Photographers Satisfaction

The Photographers process their own films mainly for personal satisfaction. There is a sense of achievement in carrying an operation through from beginning to end. In many cases, a skilled processor or printer could perform the tasks more efficiently and provide a better end product but he cannot give the photographer that pride in something that is all his own work. Many are interested only in operating the camera and refuse to be involved in any way with the tiresome processing stages. The Specialization makes sense in the business world. Taking photographs, processing the film and selling the product are skills that do not necessarily have anything in common. It is reasonable to expect that the different skills required for each task might best be performed by different people. Many photographic businesses work in that way. On the other hand, photography is a business that can be carried out on any scale, large or small and it can certainly be a single-handed operation. Film processing is a simple enough procedure. For very many years now, it has been a purely mechanical process depending only on time and temperature. A certain amount of care is needed and cleanliness in working conditions is imperative but virtually no skill is required, even in color film processing. Experience can lead to the application of special procedures to overcome faults in camera operation or to obtain a particular kind of result, but the actual process of putting the film through the various chemical solutions is routine. All normal photographic films have to be developed in total darkness.