Darkroom portraits

Jeffrey A. Steinberg · Aug 31, 2006

So this was the M6? Very nice detail.

--Jeffrey

bill o · Sep 12, 2006

Former kitchen pantry...

Here's my darkroom. Beseler 23C on the left, and chemical storage and wet side on the right. Pretty basic, but it does the job.

Lopaka · Sep 12, 2006

Looks quite workable. Enjoy!

Bob

Robert Hall · Sep 20, 2006

Latest incarnation

So here is the latest version of the darkroom. There have been a couple additions and I have a little trim left to do on the cabinets.

Let me know what you think...

http://www.RobertHall.com/newdr

wildbill · Sep 20, 2006

Robert Hall said:
So here is the latest version of the darkroom. There have been a couple additions and I have a little trim left to do on the cabinets.

Let me know what you think...

http://www.RobertHall.com/newdr

Sweet. When can i move in?

Black Dog · Sep 20, 2006

Very nice-are the enlargers wall mounted as that table seems a little frail to support them?

Jerevan · Sep 20, 2006

Robert Hall said:
So here is the latest version of the darkroom. There have been a couple additions and I have a little trim left to do on the cabinets.

Let me know what you think...

It looks like a darkroom I could be happy using. The only thing I found strange is the low height (from the looks of it) of the white table where the enlargers are placed - doesn't that amount to some backache after a long session? Otherwise, wonderful to have all that space and comfort.

Aggie · Sep 20, 2006

That darkroom is a joy to work in. The pic's are decptive, since the whole looks like it is shorter than it is. I had no problem with backaches on a long session. Although I would love to see some of those rubber mats for fatigue in there....hmmmm....housewarming/darkroomwarming present.

My hubby groaned after he saw it all, knowing now I had to have something like it.

mtbbrian · Sep 20, 2006

Robert Hall said:
There have been a couple additions and I have a little trim left to do on the cabinets.

Trim on the cabinets!
My goodness Robert!
And that archway.
Can I come and work in your darkroom!
Please!

:rolleyes:
Brian

Robert Hall · Sep 20, 2006

Thanks all, it's been an astounding amount of work. I will be holding our first class on Sat. with a possible friday night class as well for some out-of-towners.

I agree with the table, but here is a list of yet to do items...

1. although the table is solid as a rock, I will mount the 8x10 enlarger on the wall.

2. Move the bessler to the cabinets (1m high).

3. Mount the 4x5 enlarger to the space on the wall with the long cabinets.

4. Mount shelves in the cabinets. (sliding, I found some German rails that hold 50 kgs)

5. build glass faced cabinets for the mass of chemicals I have there.

6. Install the water board for the film room. (it's split into 2 rooms, one 20x20 and the other 16x20)

7. install drying screens under the sinks

ok, I'm getting tired just thinking about it. But it has been up and running for me for a couple months now. I'm quite satisfied with the results.

Thanks for the kind words.

Sanjay Sen · Sep 20, 2006

Robert Hall said:
So here is the latest version of the darkroom. There have been a couple additions and I have a little trim left to do on the cabinets.

Let me know what you think...

http://www.RobertHall.com/newdr

Very nice, Robert! Can I visit when I am in SLC next time?

Robert Hall · Sep 20, 2006

sensanjay said:
Very nice, Robert! Can I visit when I am in SLC next time?

Thank you, and of course.

Mark_S · Sep 20, 2006

I am new to APUG, attached (I hope) are photos of my darkroom which I built about 3 years ago into a room in our basement. The room started out as 14'x14', and I added an L shaped light trap as a door, leaving a space for the darkroom which was L shaped.

The E-W leg of the L has the wet side, with an 8' sink, and to the left of that a 3' sink that drains into the main sink. I use the smaller sink for rinsing - I usually have an archival print washer and a holding tank in the smaller sink, but for large prints I use the whole sink (with a siphon) for the rinse. At the dead end of the wet side are shelves for chemical storage. Trays and a Jobo processor are stored under the sink.

