Bathroom and other Temporary/Makeshift Darkrooms

Richard Jepsen · Dec 5, 2023

An important comment on small space ventilation. I lack ventilation but leave the laundary room to check print values in the kitchen near the hold tray. It was a game changer 15 years ago when I migrated to an alkaline fix such as TF-4 or TF-5. Initially I used a water stop. Now I use a weak citrus stop. Multigrade developer is basically odor free. I sense no irritating fumes in my DR space. 5 x 7 trays are small with a small surface area. Its the acid in stop and fix that cause issues.

mshchem · Dec 5, 2023

Richard Jepsen said:
An important comment on small space ventilation. I lack ventilation but leave the laundary room to check print values in the kitchen near the hold tray. It was a game changer 15 years ago when I migrated to an alkaline fix such as TF-4 or TF-5. Initially I used a water stop. Now I use a weak citrus stop. Multigrade developer is basically odor free. I sense no irritating fumes in my DR space. 5 x 7 trays are small with a small surface area. Its the acid in stop and fix that cause

Simple straight sodium thiosulfate fix isn't stinky, when you add boric and acetic acid etc to make it hardening fix that it gets so bad.

You have a great system here, get rid of the stinky stuff.

pbromaghin · Dec 5, 2023

I'm taking a darkroom class at Red Rocks Community College and just yesterday gave a darkroom to a kid in the class. He's a freshman right out of high school living with his parents and his mom is really paranoid about darkroom chemicals, like the 70's and 80's and the EPA never happened. He's a really shy and quiet, giant of a kid (6'5", 300+) who never held a film camera in his hand before this class and ended up making the most beautiful prints of the semester.

It's a nice little bathroom setup with a Durst F60 and EVERYthing he needs to bulk load 35mm, process, and print up to 8x10 RC. Except a timer, I couldn't find an extra timer. I felt good, he felt good, our instructor felt good, and my wife felt good to finally see some equipment leave the house after 10 years of accumulating 4 darkrooms worth.

RalphLambrecht · Dec 7, 2023

I always had the itch to design a fully integrated darkroom cabinet on wheels to develop film and make prints. Everything would be set up and it could be rolled into a darkened room to start working quickly and roll it into storage when done. Well... maybe one day...

pbromaghin · Dec 8, 2023

RalphLambrecht said:
I always had the itch to design a fully integrated darkroom cabinet on wheels to develop film and make prints. Everything would be set up and it could be rolled into a darkened room to start working quickly and roll it into storage when done. Well... maybe one day..

He has those same ideas. He mentioned going to Ikea for a cart.

Axelwik · Dec 13, 2023

I blocked the rear two rooms of a house that I own when converting it into an Airbnb, one of the rooms being my darkroom with the idea that I'd still have plenty of time to use it between guests. Well, the Airbnb has been too successful and I have almost no access. One guest after another.

So I turned a small bathroom in the house where I live into a makeshift darkroom, which has been a bit limiting. Tried a 4x5 enlarger and daylight roller tanks for the bigger prints, but it took too much space and just wasn't ideal, so back down to a small "beginner" C700 6x7 enlarger which works okay for 35, medium format, and contact printing my 5x7 and 8x10 negatives.

Of course that bathroom isn't the ideal solution, so a friend and I cut a hole in the back of the house with my real darkroom and installed a door so I can access the darkroom without disturbing the guests. Working on renovating the whole thing to make it very functional, and looking forward to enlarging 5x7 and 4x5 again with enough room to do things properly!

PerA · Jan 5, 2024

Hi Jason!
I have used the bathroom as my only darkroom since 1992. I published pictures of my darkroom under Darkroom portraits in 2012, and it still looks essentially the same today. My top tips to the beginning darkroom worker with access to a bathroom would be:
1. Doors are seldom light tight. Hang a blackout cloth over the door.
2. Use a board over the bath tub for trays (preferably plastic or stainless steel).
3. Get a sturdy table for the enlarger and place over the toilet seat.
4. Bring the negative carrier to a place next to the bathroom, insert negative and do the de-dusting there (for more space, better lightning conditions and to avoid keeping negatives in a wet environment).
5. To save space and reduce exposure to fumes, get a vertical tank (NOVA). You may still need a few trays, depending on your choice of papers/toning etc.
6. If you have white tiles on the walls (like me), tape black cloth on the wall closest to the enlarger to avoid stray light (although stray light never seemed to be a big problem to me).
7. If you you use selenium (or other nasty) toner, put tray in container with lid. Increase the ventilation while toning if possible (you get dizzy if you inhale this stuff, and I can guarantee it is not good for you).
8. Water and electricity is a dangerous combination. For safety, use a earth-leakage circuit breaker.
9. Even though I have access to running water I could do very well without. Fixed prints can equally well be placed in a container with water and exposed to a final wash at a later stage.
Those are the tips I can think of right now.

