Darkroom portraits

[Mike A]

must have stole that from a daughter!

Come on guys I acquired it from her, besides "boombox" is so 90's an Ipod Nano was its replacement.

 

[Mike A]

Hello Kitty is my favorite!

 

[grahamp]

We're just jealous. Besides, it will be easier to find under safelight than the standard black/grey ones.

(OT: iPod Barbie must be coming soon? Glad I don't have offspring.)

 

[Thomassauerwein]

My new room

Well, the move is done and the room is up and running. Still needs some cleaning and re-arranging but I've produced work, both platnum and silver so "I'm finally after 5 months back in the silver business!" There is plenty of room for growth (Need an 8x10 enlarger) The room itself is 420 sq ft. Plus 200 sq ft production room (not shown) that is the entrance room. Because of the shutdown I have not had a chance to process so the room will get lots of use getting caught up. over 100 rolls of film and a couple boxes of 4x5 waiting to put the room through its paces. I am a very happy man! This room is a mixture of the very old and new.

 

[Troy Hamon]

Thomas...very nice. And a lot of space! I'm excited to finish my own project and get back to printing. I've only developed film recently again, and haven't printed for 16 months...

 

[Thomassauerwein]

Troy Good luck! Get it together and let us have a peek.

 

[Lopaka]

Well I finally got a scanner installed and acually figured out how to get something scanned. So here are some quick shots of the new darkroom (officially opened Apr 1). About 7 years late - we started on the new house then got a lot of attention taken by caring for ageing parents (now deceased) and taking care of my wife's brother while he was dying of cancer. So a planned 3-year project took 10 years to complete. Now with all that behind us, we are at least grateful to have our lives back and the darkroom - better late than never!

Bob

 

[BWKate]

Bob,

That's one wicked darkroom! Wow!

 

[Lopaka]

Bob,

That's one wicked darkroom! Wow!

Kate, you sound impressed.

The way I see it, the biggest difference between this and the person printing in the bathroom is convenience. I have seen some phenominal prints come out of very makeshift facilities. In the end, the most important tools are the vision and skill of the photographer. As I contemplate approaching geezerhood, convenience is a big plus for me. I hope I can live up to the promise of the facility.

Bob

 

[BWKate]

Bob,

You're right. I just really appreciate a well set up darkroom. You've waited a very long time for your space and it's time you got to enjoy it! Have many happy hours in your space!

I print in a cooperative darkroom that I run and maintain (it's in a nonprofit artist run center). It's not exactly pristine but I spend many happy hours in it and that's what counts! I'll have to take a recent photo of it and post it. I'm the only one who keeps my own enlarger there. (I'm the one who probably uses the darkroom the most so that's fair)

All the Best
Kate

 

[BWKate]

I am attempting to post a couple photos of the darkroom where I print.

 

[BWKate]

My enlarger is a Durst M601 and it's underneath the pillow case coverings in the far left corner. We also built lockers so members could store their paper and whatever else they like to print with.

BWKate

 

[Lopaka]

I think the lockers is a great idea. When I was going to a group darkroom after work in the winter - I had to haul everything into the office so it wouldn't be frozen.

Bob

 

[pandino]

Some really nice setups here. You guys/gals are in a whole `nother class. I'm delighted just to have the corner of our unfinished basement.

This image was from a test roll of a then, newly acquired Pentax H3. I'm not in the habit of photographing the darkroom or scanning B&W negs, but here goes.

Don't laugh.

 

[BWKate]

Chris,

Very cool! As long as it works that's really all that matters!

 

[Lopaka]

Don't laugh.

Nothing to laugh at here - looks very workable. Better set-up than some of my own basement corners I've worked in.

Bob

 

[Kino]

Some really nice setups here. You guys/gals are in a whole `nother class. I'm delighted just to have the corner of our unfinished basement.

This image was from a test roll of a then, newly acquired Pentax H3. I'm not in the habit of photographing the darkroom or scanning B&W negs, but here goes.

Don't laugh.

Hey Chris,

Looks like a very respectable workspace! As long as it is light-tight, I think you will find the same color dark in there as even the most expensive, custom darkrooms.

Onward and upward.

Congrats!
Frank

 

[Ulrich Drolshagen]

Being inspired by this thread I think I should show you my newly installed darkroom as it is nearly finished.
It's an L-shaped room of 10m² in the basement of our home. The width of the wings - about 4m in length each - is 1.40m and 1.70m.
Obviously the most sophisticated part is the ventilation. It is sucking the air right above the trays, an idea discussed some time ago in one of the threads in this forum. It's very quiet thanks to the silencer built into the duct and the ventilator running in a silencing box. It is changing the air in the room ten times an hour if it is running at full speed. So it should be sufficient for working with selenium toner and other hazardous chemicals showing up in the future.
The tray table and the two large sinks I purchased for little money from professionals closing down their darkrooms.
My enlarger is a Dunco II66 with Ilford VC module sufficient for 35mm and MF. I'd prefer to have an L1200 though .

cheers

Ulrich

 

[Dave Miller]

Nice clean set-up Ulrich, I'm impressed by the ventillation system. I'm sure that you will enjoy using the room.

 

[david b]

So here is my set-up so far.

I just finished all of the painting today. Thank god. Next week, I will have the electrician come in to install some track lighting, electric sockets and some other things.

 

[Sportera]

Looks great David, can't wait to see that expensive enlarger in there.

I'm glad you posted this, I'm going to have to show Jenn, so I can have my own space when we get a new house.

 

[smieglitz]

I'm out standing in the field

Here's a short-lived portable wetplate collodion darkbox I used last weekend in the field at Bill Schwab's northern Michigan APUG get-together. I like the basic design but abandoned this one to an upcoming campfire. I've begun working on the next which will be slightly smaller so it will fit in my cartop carrier. It will also have reversible legs and removable wheels to roll it through the woods, and a drop-tank for sensitizing large wetplates. This prototype was limited to full-plates.

The inside of this box was about 24" deep x 36" wide x 23" high. There was an acrylic sheet for a workspace tabletop inside and a sliding red acrylic window measuring 12" x18" for safelight illumination on the rear panel. The legs slip into slots on the side so the thing could be set up in less than 1 minute. The white material is curtain blackout, totally opaque and cheap but a bit too fragile for this application I'm afraid, so burn, baby, burn. I've acquired some lightweight nylon darkroom cloth from Porter's for the next one which I'm starting to build tonight.

Here I am at O'Neill Lake:

Joe

 

[kwmullet]

[...]Obviously the most sophisticated part is the ventilation. It is sucking the air right above the trays, an idea discussed some time ago in one of the threads in this forum. It's very quiet thanks to the silencer built into the duct and the ventilator running in a silencing box. [...]

Ulrich,

I'm quite interested in the silencing aspects of your vent system. I presume the silencing box is just a simple, insulated box, right? Can you describe what the inline duct silencer is and/or provide a pointer to some information? I'd love to include maximum silencing in my vent system. The more ambient noise I can remove from my darkroom the better.

-KwM-

 

[Curt]

Ulrich, is it a vent filter and a heat recovery unit? Looks like a great place to work.

Curt

 

[Curt]

Or is the fan motor in the box?