Set It & Forget It Film Developing: An Introduction to Stand Development by Taylor Blanchard

Written by Taylor Blanchard

When you develop your own black & white film negatives, you generally follow a set process: measure a specific quantity of water for your tank and film size, measure the temperature of the water, and follow the dilution guidelines for the developer.

Then, you begin the methodical process of agitating and resting the film following the guidance on the film’s data sheet, which also makes its way online to resources like Massive Dev Chart. While you can adjust the developer you use, how often you agitate, and your agitation method, the process feels very stringent.

Yet there is a film negative development process that is far less rigid, and one that feels almost antithetical to agitation: stand development.  

If you’ve ever read film photography forums, you’ll encounter highly opinionated discussions on stand development with equally passionate evangelists and detractors. Because of these debates, I was curious about stand development, but I didn’t try it until my friend Chris gave me a bottle of Rodinal, which is arguably the most well-known developer for this process.

Stand Development: What Is It?

In stand development, you use a very diluted developer, and let the negatives sit in the chemistry for a longer period. You only minimally agitate the negatives and developer – if you agitate at all. 

Stand development is considered a “compensating developer,” allowing shadow detail to build slowly while preserving the highlights. The highlights don’t get overexposed because of the minimal concentration of the developer. Stand development is known as a forgiving process that can handle a range of exposure settings.

Common dilution ratios for stand development are 1:50, 1:100, or 1:200, and the recommended times can vary from 45 minutes to 2 hours.

Unlike a standard dilution, you don’t have to worry about leaving your negatives in the chemistry for too long – the chemistry will exhaust at a certain point. It’s a one-shot developer, so you can’t reuse it, but you use very small amounts, such as 5 or 10ml.

After developing the negatives, you continue with a standard development process: fix and then rinse. Since the chemistry is generally exhausted after development, you can skip the stop bath, or use water instead. 

Exploring the Stand Film Development Process

Rodinal is a developer that was first introduced in the 1890’s, so it’s got quite a proven track record and is known for having an extended shelf life. Despite its credentials, I waited a while after getting the Rodinal to test it out; I was nervous to try a new technique. 

Then, I had what I thought was the perfect roll: Kodak Plus X-Pan (find on eBay), which had expired in 1997.

I rated the film at 80 and shot it in my Rolleiflex Automat in Marfa, Texas, during Sara Johanssen’s Wandering Artists retreat. I was curious to try stand development with this roll, since expired film often gives you more contrast and blown highlights.

Since information online varies drastically, it’s difficult to know which dilution and timeframe to follow. For my first roll, I went with a 1:50 dilution and 55 minutes. I completed gentle 1-minute inversions after adding the chemistry to the tank, and then every 15 minutes.

Those parameters were my launch point for future developing sessions. I thought the results looked great and was interested to try more scenarios.

After that first roll, I used stand development with Kodak Tri-X 320, Rollei IR, CineStill BwXX, Ilford Delta 400, and Ilford HP5+. 

The Results

With the starting point in mind, I tried several different times and dilutions. After testing a few options, I landed on a 1:100 dilution for an hour with a semi-stand method – agitating at the start of development and at least one more time.

Again, there is a lot of flexibility in the process. After my first try, I never even worried about the temperature of the water. I simply used distilled water at room temperature.

As a complete set of images, I first notice the wide tonal range, which reminds me of the results with pull processing. The negatives may look flat; however, there is a lot of detail to work with in post-processing software or in the darkroom. This was especially true in my tests with the Tri-X, Delta 400, and HP5+. 

I was curious if I would have “flat” images with a higher contrast film, so I stand developed Rollei IR (that I’d shot with a red filter). Stand development produced what I would expect from the film: very deep blacks and a lot of contrast. 

Stand development is known for producing high sharpness. Sometimes people see the sharpness and equate that with a more pronounced grain; I think the sharpness brings a perceived look of increased grain, as grain and sharpness are not equated. I noticed this the most with the CineStill BWXX. The grain looks “crunchy,” and I would not stand develop this film again (at least based on my one test!)

Finally, I tested rating the same film at different exposure indices and developing it together.

I shot Ilford HP5+ in 4×5 at box speed, and then twice more: rated at 100 and 1600. I developed all three sheets together in 1:100 for 1 hour. The results almost look like I pushed or pulled the development, when my only difference was in how I rated the film.

Potential Pitfalls of Stand Development

With stand film photography development, you can encounter a few possible issues.

The first is called bromide drag, which can leave streaks on film. This seems to happen more often near the sprocket holes on 35mm film.

Advice to avoid this is to use metal reels instead of plastic, to agitate more frequently, and to maintain a consistent temperature.

None of my images had noticeable bromide drag; however, there was an area in the sky on a 4×5 sheet that seems like it was possibly bromide drag.

Ted Forbes also noted that stand development is known for producing a halo effect on bright lights or parts of a film right next to an area of high contrast. An example where you might notice this in stand development is photographing lights at night next to a dark area.

When Should You Stand Develop? 

Based on my research and results, I recommend stand development in these scenarios: 

• When you want to bring out shadow detail (if you were shooting in a high contrast scene, or if in general, you like more detail in the shadows to work with in post-production).
• When you want a negative with an extended dynamic range.
• If you have an expired film. 
• You want to develop multiple types of film together or film that was rated differently – even on the same roll. 
• If you want to develop color film in black and white chemistry. 
• To save money and use less developer. 

Tips for Best Results

• Pre-rinse or soak the film for a few minutes, which helps the chemistry develop the film more evenly.
• Don’t be afraid to experiment with the dilution and time. 
• If you don’t agitate the film, you should still tap the developing tank on a hard surface to help dislodge any air bubbles, especially with 120 or sheet film. 
• Use at least 5 ml of developer as any less, even at a proper dilution, will not develop the negatives sufficiently.
• Temperature is less important with stand development, yet you want to avoid diluting with water that is very hot or very cold.
• You can use other developers in the stand method, including caffenol, Kodak HC-110, Pyrocat, Ilford Ilfosol 3, and Ilford DD-X, to name a few.

Conclusion

There was something liberating about stand development – I could add the chemistry to the developing tank, and then go do something else for a while.

I found the greatest peace of mind with the semi-stand approach: agitating at intervals during development to avoid possible issues. I will keep Rodinal on hand to use with expired film or if I have different film stocks that I want to develop together.

I’m still relatively new to the world of stand development, and have half a bottle of Rodinal left. I have more to try and consider, including 35mm film.

Many people recommend stand development with lower ISO films, and the highest speed film that I tested was 400, so I still need to test the limits of the fastest speed film I can develop with this method. I also want to try Rodinal as an agitator developer.

Have you tried stand development or do you have any questions? Let me know in the comments. 

Thank you so much, Taylor! Taylor is a regular contributor here at Shoot It With Film, and you can check out her other articles here, such as Pulling Film: Misunderstood, Overlooked, or Worth Forgetting? and Guide to Setting Up a Darkroom at Home.

You can also check out more of Taylor’s work on Instagram.

Leave your questions about stand development process for film photography below in the comments!

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Taylor Blanchard

Taylor Blanchard is a landscape and travel film photographer and a regular contributor for Shoot It With Film. Find her other articles here, such as My Foray Into Large Format Photography and The World of Infrared and Red-Sensitive Black and White Film.

Image Credit: Ashley Thalman

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