same ole flowers different jar

[mysteryscribe]

shot with my frankencam model 5x7

 

[Digital Matt]

That's beautiful Charlie

 

[mysteryscribe]

thank you matt... now you need to crank out your monster and lets see some of yours....

 

[Digital Matt]

I want to. I just don't have the money to buy chemicals/trays, etc.. right now

 

[mysteryscribe]

Ah that's the hill every artist has to climb. Try thinking outside the box. If you can get into a bathroom with a small red light bulb think mayonaise (sp) jars and other containers instead of trys. Use a white overhead light to make your contact prints maybe.

Okay here's a neat trick.. take a mayo jar drill a big hole dead center of the lid...

under red light remove your paper from the film holder and wrap it emulsion side in around the inside of the jar.

put the lid on then pour about two to four onces of developer, either paper or film into the jar then turn the jar on its side and rotate it constantly for the required time.

When it has gone long enough dump out the couple of ounces of chemical and run water into the hole in the lid...

after it has run a few minutes, pour in a couple of onces of fixer and rotate the jar again. Let it fix for the amount of time necessary

then dump the fixer and run water in the jar again this time with the lid off. When it has washed long enough you have a paper negative.

you can use it on your scanner as i do or contact print it as james does. It takes very little chemicals to do this and you dont have to have trays at all.

LOL from the man who uses peanut butter jars as developing tanks for 5x7 paper negs. My complete darkroom is a cardboard box with a changing bag taped to it. I built baffles for mine so i can do it in the daylight.

Sorry terri I know this is in the wrong place but I thought it might help get some people to see how easy it is to work with paper negs...

 

[Digital Matt]

Thanks Charlie I have an enlarger, so I really just have to buy the chemicals, and some way of developing the paper. The ideas you gave are great. When I get money for chemicals, I'll have enough to get a few trays I'm sure, so that won't be a problem. I really can't wait. It's going to be so much fun.

 

[mysteryscribe]

It will be great to have you join us....

I can remember being so poor when I was living with an artist friend that we had salad for dinner in a dutch oven with two forks. Didn't even own bowls. A can of spam of all things cut up into the salad for proteen.

I had a plastic durst enlarger and three dishpans as trays. The light I used for a safe light was a chrismas tree string with all the bulbs but two red ones removed. I found it in the trash. I could only use the darkroom at night after the sun went down. Couldn't get it dark enough otherwise.



Best f'n days of my life lol.

 

[JamesD]

You haven't done darkroom work until you've done it in the dark. The work, I mean. It's a great way to build confidence--and efficiency--in your skills. Then, when you get the red light installed, it's all too easy.

One thing to note... since paper is so insensitive to light, I've found that even working in my darkroom (which is really just a 4X5 foot closet) during the day, with light pouring in at the edges and bottom, causes no problems for me as long as I work fast.

For 4X5 trays, I cut the bottom out of some 1-gallon milk jugs and washed them out good. Works great.

Film developer can be used with paper, with some interesting results. Generally, I find the contrast lower (I've used TMax), but I might not be developing long enough. I know Charlie uses a mix of Dektol and D76, at like 110 degrees F, I think LOL.

Also, if you have access to a LF enlarger, you can project paper negatives as long as you use a paper with no markings on the back. I was surprised when I discovered this... Just a bit longer of a development time.

When you get around to it, I've found that I get the best results by storing chemistry in the smallest bottle that will hold the amount required, and filling it with clean glass marbles to keep the air inside the bottle to a minimum. The chemistry lasts longer. I've found this rather important with Dektol stock, so I've got several bottles, each successively smaller, that I pour the stock into as I use it.

 

[mysteryscribe]

I do the store in multi bottles.... fill them to the dead top then cap them tightly. I always work from a bottle of less than four ounces since that is my smallest size.

Since I use the mayonaise or peanut butter jar rotated method most often I usually mix no more than four ounces of mix for the tanks at a time. A quart of concentrate lasts me a long time since I use 3/4 ounce at a time.

I have had to use staight dektol this week, I ran out of d 76.. It's possible that the 120 I have drying now will look awful. I'll stick one in later. But this probably should be in the darkroom section. but frankly working with paper negs is more a mini darkroom endeavor. You dont need sixteen ounces of chemicals to develop one or two 4x5 or smaller negatives.

If you want to see that negative developed in dektol look in the main gallery under dixie tools.