Fast flooding of the Withlacoochee, Feb. 2016

I didn't think we had much rain last week, but nevertheless the Withlacoochee is way outside its banks and over 5 feet above flood stage. Yet again Valdosta is causing grief for Florida as the sewage treatment plant is discharging untreated water into the Withlacoochee.

I went to Langdale Park but the water from the river was all the way up near the entrance, barely a few hundred yards from the gate. Even with my wading boots I couldn't go far. I found a little side area I could explore and shot some with my new 8x10 camera (more about that at a later time).

I also decided to shoot a bit of x-ray film, as I hadn't shot it in quite a while. However, I had one extant sheet of Delta 100 from the last outing so I did a comparison shot. Very interesting result.

Here is my favorite shot of the day, on x-ray film:

This was shot with my 90mm XL on 8x10, but yes it had trouble covering. Actually, now that I think about it, I left the back barrel piece that can be removed on it so I might get a bit more coverage without that. Anyway, this crop is about 8.5 x 6.8 inches. I shot the Fuji HR-T film at an ISO of 100 and developed it in Rodinal 1:100 for about 7 minutes in cold solution (my darkroom has no heat and is very cold at the moment). Overall I really like the results.

The Delta 100 shot was an interesting comparison. Over all the contrast was higher, and I lost the shadows and highlights. This was partially my fault in developing. I was using a developer and time/dilution that was more appropriate for normal developing rather than rotary (I used a BTZS tube). So not the best test, but certainly interesting. Here that shot is:

One of the things about x-ray film that is different than normal film is the lack of a anti-halation layer. This causes slightly glowy highlights and slightly less resolution. Here is a small crop of x-ray film and the Delta 100 to show the differences:

There are some x-ray films that are more expensive that do have the AH layer. I use Fuji HR-T because it is really cheap. Generally it's not a big deal but still, if I'm especially worried about it I'll use normal film - though again, as you can see above, the contrast in this situation was better handled by the x-ray film, and more specifically, how I developed it. The most important thing here is to know your tools and materials, I suppose.

Here's a couple other photos from yesterday, all on the x-ray film - the first with my 210mm Graphic Kowa, the second with the 90mm XL again: