Darkroom Basics

All photos and text © 2002 - 2004 Glenn E. Stewart. All rights reserved.

This page last modified 18 Aug., 2004

from: Stumbling around in the Dark(room)

by Glenn Stewart

Never having been a columnist before, and with the potential to either enrich or warp impressionable minds through my writing, I'm somewhat daunted by the positive possibilities and potential pitfalls that lie before me. This feeling is heightened by the fact that this is a new column and I have no shoes to fill, nor history to fall back upon. I hope to hear from my readers and receive some guidance as to the topics you'd like to have covered. In addition to strictly darkroom topics, I’ll occasionally hit on some other photo-related areas, like the values of attending camera shows and of using filters when taking photos. These first few months, though, will be dedicated to darkroom basics. My plan is to lay a quick foundation of understanding about the basic process, then build upon the basics and provide adequate detail so that anyone who wants to join in the fun of darkroom work will not feel intimidated by it, but rather will be well versed enough to create prints that are less expensive than, and superior quality to, those that can be had from a “Pro” lab. Well, life wouldn't be worth living without taking a few risks once in a while, so I guess I'd better start walking out on this new limb that's been placed at my feet…

In this day and age, with digital imaging encroaching on traditional photography by leaps and bounds, who in their right mind would want to use a chemical darkroom with all its smells, chemicals, darkness, wetness and lots of other minor drawbacks? Well, while some (my wife in particular) may argue that I'm not often in my right mind, I'm hoping that I'm not the only one in the club who has traditional, chemical-based, photography interests. In fact, I hope I can persuade some people who have never worked in a darkroom, either chemical or digital, to take a stab at it, and possibly persuade some of the digital folks that chemical isn't dead, and in fact, holds some possibilities for making large prints that are currently economically out of reach for digital.

The big advantage of either a digital or chemical darkroom is the control you have over the end result. With a little education and experience, you’ll soon discover that you don’t want to trust your artistic vision to the minimum-wage “technician” at the local photo lab because with your own two hands you’ll be creating EXACTLY what you had envisioned in your final print, rather than having to accept what the min-wage tech thought you wanted.

My mascot, the one at the top of the column with the pointy hat and caldron, is not my mother in law. She was chosen to illustrate how I felt about darkrooms before I learned how one works. Darkroom chemistry and practice was "black magic" to me. I soon found out that it wasn't as hard as I had imagined it to be. In fact, the basic principles were downright simple. For black and white, I learned that I only needed three inexpensive chemicals, a few containers to store them, a developing tank, a thermometer, a sink with running water and a clock with a second hand. Oh, yeah, and a dark room where I could load the tank. Though not absolutely required, a graduate is also a helpful tool. Generally speaking, a graduate is a wide-mouthed container with precise markings used to measure fluids. A good one costs less than $10 and is helpful when mixing chemicals, and for pouring chemicals in and out of the developing tank. For the true cheapskate, a plastic measuring cup, available for about $5 at the grocery store, will serve the same purpose. There are a few other minor items that are useful (some would say essential) in the darkroom, but they're cheap and I'll be sure to cover them later. By the way, I'm going to refer to two similar terms in this discussion: "dark room" and "darkroom". A "dark room" is a space within a building where the lights can be turned off and the space becomes completely dark. A "darkroom" is a dedicated room for doing photographic work, with all the tools, plumbing, etc., for practicing silver/chemical photography.

Those few tools and chemicals listed above are all that's needed to develop a roll of black and white film. It takes about an hour, from gathering the tools and chemistry through the development process and back to putting things away. This doesn't include the time for the film to dry, but this can happen while you’re doing something else. One hour is a ballpark figure for a "portable" darkroom setup. If you have the luxury of a permanent darkroom, you can do the entire process in less than a half hour, with an additional 15 minutes to a half hour required for the film to completely dry here in the dry desert air.

The chemistry and tools required can be purchased at any good photography store. I almost always use Kodak films, print papers and chemicals, partially because of availability, partially because of consistent quality and partially because I'm familiar with the results I will get. Over the years I've developed a consistent procedure for processing my film. From this consistent procedure I get consistent results. Part of this procedure involves using the one brand and trade name of chemistry. While I've tried some different chemicals from various manufacturers over the years, I've always come back to Kodak. This is not to say that other materials are inferior, far from it, I just prefer the results I get from Kodak. Many people use materials from Ilford (British), Agfa (German) and Fuji (Japanese) with excellent results. These folks probably started with what they could obtain locally for the lowest price, as I did with Kodak, then learned and refined their procedure to fit their materials. If it works for them, I'm not about to try to change their minds about whose materials to use. The point is that you must do some experimentation to find out how to get the results you want from the materials you have available. When you've done this and can repeat your results, you have a consistent procedure you can count on. Stick with it.

The basic process:

Once you've laid out your tools, you're ready to remove the film from its container and put it on the developing reel and into the tank. Obviously, this must be done in the dark. I'll discuss "dark rooms", "darkrooms" and "changing bags" in detail in later columns. For the sake of simplification and to keep this column short enough so it doesn't completely take over the Club Newsletter, we'll assume that you've gotten the film in the tank and are ready to start developing it.

Film developing is a chemical process. It is controlled by three things:

1.) concentration of the solutions

2.) temperature of the solutions and

3.) time.

The concentration of the solutions is determined by how they are mixed. Most of the chemicals come in one concentrated form or another. Some are powders, others may be liquids. The photographer (I feel comfortable calling you "photographers" now that you've decided to come over to "the dark side") dilutes them with water according to the manufacturer's instructions.

Temperature control is easily maintained in a number of ways that I will discuss in detail in a later column. For right now, just think of temperature control as the reason why you need the thermometer.

Control of the development time is why you need a clock with a second hand. There are darkroom timers available, and I'll discuss these later, as well. The expense of buying one is easily justified later when you start making prints, but for right now, a kitchen-type wall clock with a second hand is all that's necessary during film development.

By following the manufacturer's instructions for the type of film you're using and for the type of film developer you're using, the time and temperature required for the process are easily obtained from a table on the instruction sheet. From here on out, the development process is pretty much a matter of pouring the three essential chemicals in and out of the developing tank as dictated by the development table and your clock. When the process is complete, the film must be washed free of the remaining chemicals and hung up to dry.

As I said, it's pretty easy. In fact, once you get used to processing black and white film, it's a relatively simple matter to expand your operation to color film. There are a few more chemical steps, and the temperature control required is to a tighter tolerance, but color print and slide films can be processed in the home darkroom.

Well, I skipped over that pretty fast. Left out a lot of detail, too. In future newsletters I will build upon what I’ve started here. Darkroom work is a broad topic with many alternative tools, chemicals and processes that can be discussed. I’ll cover as much as I can, and with suggestions from readers, I hope I can continue for a long time. I hope this opening column has burst the "black magic" bubble for you and made you eager to learn darkroom processes. I also hope the readers will force me to do some things I wouldn’t normally do in the darkroom. I’ll learn some new things and then pass them on to the club membership.

Best regards,

Stew

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