my shot at blogging my progress in learning Darkroom and Film

[LoveTheEmulsion]

I did get prints off both rolls. One did not end up quite wound on the reel the way it should and a lot of the film was stuck together.

The effect of the partially destroyed images that were printable was a bit charming for me.

(Actually- I think anything that was not completely blank the first try would have been fine with me!)


And I have stopped compulsively looking at the back of my camera after each shot expecting to see an image.

The gem was neither of these rolls was the one I was treasuring.
I later successful converted those into negatives and scanned some of the images onto my website.

LoveTheEmulsion, (formerly addicted2glass)

 

[Robert_Maxey]

My "I'll never waver from my opinion" opinion is learn to develop negatives. Even if you never make a print and black and white film is something you decide to want to learn to use, develop your own negatives. It takes very little time and very little equipment and you do not need a darkroom.

When you do it yourself, you have complete control. And once you dig past the basic how to stuff on the web, you can learn all kinds of tricks and techniques that help you create great negatives, not just good negatives. A great negative is easier to print with less effort. Your printer will love you.

Consider something like Water Bath Development.

Basically, the film is immersed in film developer for a shorter period of time. This causes film to absorb developer. Then the film is placed in a bath of water to deferentially slow development. In the highlight areas, the film "runs out" of developer, and density increase slows down. In shadow areas, development continues because there is more developer than is required.

Shadow areas develop normally without the highlight areas becoming too dense.

I recall seeing a picture in a book, of a large lamp against a page of text. the lamp was turned on and not only could you see filament detail, but you could read the text. The film was developed using water bath techniques and the print was a straight print on #2 (perhaps #3 paper. An old process with many useful applications.

So go for it. Buy some basic supplies and develop your own film. Remember, if your lab makes bad prints from great negatives, they can be reprinted. If the lab screws up your negatives, well, thank goodness for PS and film scanners, I suppose.

 

[Robert_Maxey]

you need to be sure the bulb is a proper enlarging bulb. If the "writing" is on the top part as most house hold bulbs are, don't use it in the darkroom. You will end up with writing on your images.

Developing negatives is very simple and easy to do. THe hardest part will be rolling the film onto the reel. Practice with an old roll until you can get it on the reel with your eyes closed or your hands under a table. As this part MUST BE DONE IN THE DARK.

Learning to print will take more time and lots of practice. Don't be afraid to fill the "learning bin" a.k.a trash can.

I had a learning dumpster. Do you know how costly it was to dump it every fifteen minutes? Smiley

 

[ann]

yep, have been doing darkroom work for over 64 years, however, the wastebasket is smaller these days.

 

[cepwin]

It's cool you're trying this...it will open you up to things like large format photography and other creative areas. Looking forward to following your progress. Funny, when I was growing up it was film only...one of my schoolmates had her own darkroom and I got to visit it once...thought it was pretty cool. I think I also did some stuff at summer camp but I can't remember the details.