Pulling Harman Phoenix
Harman Photo unleashed Harman Phoenix to the wild late last year. It had quite a storm of reactions and one of which was “corr blimey that contrast!”, I’m one to agree. I’ve heard a rumor and watched a few videos online stating that if you pull Phoenix by 1 stop and shoot it at 100 ISO you can reduce the contrast and grain.
This roll I started last month during my lunch break at work and I only recently got around to developing it. I developed it in Bellini Foto’s C-41 kit for 2 minutes and 45 seconds. This was recommended by Aric Abraham on emulsive.org. Here he listed a massive amount of times for pushing and pulling using the Cinestill C-41 kit. However, I found it works just as good using the Bellini Foto kit.
I can certainly see a reduction in grain and contrast but it may only be due to the dull light I had this day. You can see in other photos where the light was a lot harsher, the contrast had become more apparent.
Have a look at the photo below. I took this photograph last christmas at Stourhead. The light was quite dull and the weather was very poor. I decided to shoot Harman Phoenix but rate it at 100. However, I didn’t pull process the film, I got it developed at work with the neg machine. The difference in contrast is outstanding!
Harman Phoenix rated at 100 processed at 200 - Stourhead - Xmas 2023
Right, let’s have a look at some more photos from the pull process roll!
This is definitely my favourite photo from the roll that showcases how well pull processing Harman Phoenix helps reduce grain and contrast. I have found that you do need to take a proper and I mean proper exposure. I would recommend shoot this film in dull light, mid day Britain is my suggestion, and pull process by 1 stop.
Ages ago now, I was given a big box of developing and printing equipment. One of these pieces of equipment was an Optomax Steel Reel Developing Tank. When I moved out for university and finally got inducted in the darkroom I decided to try using this steel reel developing tank. I practiced for a while trying to get it in the clip and spooling the film on and gave it a shot on this roll of film. As you can see, the end of the film was overlapping each other which meant the fix couldn’t get all over the film. I had this happen to me a few times with some black and white rolls I decided to develop with the steel reel.
Hopefully, I can get the knack because this tank saves me 50ml or at a push, 75ml of chemicals! This is amazing especially since my colour chemicals aren’t provided by the university. Once I’ve finished the kit I’ll be able to work out how many more films I was able to put through the kit because of this. I reckon I’ll be able to get another 5 rolls through the kit. Guess I’ve gotta keep shooting colour! sorry bank account…
