Hot take: That tip about not shaking your developer is overblown

My buddy Dave kept telling me I had to stop shaking my developer bottles before pouring them. He said I was ruining my negs with micro bubbles. I tried it his way for maybe 6 rolls of Tri-X last month and honestly my grays looked flatter than before. I went back to my old method of a gentle swirl (not a full shake, mind you) and my contrast came back like I wanted. I develop at home in my bathroom using a Paterson tank at 20 degrees C. Has anyone else found that the anti-shaking advice actually makes things worse for certain films?

3 comments

3 Comments

rubysingh19d ago

Temperature matters more than most people admit. 20 degrees is the sweet spot for Tri-X but going colder or warmer changes how those bubbles settle. A gentle swirl is fine for most developers, the real issue is when people do the full "protein shake" routine and then pour it in.

jamesroberts19d ago

Wait, didn't someone do a whole deep dive on this on Photrio a few years back? I remember reading this long thread where a guy tested Tri-X at like 18 degrees versus 22 degrees and the grain structure was totally different. The colder batch came out way sharper but the highlights got all crunchy. I've been sticking to 20 since I read that and honestly never looked back. But you're spot on about the pouring thing. I've seen people in my local darkroom just dump developer in like they're pouring a beer and then wonder why their negatives look like a Jackson Pollock.

tara79318d ago

My old Ilford manual said to swirl not shake, and swapping to a gentle stir fixed my contrast too.