juan · Jan 6, 2024

I had installed a large capacity bathroom exhaust fan. I think The recommended size for my room was 60CFM and I got 100CFM.

Christopher Walrath · Jan 11, 2024

Juan, one thing I noticed back in the day is that if there were ANY dust in my space and I kicked the fan on, it would deposit a very goodly amount on the film as it was drying. Something to bear in mind.

Neil Poulsen · Mar 27, 2024

I'm currently finishing up a bathroom darkroom. The rectangular bathroom itself is off a public gallery space, and it's moderate in size. There's the toilet on the left and a sink on the right on one end, and the door opens into the bathroom on the opposite side across the long end.

When it's completed, I'll try to provide photos. In the meantime, I'll describe it. A friend donated a 4x5 Beseler computerized head mounted on a Beseler MCRX XL chassis. I've constructed a stand on wheels for this chassis that will be stored int he gallery space. It can easily be rolled into the bathroom when needed. I've attached a 24'x24" inch piece of half-inch plywood that will swing up to horizontal and serve as a small table for enlarger implements.

In the meantime, I've also constructed a folding table that's about 24"x62" that has six detachable legs made out of plumbing pipe. When assembled, this table is for trays and a washing tub that will fit over the top of the toilet and sink. I'll cut about a 8"x9" hole in the table on the right which will align over the top of the sink basin, so that people will have use of the sink. I have one of those old-style, Kodak syphons for the washing tub that will connect to the sink's faucet for washing prints.

Some way or another, I'll hang darkroom lights from the ceiling. I'll see how light-tight the door is. If not light-tight, I can put a curtain rod over the top of the door outside and hang a black piece of cloth on this rod.

Voila, a pop-up darkroom.

Shaps · Mar 30, 2024

In the early ‘90’s I was a stringer for the Associated Press. Digital cameras had not been a reality then but we did have portable film scanner/transmitter called a Lefax. So we would develop color negatives and scan and then transmit. Many times I would make a bathroom toilet stall into a darkroom with heavy black plastic and duck tape. Or use a changing bag to load the tanks. We had water bath tanks with imerssion heaters to bring our chemicals up to temperature and used nikkor tanks and reels. Film was dried with a hair dryer or a real film dryer made to dry film on the reels. The darkroom would be set up before doing the photography. Scanning and transmitting one negative took about 20 minutes!

Tina Kino · Jan 22, 2026

Mick Fagan said:
The smallest darkroom I have ever had was the insides of a large box, which I also slept in; it was attached to a motorcycle. The box replaced the original sidecar that was damaged quite badly after some bodywork done by a tree on an off road excursion. It was a coffin shaped rectangular box with a canvas top; it carried all of my worldly possessions.

On moonless nights camped alongside a river (for water) I draped a canvas over the bike, with two poles between the bike and chair, to give elevation; I had a nice darkish set-up. My enlarger was a small fold down English thing which when folded up, resembled a very small suitcase, the baseboard was one side of the case, I was only using 5x7 paper.

Power was from the bike battery; I had a 6-volt globe in the enlarger, as the bike was a 6-volt system. The safelight was a hurricane lamp with some ruby on a wire frame surrounding it. I could use the battery until it almost went flat as the bike had a magneto system for the ignition. I used a super cheap alarm clock with two bells on it's top, as a timer. It didn't have a second hand, but the ticks were really loud.

I developed in 3, 5x7 Ilford dishes, which I still have. Washing was done in a saucepan picked up from the side of the road, it had no handle.

This was in the late sixties, I still have a few prints, the quality is terrible, but they are pictures that have great memories.

On the road one day, I met up with a couple travelling in a Kombi camper. They had a really good darkroom that packed away in one very small cupboard, which I think was originally a small wardrobe. They were using the same enlarger as I was.

