This week I finally got to shoot a roll of Ilford Delta 100 I was given last May by my old chum Keith Sharples. The sunny days we have been enjoying in July had me getting stuck into infrared and I needed a decent film to get me back on track for B&W. I have never used Ilford Delta 100 so this was the perfect opportunity for me to continue my learning and see if my skills were up to shooting a film that has a very narow exposure latitude. I'm told It's an easy film to get wrong, but get your metering right and it shines.
I loaded it into my OM-1, took the battery out and relied upon my Vivitar 45 light meter to guide me. I had gone out to shoot a roll of HP5 in my Goodman Zone and as I was going to be using my Vivitar 45 light meter, it made it an easy choice to use it for my OM-1 as well. I headed off towards the local farms to see how this years crops were coming along.
It's been a warm year thus far and I soon discovered the wheat had already been harvested. This year's wheat harvest was the earliest I have known since moving to my current home 20 years ago. Given the dry weather we enjoyed throughout June and July It shouldn't really surprise me. I had watched the wheat slowly ripen and turn golden brown as I have studied the power lines that cross one of the wheat fields this year. I grabbed a couple of shots with my Goodman Zone for a future project and carried on my way.
It was arriving at the next field that I saw the other crop for the year has been thriving. This year the farmer decided to grow Corn and I enjoyed shooting a few frames of Delta 100 to explore this crop. The broad leaves and strong stems gave a lot of texture to my shots and especially the wispy tendrils on the female plants that will eventually become corn cobs.
I was soon on my way and heading towards the stile to the next field where the horses were out, waiting patiently for some humans to come along and say hello. I spent a few minutes getting a couple of pictures before climbing over the stile and greeting them. They are a friendly bunch of animals and ever hopeful of a bit of food from passing walkers.
If you come across any livestock whist enjoying the countryside, be it horses, cows or sheep etc, please don't feed them. Follow the country code and just say hello as you pass by. Dont hold your hand out to a horse as it can have your fingers off very easily. Their humans spend a lot of money on buying the right food for them and not everything we enjoy is suitable for a horse.
My last stop was a large patch of thistles that are very popular with insects who were out in force feeding on the nectar from the flowers. I took a few pictures of Small White Butterflies that were out in numbers and soon finished my film. After a pleasant couple of hours out and about I headed home to develop it.
I was brave this week. I have fallen for HC-110 dilution H, 1+63 from concentrate and decided to develop my Delta 100 in it. I looked for some info and there wasn't a single thing about using this dilution for Delta 100. Nearest I got was dilution G, 1+119 from concentrate for 24 minutes and made an educated guess of 11 minutes at 20 celcius. I was delighted to see some very nice frames as I hung the roll to dry in my bathroom. I scanned the film with my trusty Ion Slides2PC 35mm scanner and removed dust spots and scratches with Affinity Photo.
I enjoyed shooting Ilford Delta 100 and I can see why Ilford position it as a professional grade film. You really need to meter properly, but although the exposure latitude is narrow you can still bring shots back from the brink of obscurity. If you wish to help me continue my journey please consider buying me a roll of film by using the Ko-Fi buttons on this page. All donations are gratefully received. Here are a few of my photos from this weeks roll of Ilford Delta 100 and you can see them and more on my Flickr album via the link below. I hope you enjoy them.
Ilford Delta 100 - Olympus OM-1
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