes, I know, but they are not big enough to store 250 sheet box and then I think border x-ray is potent. I hope is directed only at the trunk,( not the people in the car.) It has to go pretty far and thru a lot of metal. I cross this border maybe 3 times per year, but people are crossing every day. I wonder, what will happen to them...

Oh, did you mean "Airport Security" bags for photo equipment ?


----------



## 480sparky

You can also request a hand-search, can you not?

I know many consider film to be ancient history, but a reasonable person (in this case, a border guard) should have the common sense to understand the issue.


----------



## timor

480sparky said:


> You can also request a hand-search, can you not?
> 
> I know many consider film to be ancient history, but a reasonable person (in this case, a border guard) should have the common sense to understand the issue.


You are right, it should be possible and I should think about that. But I didn't, so I've got hard lesson. 
Luckily I have plenty of other papers and I will survive until the next budget. This paper was from Ultrafine (VC Elite). I like this emulsion, but looks like Adorama has very competitive prices for similar product.


----------



## gsgary

Thats ok in UK we don't have any boarders to cross to buy paper


----------



## Dave442

It could make for a new project. Find 10 images that work with the effect and make 20 prints of each.


----------



## timor

gsgary said:


> Thats ok in UK we don't have any boarders to cross to buy paper


Let see for how long.


----------



## timor

Dave442 said:


> It could make for a new project. Find 10 images that work with the effect and make 20 prints of each.


I gonna keep this paper to see how the deterioration progresses.


----------



## gsgary

timor said:


> gsgary said:
> 
> 
> 
> Thats ok in UK we don't have any boarders to cross to buy paper
> 
> 
> 
> Let see for how long.
Click to expand...

Loads of places to buy it in the UK


----------



## Rollei12

I just ordered two packages of 25 sheets of Ilford paper from BH Photo!!  They will have gone through xrays at the border no?  I'm in Canada!!


----------



## timor

I am in Canada to. I don't think shipments like from B&H go trough xray. I bought some stuff from USA, papers included and all is OK. Few years later.


----------

