Creating a darkroom

Hi everybody

I'm new here so, first of all, I'd like to introduce myself.

I'm a periodism student from Barcelona, Spain, and I'm very interested in photography, specially in analogic B&W.

I've an enlarger and a small room in my house, so I'm planning to create an amateur darkroom there.

I'm sorry for my ignorance but, do I have to paint the walls in black? the light must be special or any red bulb will work? Any other important thing that I have to get o do?

Thanks a lot!

First -welcome to APUG!

No need to paint the walls black (which can be quite oppressive I think). The walls can only reflect the light that falls on them and that will be red (or orange if you prefer). The light that leaks from the enlarger when it is on is rarely a problem, but just in case it is, some people do paint the area around the enlarger black or use black curtain material around it.

Better to use a special safelight rather than just a red light bulb. The red bulbs you buy usually are not red all over and the colour will fade over time. You can get red bulbs made specially for the darkroom (or at least, you used to be able to) but the cost is high so you may as well buy a proper safelight in the first place.

There is a thread (there was a url link here which no longer exists)with hundreds of posts of people's darkrooms for inspiration.

Have fun, Bob.

no the walls do not have to be black. some people like to paint the ceiling black and black down about a foot from the ceiling to absore light from the enlarger, altho, this is not critical.

the light needs to be a photo safe light.

as to all you will need, go to ilford's website and check out their pdf file that will give you a list of all you need and save everyone time with typing out a long list.

have fun

sorry didn't mean to jump on bob's message, it seems we where typing at the same time

ann said:

sorry didn't mean to jump on bob's message, it seems we where typing at the same time

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Happens all the time here - so many people online at the same time! I just did it to someone else on a different thread! All opinions are welcome and if they generally confirm each other, all the better

Cheers, Bob.

I built my darkroom in our garage from 2x4 boards and sheets of particle board. It measures only 8x6 feet and is completely comfortable and safe without having had to paint the wood and particle board at all. A table on the left holds my Saunders dichroic enlarger, RH Designs StopClock timer, and paper safe and a table on the right holds the water and chemical trays with room to spare. I can completely turn around between the fronts of the tables and the wall in front of them, and I sit on a stool while I use the trays.

Hola, Fanel,

I use my bathroom as darkroom, and my safelight is relatively cheap Kaiser, http://www.kaiser-fototechnik.de/en/produkte/2_1_produktanzeige.asp?nr=4018

And all walls are painted in white.

As far as other advices, Bob and Ann already give you good starting points. Only, if you don't already know, Ilford's wb site is www.ilfordphoto.com

Good luck.

As others have said, it is not necessary to paint the whole room black. Infact I would say the opposite and paint it white except for above and behind the enlarger where painting black does help if your enlarger is not truly light tight which very few seem to be. And if the enlarger is in a corner then paint both sides of the corner black.

Using the correct safe light allows you to actually see what you are doing around the place and by having a white ceiling and directing the safe light at the ceiling so that it reflects around the room, you can see pretty well too.

Red was always used for graded papers but nowadays some variable contrast papers are sensitive to red. No paper is entirely safe from any light. Some are better with amber light some with red but if the light is at least 4 feet from the paper and pointing at the ceiling, then you will get reasonable safe times. I use a Kaiser Duka 50 which uses a sodium lamp with its red cover (it also has an amber cover for colour paper). It gives off an amber colour even with the red cover on and is good for at least 20 minutes on all papers I have tested.

rob champagne said:

Red was always used for graded papers ...

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Perhaps in the movies. Yellow to Orange works
fine with Graded. Those colors create a very
easy to see about darkroom. Dan

You do not have to paint the darkroom black.

You need to buy a safelight designed for darkroom use.

Now for the exceptions. If the darkroom is fairly light tight (at least while you are using it), you do not have to paint it black. However, black paint does reduce reflections from light leaks and from enlarger light spill that can add fog to a print. I have an old Beseler enlarger, and it does not need this protection - my darkroom is off-white. If you do need some help, you can usually put up black paper or (better) black plastic in the places that really need darkening. An ordinary red lamp is not designed for photographic use. Safelights are. The ordinary red bulb usually is too bright and may emit wavelengths that paper (especially multicontrast) are sensitive to. But such a bulb may work, especially if you keep exposure to it short. It is easy to conduct a safelight test to tell if it will work for you.

Fanel said:

...do I have to paint the walls in black? the light must be special or any red bulb will work?

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Fanel,
Welcome to APUG.
You do not need to paint all the walls black, but you do need to wear a black ninja suit.

Kodak has a pretty good publication on this subject: Darkroom Design for Amateur Photographers.

Terry