Chasing Light Leaks (and Still Thinking About It) – Amanda Shopa, PhD

[FilmIsCheap]

My brother built my darkroom. When he was done with the bones of it, it was my job to make the room light tight. I figured I’d need a cheap caulk gun and a few tubes of caulk and I’d be done in an evening. But it was incredibly difficult to make the darkroom, well, dark.

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[MTGseattle]

That is a good blog post. For me, my last "surprise" of light was the condensation pump for my furnace. I got everything else taped and blocked well enough to not fog printing paper and then caught an odd wave of blue and green. I had a stool or box or something blocking it from direct view.

 

[FilmIsCheap]

That is a good blog post. For me, my last "surprise" of light was the condensation pump for my furnace. I got everything else taped and blocked well enough to not fog printing paper and then caught an odd wave of blue and green. I had a stool or box or something blocking it from direct view.

Oh man, that wouldn't be anything I'd think of either. And the colored light would have thrown me off!

 

[mshchem]

It can be daunting. Just remember how sensitive your vision is and you have a lens in your eye. A tiny pinpoint of light takes time and position to spot your paper or film.
When printing wrong safelight assumptions can bite you.

Fun learning, one time I chased every conceivable light only to realize I had forgotten to add starter to my color print developer, over active solution was chem fogging the paper.

 

[RalphLambrecht]

My brother built my darkroom. When he was done with the bones of it, it was my job to make the room light tight. I figured I’d need a cheap caulk gun and a few tubes of caulk and I’d be done in an evening. But it was incredibly difficult to make the darkroom, well, dark.

Click here to watch the full blog entry content.

Don't hesitate to comment about this blog entry.

the longer you sit in the dark the more leaks you find. Human eyes are incredibly sensitive whendark adapted. Nevertheless, it is a well-worth effort.

 

[FilmIsCheap]

It can be daunting. Just remember how sensitive your vision is and you have a lens in your eye. A tiny pinpoint of light takes time and position to spot your paper or film.
When printing wrong safelight assumptions can bite you.

Fun learning, one time I chased every conceivable light only to realize I had forgotten to add starter to my color print developer, over active solution was chem fogging the paper.

I'm wondering how you felt after you figured out that error! I can imagine I'd roll my eyes and then just laugh about it.

 

[FilmIsCheap]

the longer you sit in the dark the more leaks you find. Human eyes are incredibly sensitive whendark adapted. Nevertheless, it is a well-worth effort.

The funny part about this is that I did all of that work, but I still use a changing bag for film. But I don't know exactly how my darkroom habits and printing activities might change in the future, so even if I could get away without a pitch black room now, I might need it in the future.

I'm glad I did it, because it's one less thing to worry about.

(Plus, it was definitely easier to do without all of the stuff in the room!)

 

[MTGseattle]

Changing bag for me also, I stopped my efforts well short of the space being safe for unexposed film.