Press photographers - how did they get shots back to the office?

[auntiemaryscanary]

A former football press photographer took (digital ) photos of my wedding 15 years ago. He was telling me about how he had to guess which film shot he'd taken before half time would best convey the match. I think he said someone would come and collect the processed film and it would it would then be in the evening local results paper.

Pre-digital, how would this have happened? Would a Rodinax been used by the photographer to develop the film? How would they get the film dry? I'm not in contact with him anymore so can't ask him. Any information greatly received.

I'm mulling over a little project when I'm away from home (and thus my darkroom). Over the course of a few days, each evening, I'm thinking of developing that days 35mm shots. Any information gratefully received.

 

[Nod]

Some papers had vans which contained basic darkrooms so the films could be developed on the way back to the office where the (sometimes wet) negs could be printed ASAP. Can't tell you which developer was used.

 

[AndrewFlannigan]

Pre-digital, how would this have happened?

That would depend entirely on who the photographer was, whether he was staff or freelance, whether they worked for a publication or an agency, the nature of that particular story and so on.

Where it was practical, staffers might be given a motorcycle despatch rider to carry their film back to a processing station, either at the newspaper offices or somewhere that could develop and print the film, then use a facsimile scanner to send the picture to the newspaper via the telephone system (this technology was nothing like the modern internet).

For development on site, a photographer might have a changing bag, spirals and a developing tank in a wooden case, along with chemistry. A little more sophisticated was a folding enlarger to make his own prints.

It was a very different world back then.

 

[StephenM]

A few years ago (I think 1963 or 1964) Practical Photography magazine had an article on rapid processing and printing. It only took a few minutes, but you did have to cut corners.

 

[lindsay]

I recall in one of the films about photographers in Vietnam/Cambodia, the press teams had a darkroom to use, and would then fax chosen images to the picture editor in the USA. However more local eg sports togs, no idea, I assumed they would get the films couriered to the picture editor for processing and selection?

 

[myotis]

A former football press photographer took (digital ) photos of my wedding 15 years ago. He was telling me about how he had to guess which film shot he'd taken before half time would best convey the match. I think he said someone would come and collect the processed film and it would it would then be in the evening local results paper.

Pre-digital, how would this have happened? Would a Rodinax been used by the photographer to develop the film? How would they get the film dry? I'm not in contact with him anymore so can't ask him. Any information greatly received.

I'm mulling over a little project when I'm away from home (and thus my darkroom). Over the course of a few days, each evening, I'm thinking of developing that days 35mm shots. Any information gratefully received.

When we had to get pictures urgently to a newspaper, we had, I think orange, envelopes with the paper's name and address that we put the "films" in and dropped off at the railway station. This was on the main Aberdeen to Edinburgh line, which then connected to the rest of the UK from Edinburgh.

On occasions, I can only remember one, the paper would organise a motorbike courier to pick up the films.

If it wasn't urgent, we would normally process and print the pictures, but I can't actually remember how they got to the paper. I suspect the same orange envelopes via a train.

Film tended to get processed normally (HC110) but these were dried in a heated dryer before printing. Prints were also heat dried, after minimal washing.

We were used to doing things quickly as it was common in those days to do "proofs to reception" for weddings where you take all the wedding photographs, rush back to the studio to process the films and make the prints before rushing back to the reception for guests to look at the photographs and order prints.

Ironically, this became easier once we were doing all colour weddings, as we invested in a Durst "mini-printer" that dramatically speeded up the process.

 

[pooley]

I was doing this in the 90's so maybe a bit more basic technology that the comments above, but most of the time I'd have a technician with me and we'd either have a space in the stadium or if not we used to go and knock on local houses and give someone a few quid to let us develop the shots at their house and use their phone line!

Say for a 3pm Saturday football match, I'd usually shoot a full roll of film in the first 10 minutes which the tech would take off me and process and wire the best couple back to the office where they got sent out to the papers for the 'first edition' run. They needed the shots for half time

I'd then shoot the rest of the game concentrating on either better quality action shots favoured by the broadsheets, or the more 'newsy' stuff like goals / celebrations / flash points etc for the tabloids and the processing would start again at full time

Crazy to remember manually focussing the big superteles and having to be disciplined over the amount of shots you were taking with no instant feedback!

 

[Phil V]

then use a facsimile scanner to send the picture to the newspaper via the telephone system

Fax’s are older than we think, there’s something like a 17 yr overlap where Abraham Lincoln could have sent a fax to an actual Samurai warrior.

One of my favourite tech facts.

 

[Garry Edwards]

Fax’s are older than we think, there’s something like a 17 yr overlap where Abraham Lincoln could have sent a fax to an actual Samurai warrior.

One of my favourite tech facts.

There was also an early scanner, which cost a fortune and took for ever, basically using the old modem system to transmit the data. The scanner was a drum of sorts, and the technology later morphed into the scanners that produced electronic stencils that were used on duplicating machines (think Gesterners, the best-known make).

