How Developing Photographic Film Actually Works

This type of photography has become something of a lost art, but there are a few dedicated photographers who know how it works.

Chris Winters

There are certain processes that are mysterious to us and we do not know how they can even possibly happen. The SmarterEveryDay channel on YouTube aims to explore interesting topics, and it’s quite intriguing.

If you ever wondered about developing rolls of photographic film and the science behind it, they created the perfect video to break it down. And yes, it’s basically magic.

Photo: flickr/Marco Verch Professional Photographer

Now that digital photography has become the norm, there are many who do not bother with old-school film development. The days of taking pictures with an actual camera have come and gone.

Sure, there are nature photographers and wedding photographers but they are few and far between these days.

This type of photography has become something of a lost art. “There’s something different about film. It feels different. Like it’s not just the shutter click with a digital SLR you can just take as many photos as you want….But when you take a film photo, …you stop, you know, you have 36 rounds and you just take the shot, pull the trigger and you get the perfect shot. And you’re rewarded when you see your photos because you know you were in the moment more because you cared more about the photo,” Destin Sandlin explained in the video.

To learn more about the process of how film development works, he visited the Indie Film Lab in Montgomery, Alabama.

“That special feeling of taking a film photo is the number one reason that film is making a comeback. And it is if you didn’t know that, 35-millimeter film is coming back in a big way. Today we’re going to explore all this. We’re going to learn about the chemistry, the science behind how this works, and the people that are working to preserve this art,” he continued.

This is one clip that has been a long time coming. We are glad to see that people are still interested in classic forms of photography. Digital photos may look cool and they are super easy to come by but there is no substitute for the photography that we relied upon in the good old days.

Check out the video below:

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