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Stop Baths and Fixers
Surely, it is the result that counts, no matter how it is achieved. A photographer can even become a prisoner of his own rules. Unless he invents new ones, he will soon copy himself, and his work will become sterile and repetitive.
-Bill Brandt
STOP BATHS
It is important to provide a buffer between the developer and the fixer. This is because the fixer will rapidly exhaust if it is contaminated with developer. Maintaining the activity of the fixer is of utmost importance to the longevity of negatives and prints.
Whether or not to use an acid stop bath or a plain running-water bath has been a longstanding controversy among photographers. There are two reasons cited for using an acid stop bath. First, it arrests development ...
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