Hi: The information you received from the priest leaves out one very important piece of data, what was the film speed? Depending on the exposure needed to record low levels of light the film speed, exposure time, and rate of development are the factors to consider. You mentioned that the Priest used "extended development", this is know as "Push Processing". Any developer can be used for this kind of processing. The amount of film speed gain is controlled by the percentage of extended time based on the normal developing time. Normally an increase of 100 percent, one lens stop, is two times the normal development time. As you increase the film speed and extend developing times the contrast of the negative is increased over normal results and there is a loss of shadow detail and an increase in grain size. The "faster" the original film speed the less increase in extended time is needed. A film speed of 125 would need much more increased developing time then a film rated at 3200. The activity of the developer formula also has a part in increasing film speed. This is a matter of the chemicals used. As one person suggested you could use a paper developer which is much more active than most film developers. However the results could be very high contrast to the point where the highlights are blocked. The "trick" to low light photography is to learn what exposure is needed and then determine exposure and development. The limitations then become what is the slowest speed for sharp hand held exposures and when is a tripod needed to get the shot for the film speed used. If it is known before hand that light levels will be low the obvious thing to do is use the fastest film speed available. Then if needed, to push process the film in developing using an active developer or extending the developing time of the normal developer used. Since temperature is also a factor in developing results it is necessary to have information as to the change of time based on temperature. There is always a suggested time /temperature combination for a specific temperature. When developing times are less than 4 minutes due to increased temperature or chemical activity there is the danger of uneven development. As for trying an experiment with just candle light, this can be done using a tripod and a time exposure or using a slow shutter speed with a large f stop. The correct exposure will be based on how the exposure reading is made and the speed of the film. If done correctly the use of normal development will work. D 76 is a very good formula, it is soft working and can be used for push processing. The T Max developer is a much more active formula that is very sensitive to changes in time, temperature and agitation. It can very quickly reach a point of too much contrast or density with little changes , thus is not a good choice for extended development. Phil
