building a darkroom

[Majik Imaje]

GO FOR IT!....There is nothing in the world like having your own darkroom.

You arrainge everything so that everything has one place, and one place only.

THIS DISCIPLINE MUST BE ESTABLISHED and continued, for ONE REASON only...

at some point in time, if your like me and forget something, YOU GOTTA find it.. in absolute darkness! My biggest darkroom was 20' by 40 '

I have a huge 12 foot wooden sink with two shelves behind and above that. TEMP CONTROL was so easy to mainatin.. 68 75 92 101

were the temps I commonly used. the two lower ones for B & W and the hgher ones for color prints and color film EP2 & C41

I would live in my darkroom literally, four years went by like four months.

if you have the room.. you want your bench tops 30" wide and to the bottom of your arms when bent parallel to the floor, walk up to the bench and your arms fit right on that plywood . Nice nice!!

your body is nice and straight and you can stand there all day long.

above that bench is at least one shelf two or three are much better

NOTHING on the enlarger bench has liquids.. nothing ! ever..reason is obvous.. that is where you will be placing negatives.. using PHOTOWIPES
to place them on. etc. you will soon learn why photowipes are a must have.

your sink should be the next area you visit after the enlarger or exposed sheet of paper is ready for processing. so . the shortest distance possible to that next step. then after the sink comes your other "dry" area, for retouching, matting, finishing etc.. no liquids at all around this area also.
contain the wet area. the less likely accidents will happen.

sink height shoud be just about 6 - 8 " shorter than the enlarging bench.
but when put the sides on the sink that will bring up that edge to the same height so your always standing up STRAIGHT when working.

get a decent sound system.. stereo.. and "float" in the darkness to the music.. its ok.. no one can see! ha ha ha ha.!!!

Paint everything white.. except your sink.. GO WILD with it.. !

bench tops should be neutral grey for ease in color correction which should be done in the dry area.. when the print is dry. you cannot judge a color print for true color until it dries. throw a drop or two of water on that dried print and it will look like "blue paint" in a dark area.

it is a must to have flourescent lighting in your dry area, the more you have over your benches the better.

if yu can't use 30" wide for a bench top then try 24" but the wider the better.. you will see.. as soon as you start to work.

If you can fit a refrigerator in your darkroom by all means do so. for film and paper and food and drinks.

ventalation is very important but is easly accomplished by making a baffle in a wooden box

if you hae a door or window .. your batting 1000%

when you finally have your darkroom ready for use. what is the first thing your going to do? get a chair.. shut off all the lights.. and sit there for 15 - 20 minutes.. and look all over everywhere.. and make absolutely sure.spend 1/2 hour if you have to, BUT THIS FIRST TEST is critical. so make sure you spend at least 20 minutes.

Once you have established that your room is light tight. now questions come.. where are you going to store paper? so that you can get one sheet quickly ? INVEST IN A GOOD PAPER SAFE! it will save you so much time and agrivation. don't just buy anything.. play with one and see how it works.. can you use just one hand? you don't want your hands /arms crossing if you can avoid it.

what is the standard size paper your going to use.. 8 x 10 of course.
buld your sink so that 20 x 24" huge deep tray can fit into it.. for washing prints and get a kodak tray syphon pump gizmo thingy. they are perfect for achival print washing. I have prints here that are over 30 years old and they look brilliant color.. 95% of all my work has been stolen or thrown out by idiots! Oh I didn't think you wanted those any more! But My Eskimo images are barely intact.. we have ENOUGH but we lost over 400 of the very best ones.

Making money is easy if you have a darkroom.. that is the sole reason I am spending so much time on here. to show you the steps I took.

I am nothing, no body.. but i have made a fortune in photography, and continue to do so.. daily. I want to show you the easy steps to accomplising all of this.. because I know if I did it.. so can you! all you gotta do is follow the same exact steps.. it doesn't matter what the images are of.. or where they are taken.. PEOPLE LOVE PHOTOGRAPHS!

if your serious about building a darkroom.. give me more info and I can build it for you right here in a 3d program called 3D studio max and you can see how the sink would look and the size of everything BEFORE you actually do it.

oh yeah.. electricity in the sink area.. I will discuss the proper safe way to do this.. MY WAY! SAFETY FIRST.. & safety second!! no one ever gets hurt!

 

[abonville]

My daughter is taking Photography I in high school. Next year she is planning on taking Photo II. Her pictures are out of this world and I really would like to create a dark room for her this summer so she can continue when school is out. I was wondering what the cost estimate would be to convert a small bedroom into a dark room??

Anita Bonville
[email protected]
www.beachbottoms.net
Bikinis, one-piece swimsuits, bathing suits, and, cover-ups

 

[Torus34]

It's basic and it's 'cookbook', but for a plain pipe rack approach to film, chemicals, etc., check the B&W series of articles on this site.