Other than that, all of the above. All daily newspapers had in-house D&P and collected undeveloped films by motorbike. They used glazing drums, emulsion out, to dry prints. I remember one shoot, I think it was of royalty at some big event, the photographer shot on tranny film, the newspaper D&P processed it in B&W, not knowing any better, and and the whole shoot was lost.

 

[TheBigYin]

Film tended to get processed normally (HC110) but these were dried in a heated dryer before printing.

one of the "tricks" for drying negs quickly was to "flash off" the negs in Isopropyl alcohol after the final rinse - didn't "set" the emulsion but dried the neg enough for initial contact sheet to be knocked out.

Isopropyl basically displaced the water, then evaporated itself in 2-3 seconds...

 

[myotis]

one of the "tricks" for drying negs quickly was to "flash off" the negs in Isopropyl alcohol after the final rinse - didn't "set" the emulsion but dried the neg enough for initial contact sheet to be knocked out.

Isopropyl basically displaced the water, then evaporated itself in 2-3 seconds...

Yes, I can remember doing this. But I can't remember how well it worked. :-(

 

[AndrewFlannigan]

Fax’s are older than we think,

Indeed.

We can blame a Scotsman called Alexander Bain for the fax machine, who got his first patent in 1843. The Wikipedia page on the subject is worth a look, if only for the picture of children reading a faxed newspaper, in the 1930s...

Fax - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[auntiemaryscanary]

one of the "tricks" for drying negs quickly was to "flash off" the negs in Isopropyl alcohol after the final rinse - didn't "set" the emulsion but dried the neg enough for initial contact sheet to be knocked out.

Isopropyl basically displaced the water, then evaporated itself in 2-3 seconds...

This has crossed my mind and I have a bottle of 99.6% isopropyl alcohol. It's the not "setting" that somewhat bothers me. Would an alcohol "dried" neg survive scanning and could then be left overnight to set?

 

[Willid1]

Many years ago my father used to work for the Evening Standard and they had a wet darkroom on one of the upper floors.

He arranged a visit for a friend and myself when they were not too busy.

We were shown how they could get a print from an undeveloped film in about 9 to 11 minutes, I forget the exact time but it was QUICK!.

The film would have its two ends clipped together with two oblong shaped rings which, while only touching the film along it's edges, allowed the film to be developed in a very deep dev tank.

Once developed the film would go straight into the enlarger, wet if time was tight, or after a quick dry in a very hot drying cabinet if it wasn't. Then a darkroom to light Ilford RC paper processor (set in the wall) would finish the job using Ilford resin coated paper.

I think the thing that struck me most was their "default" paper size seemed enormous to two boys used to making small prints to save money.

D

 

[TheBigYin]

Yes, I can remember doing this. But I can't remember how well it worked. :-(

it worked well enough for the images to get printed 10 minutes quicker, but in my experience, it also meant the negs didn't last as well - but if that 10 minutes was the difference between hitting deadline or photo only going in second edition...

 

[TheBigYin]

Would an alcohol "dried" neg survive scanning and could then be left overnight to set?

it'd definitely survive getting a contact sheet out of the negs. If we had to use this trick, it'd generally be bash out a contact sheet, and while the picture ed was looking at them, the negs would go into the drier cabinet... As I hinted at above, it's not something I'd do for anything that I considered "archiveable" - which means for me, anything i shoot now, because nobody else sets deadlines for my work but me.

 

[davholla]

Fax’s are older than we think, there’s something like a 17 yr overlap where Abraham Lincoln could have sent a fax to an actual Samurai warrior.

One of my favourite tech facts.

And they're still being used which is surprising.

 

[auntiemaryscanary]

So I think I'm developing a plan. A short 12 exp roll (or 2) of b&w 35mm film to take through the day. Evening then the days film(s) onto a spiral in darkbag then dev and air dry overnight and scan (by method yet unknown) the next morning.

I will have a home experiment with isopropyl alcohol drying but all things considered I don't think I want to be messing about with something that flammable and smelly in a hotel room! I'm considering the Bellini FX6a Monobath. I'm sure it's a bit of a compromise over a standard dev, stop & fix but only taking a single litre bottle of chems vastly appeals.

Anyone have experience of this Bellini or other monobaths?

I'll also be shooting MF and sub mini and but I'll develop those when I get home so as not to make matters even more complicated.

 

[Phil V]

And they're still being used which is surprising.

Last time I had any dealings at work, was a secure fax line required for criminal records disclosure, but that was over 10 yrs ago.

I’m aware that there’s still ‘live’ instructions required in the NHS to stop people purchasing them.

But I’m aware there are still business transactions where a ‘real’ signature is required and faxing becomes the ‘quick’ way to enable it. I can imagine there are people adding an electronic signature, printing it and faxing it off somewhere.