Process one and a bit of history.
Much of what was once my everyday technique has become historic - something to do with the 45 years I have been a working photographer!
I have used most formats apart from 10x8 inch. My early professional work was all done on 5x4 inch using cut film (MPP Mk7 & 8 and Linhof Technica and Technicardan 6x9). Later I used Hasselblads and Bronica SQ. Gradually over the years the format size in general use became smaller - 6x9, 6x7, 6x6, 6x4.5 cms and 35mm. Film got a lot better at resolving detail and faster, although Velvia rated at 50 iso (more like 40 iso) kept the camera firmly on the tripod for a few years. Reproduction houses moved away from film separations to drum scanning then to the current digital press.
Cameras have come and gone although Hasselblads are still around and have gone digital at prices to make a photographer cry. Bronica and other loved ones are now all but history.
Current digital cameras have specifications that photographers of my generation never dreamed possible. My Canon 5D Mk2 is an amazing piece of kit, producing a 16bit file that is over 100MB. This combined with the 24mm TSE makes a fantastic combination for architectural work. ( I haven't tried the almost unbelievable 17mm TSE (tilt and shift) - . And now, rumours have it, a full frame Leica M9 is around somewhere! (digression - I sold my Leica M8 this year having used it last winter on a three month trip to India, the quality of image was not up to my expectations at anything over 160 iso - and I never thought that I would write that of a Leica - because for personal work, the Leica M6 (M4, M2 and R6 and R7 were my companions and friends for years!)
In the darkroom over the years, the DeVere 69, 609, 54 and 504 were also my friends with ELNikkor and Rodagon lenses. In the 1970s and 80s Kodalith and Agfa Record Rapid were a delight to use before the manufacturers carelessly discontinued them.
Technical Pan developed in Technodol and FP4 in Rodinal and for a few years DiXactol (for its minimal fog base), using stainless steel tanks and spirals, produced the highest quality negs to print from, using Agfa Multigrade fibre-base in warm-tone print developer archivally treated and sometimes Selenium split-toned.
What joy I had under the orange lights, emerging at whatever hour for a mug of tea and a dark chocolate digestive, then carefully hanging the wet prints, back to back, pegged to the line to dry overnight. What joy.
