Well, during my long absence from posting (sorry, I’m a loser – but I’m getting a puppy!), I have had much time to contemplate my first real contribution to this site. It didn’t take me long to decide to convert you all to developing with coffee! I know what you may be thinking – ok that’s a lie – but suppose I can imagine it’s something along the lines of, “Huh?”
So, first I will tell you a bit about this alternative process. I heard about coffee developer several years ago while helping out at the local community college photo lab and I couldn’t resist a try out, I mean how odd is this? Using some random household ingredients you can develop film – I was immediately sold. The hardest part for me to remember about doing this is that the film must be overexposed by 2 stops (ex. 400 ISO film needs to be set to 100 ISO on your camera). This step is essential if you want any images at all.
The mixture itself is really quite revolting, coffee grains and washing soda aren’t exactly my cup of… yeah. At this stage it’s referred to as Caffenol. The most humorous part is when you pour out the developer and pour in the fix. I was just standing there in the lab shaking my film can back and forth and suddenly it smelled like someone was eating a tuna sandwich. Something about the chemical combination produces the rather pungent aroma of tuna for you to enjoy while you are fixing your negatives – trust me, I have witnesses.
And finally, the highlight of it all: the end result with your negatives stained a lovely sepia tone. After all of this, I scan my negatives and take them into photoshop to give them a bit more contrast, but post processing is entirely up to you. Here is the recipe:
This is a really fun process, I’ve even started offering it when I do jobs for people – it’s a popular one for weddings. Even just seeing peoples baffled faces when I tell them that their image was made using coffee is completely worth the time and effort.
So, in a nutshell, I hope you give this process a try if only for the sheer audacity of it! Trust me, the results will surprise you. If you would like more information on this process, or to ask questions to others who share this love, check out the homemade soup group or the Caffenol group on Flickr. Us soup making folk would be happy to help you out.
Remember: Never Stop Experimenting 
Comments
I’ve always wanted to try that!
I remember someone telling me about this some time ago, and I dismissed it as an urban myth. Just out of interest, do the results differ depending on the washing powder used?
Actually I’ve never seen more than one type of washing soda. And it must be washing soda – it’s like baking soda but they used to add it to the wash in the 1950s. Apparently it’s a very useful product, so make sure it’s not just a washing detergent powder, it must be washing soda.
I’ve been itching to try different types of instant coffee crystals though to see if it changes the color.
Hi Megan.
Someone on Twitter(@Tri5tan) was asking of you could use strong Tea instead of coffee? Is it possible? Or is it the chemicals in coffee that makes the developing possible?
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Agitate constantly for 30mins? That seems like one hell of a lot of effort but I am still very tempted to give it a try. Lets hope I can put up with the tune aroma
*Tuna
Heh – just replace the Caffenol with industry-grade developer and you’ve got what’s close to professional photos