Tri-x Diafine

I didn't care for the results at all. I used distilled water. Followed directions (almost idiot proof). What I got was contrasty, and mostly underexposed although I was doing careful readings with a pocket meter. And I would probably have rated it at ASA 800. Just hellishly contrasty - though it could be salvaged to some extent in PS.

Next out: Push Tri-x with the Ilfotec DD-X. That's got to be way better than what I got from Diafine. Now - on the other hand - I know people love this Diafine w/ Tri-x and with HP5 etc.

They rate Diafine with HP5+ @ 800. Probably in the same ballpark as Tri-x pushed to 800.

Fortunately, nothing was ruined from last night - but the look is too muddy in the shadows - of which there are lots, though I have to say the highlights on some of the shots look great.

Looking for Shorty

I first heard her as she was walking up 3rd avenue screaming something. One word. Then she stood on the corner of 86th and 3rd - continuing to shout the one word. I thought it was "Charlie."

After a few minutes I approached her and asked what she was yelling and she told me: Shorty.

Shorty was her dog and had run off. Her husband was going to kill her if she lost Shorty. I wished her luck and went on towards 2nd avenue.

When I arrived on 86th and 2nd, there was a man with a shopping cart that I remembered because he had the dog sleeping on top of bottles and such. Kristine arrived and said something to her husband and I realized that the dog in the shopping cart was "Shorty."

I said to her: So - you found your dog. I didn't mean anything by it but she took it the wrong way and began explaining that she really did think she had lost her dog. She didn't realize that her husband must have taken it.

She was looking at my camera and then told me something - something that caught me by surprise. "You know," she said, "I used to be a photographer too."

This seemed doubtful at best but I asked her what camera she used and without missing a beat she said: "Pentax. Pentax K-1000. What kinda film are you shooting?"

"Tri-X," I told her.

"Whadda'ya pushing it? Gonna be grainy, I bet."

I told her I was trying Diafine with Tri-x. Diafine she had not heard of. But she didn't comment that the Leica was a nice model. That she couldn't afford one but her girlfriend - all those years ago - used to run a camera store and always swore by Leica.

Anyway - her husband returned and they pushed off. I had taken one or two pictures of her which she was glad to do and given her a little money. As they were crossing 86th she turned and screamed back to me a phrase I've heard many times before: "Don't forget me! Don't forget me!"