The N-S side of the L has a work side on the West wall, this has a large counter with kitchen cabinet type drawers and cupboards underneath.

The W wall of the N-S side has the enlarger, a small table to hold tools, and below that storage for paper and easels.

The enlarger is a Besseler 45, and it is set up such that for smaller prints I use it is shown in the photo, to go a bit larger I remove the top platform and put my easel on the white table below, that will get me up to 16x20 prints. If I need to go bigger I can get a bit bigger by removing the white table top and going to the black surface where the dust-off cans are.

This is the third darkroom that I have built, and I am pretty happy with it - although it only works well with one person in there, sometimes my wife wants to use it at the same time, and we can set up a second enlarger on the E wall, but we bump into each other a lot (not necessarily bad).

Black Dog · Sep 21, 2006

Think I can just about hold on till mine's finished.......

Curt · Oct 11, 2006

My darkroom is now an empty space. I'm rebuilding it from the ground up and hope to make some new mistakes. It was hard to decide on the flooring material. I bought 1/2 inch hardiboard and then decided not to tile, instead I decided to put in the hardiboard and a laminated floor over it. It's a lot easier on the back. The fear of not having enough outlets and plumbing hangs on until I get to the hardware store and see the current prices. The realization that I have more "stuff" than will go into the room is challenging. My new antistatic machine came and now I will have to decide where it will go. Sometimes I wish I didn't know how to plumb and wire and construct and design and all the rest. The poor kid at the hardware store couldn't even help me fnd a plumbing part, a coupling, I had to tell him what it was. Anyone up on circular mils? Romex or Stranded? Copper type L or M? GFI outlet or GFI breaker? Paper or Plastic? It's really kind of fun, I guess. Can't wait to get it finished though. Black walls or a nice silver or gold. I did decide to have a coffered ceiling made from some 5/8 mahogany sheets with thick veneers, the old stuff, I have had for years. The ceiling might look like an English Pub. I could have a theme going on here. DWV or TV? What about the Net and should I have a Coffee pot in there?

Bob F. · Oct 11, 2006

Very nicely done Mark: particularly impressed with the adaptable space under the enlarger, and the wire shelves over the sink to let stuff drain - I'm going to have to steal that idea...

Cheers, Bob.

Curt · Oct 11, 2006

Mark, I have the same sink and water control temp reg. Mine is a Kodak, it's made under many brands, I would like an electronic one but it is going to be reused again in the remodel. I got some 3/4 inch high density board with a bullet proof black surface on both sides. It was made for pin ball machines but was the wrong size apparently, a little bigger than the automated machines, so I got them for $4.00 a sheet several years ago and they have been in my shop since. I think I will use them for some shelving and around the enlarger, I too have a Beseler 45 as the main one. I would do the same with under enlarger storage but my enlarger came with the Beseler 45 stand for just the shipping so I got it too. It has storage and movable base convenience. What kind of floor do you have in your darkroom? Is the black and white wall decoration what you would keep?

Curt

Alex Bishop-Thorpe · Oct 18, 2006

My makeshift "darkroom":
Dead Link Removed
Yes, it's actually the main section to our old bus, waiting to be fixed up to one day cruise the roads again. But for now, it's got an enlarger and a shelf of gear, and a box I got from AustraliaPOST of chemicals.
And, uh, it clearly isnt dark yet. Working on it.

(Yes, that is a stove...and, uh, that's a chimney along the right.)

hka · Oct 18, 2006

What about the good vibrations...!

Jerevan · Oct 18, 2006

Fleath,

At first I thought you were doing darkroom stuff outside. But a closer look and reading your comment made it somewhat more clear.

The wooden lined roof gives a feeling of being on a boat. When will we see the first floating darkroom in this thread, I wonder?

Black Dog · Oct 20, 2006

Think I remember seeing one of those once, in the Darkroom Handbook by Joe Dimaio and Dennis Curtin (Focal Press).