Another time in the mid to late seventies I met a couple of photographers travelling for about 3 months at a time and they used a small lean to tent, as a darkroom on moonless nights as well. I met them again in the early eighties, in the far north of Australia; they were camped alongside a river and were processing E6 films.

One of the really inspirational things I saw them doing, was the heating of the E6 developer in jam jars, by using magnifying glasses focused onto a small piece of steel sitting inside the developer. As the ambient temperature never got below about 24C overnight in the dry season, the solution was already reasonably warm to start with.

I have used wardrobes a lot for darkrooms; they get hot and humid quickly. Many a bathroom has been converted by using three pieces of timber running the length of the bath, on this I hold the dishes, which ran in a row behind the enlarger. Usually the basin is used for washing the prints.

All of my lady friends usually complained about the bathroom being dominated by the photographic equipment, one didnt, she is now my wife!

Mick.

..chances are slim you're going to read this reply now almost 20 years later @Mick Fagan - but I would really like to mention that this is one of the most amazing posts I've ever read on a photo forum (and I'd love to see some of those prints that you made on those moonless nights)!

Godspeed, and best from Berlin!

Mick Fagan · Jan 24, 2026

Tina Kino said:
..chances are slim you're going to read this reply now almost 20 years later @Mick Fagan - but I would really like to mention that this is one of the most amazing posts I've ever read on a photo forum (and I'd love to see some of those prints that you made on those moonless nights)!

Godspeed, and best from Berlin!

Tina, well the slim chance happened.

After reading your thread post, I went on a search of my picture envelopes. These are just normal A5 sized envelopes that hold my small early travel photographic endeavours.

These are all printed while travelling on motorcycles, which in this case was one of my solo motorcycles, the sidecar equipped motorcycle was struck with a terminal engine issue and at that time I was on a solo machine. These were taken and printed between 50 and 58 years ago. The quality of the pictures reflects my photographic endeavours and the conditions everything was done under. Compared to what most of us do these days, it is abysmal, but I can look at them and remember some of the silly things that I have seen and had happen too.

The motorcycle in these pictures was a late 1950's BMW, manufactured in München, as opposed to today where BMW manufacture their motorcycles in Berlin

The first one is an abandoned camel station in outback Western Australia. I travelled with a local who knew where this was. With the introduction of internal combustion powered trucks (LKW) into Australia in the early 1900's, the camel caravans virtually disappeared within a six month window. The Cameleers, who were mostly from Afghan, abandoned their camels and let them loose, the camel stations were also abandoned. These days Australia has the largest and healthiest wild camel population in the world. It is a bit of a problem, but that is the way it is.

The next one, is a fuel stop on a longish trip. Strapped to the rear pillion seat is a 20 litre drum of fuel, which after the picture was taken, was removed and partially put into the motorcycle fuel tank. The roads here, although back then they were mostly really tracks, were extremely straight, with corners sometimes around 80km apart.

The next one, was an unbelievably big hole in the middle of the road/track. I came around a gentle curve on a sandy track, fortunately I was only travelling around 20 km/h to be met with the biggest hole in the middle of a track I had ever seen. I had nowhere to go as I couldn't change my direction as the surface was very loose material, so I centred the bike and braked as hard as possible.

Ending up in this super big hole. It took me quite a while to get the bike out, which I did by laying the bike on its side, then twisting it around to face rearwards. Luckily I travelled with a small shovel and I was able to easily widen the hole to allow me to turn the motorcycle around.

Tina Kino · Jan 26, 2026

Thank you very much for your elaborate reply @Mick Fagan - it's really great to see some of those pictures, and also to read the stories that go along with it!

Feral camels in Australia, I had no idea.. just read the Wikipedia page and this National Geographic article on it.. wow.

Your photos of course look rough, compared to today's images done with advanced chemicals, and multigrade paper, developed in air-conditioned darkrooms etc.
I'm still awestruck thinking about what it must have been like developing those somewhere out in the boonies, under a tarp.
I shall be thinking of this when I start complaining again about the not-great easel that I have, or how it is a bit of a faff to make my kitchen window light tight

Thanks again for sharing, I appreciate it!

Best from Berlin, and take care

Bathroom and other Temporary/Makeshift Darkrooms

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