Mark_S · Oct 21, 2006

Curt said:
Mark, I have the same sink and water control temp reg. Mine is a Kodak, it's made under many brands, I would like an electronic one but it is going to be reused again in the remodel. I got some 3/4 inch high density board with a bullet proof black surface on both sides. It was made for pin ball machines but was the wrong size apparently, a little bigger than the automated machines, so I got them for $4.00 a sheet several years ago and they have been in my shop since. I think I will use them for some shelving and around the enlarger, I too have a Beseler 45 as the main one. I would do the same with under enlarger storage but my enlarger came with the Beseler 45 stand for just the shipping so I got it too. It has storage and movable base convenience. What kind of floor do you have in your darkroom? Is the black and white wall decoration what you would keep?

Curt

Lots of questions....
In actual fact, I just changed the water temp panel - the Kodak one that I had exhibited a bit more personality than I like, and I came across a box with hot/cold filters, a Calumet temp regulator, and a flow valve, all never used - they had been bought by a Doctor who was going to install a darkroom for X-rays and never got around to it.
In any event - to your questions...
The floor is concrete, painted with grey epoxy paint, and then I have rubber floor mats on it to make it more comfortable to stand on.

I like the wall colors - the white helps to reflect the safe light and make the area around the sink and the counter bright and easy to see. The area surrounding the enlarger is black to prevent reflections from fogging the paper. The maze leading into the darkroom is painted flat black.

If I were to do the darkroom over there are a couple of things that I would change: I would not have the maze, and used the extra space to include some of the stuff that now sits on a table outside the darkroom (dry mount press, RC dryer etc).

In my case, the ceiling height was quite limited, not much that I can do to change that, but it would be nice to have a higher ceiling height.

I sometimes find that I set up a second enlarger, and this is done on the counter behind the primary enlarger - it would be nice to have space next to the primary enlarger for a second one.

I have been wanting to make larger and larger prints, with the darkroom as it is now, it is difficult to do bigger than 20x24 - I would like to have the ability to do larger prints in my next darkroom.

Mark

Eric Rose · Oct 22, 2006

Ta Daa! The Darkroom has finally been finished!

And so far no "dark" has leaked out! Here are some shots I took. Naturally one of the most important parts of the darkroom is the stereo system. I have installed one of my Quad's. This one is a Quad 303 power amp with a Quad 33 pre-amp. Coupled with this is the usual CD player and radio. Bob Carnie would be proud of me, I had 3 CD's of the Stones back to back yesterday while I was printing. Oh ya the speakers came out of a recording studio in Vancouver. The speakers were custom made for the studio but they decided after a few years something newer was in order. Needless to say the system sounds great!

Next the boring stuff, a Durst Laborator and an Omega D5. I will be taking the diffusion head off the Omega to put a condenser head on. That way I have the best of both worlds. Lots of cupboards, some shelves, and an eight foot fiberglass sink my sweety gave me for Xmas last year. That is a SCUBA tank you see in the corner. I have an old set of regs on it with a nozzle attachment to the low pressure hose for blowing off negs. 80 cubic feet of ultra clean dry air!

The wiring is still in a bit of free form state as I don't want to hardwire anything in until I have "lived" in it for awhile.

So here are the pics. It's been a long time in coming!

jstraw · Oct 22, 2006

I notice a lot, if not most, of the darkrooms I see have the area aound the enlarger painted black, even if the darkroom is otherwise not black. I've done this myself.

Why do we do this? Is it to prevent reflected light leaking from the enlarger head from fogging paper? From making focusing more difficult? Some other reason?

lee · Oct 22, 2006

the reflected light leaking from the enlarger head is most likely the answer.

lee\c

Darkroom portraits

Jeffrey A. Steinberg

bill o

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Lopaka

Robert Hall

wildbill

Black Dog

Jerevan

Aggie

mtbbrian

Robert Hall

Sanjay Sen

Robert Hall

Mark_S

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Black Dog

Curt

Bob F.

Curt

Alex Bishop-Thorpe

hka

Jerevan

Black Dog

Mark_S

Eric Rose

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jstraw

lee

Darkroom portraits

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