Darkroom portraits

[Peter de Groot]

My first darkroom!

Well I have finished my 2nd session in my modest darkroom. It doubles as my digital darkroom as wel. 2 pics:

In the first pic you see my wet table on the wall end my dry side with Krokus enlarger. Beneath it is de flightcase with my 8x10 Technical camera.
In the second pics is my drying wall. Next to it (not shown) is the sink I use to was the pics. It is in the bathroom. I have to cross the hall to reach it.

Basically it sucks a bit but I am very happy with it. Especially now I can listen to my music while dping my darkroom stuff...and yeah I have turned off the screen when handling photopaper.

Greets,

Peter

 

[glaiben]

In the second pics is my drying wall.

Cool drying wall - how does that work? Do the prints stay on until they are completely dry (and flat)?

 

[Peter de Groot]

They stick on there and when the frontside is dry I put them on en clean table face down so the back can dry up. (mostly my cleaned and wiped down wet bench.) I have drying frames but I have no place to put them. Hnece my cool wall..er I mean dry wall.

 

[Keith Pitman]

My darkroom

My darkroom is about 9 x 15 feet. The photos show the working sections. The dry side includes two enlargers: a LPL 4500 with Super Dichroic head that is used for negatives up to 4 x 5 inches; and, a Zone VI with the 8 x 10 head that I use for 5 x7 (I have the 5x7 head, also), 4 x 10, and 8 x 10 (infrequently) negatives. The darkroom is on the lower level of the house (aka, basement) and the ceiling in the darkroom is less than eight feet, so the bench under the Zone VI enlarger has a drop down top. I used assemble-yourself cabinets from Home Depot, but put them on a platform that raises them up six inches. It makes a much more comfortable working height. The cabinets are deep because I didn't want the easel to hang over the edge. I'm six feet tall, so I don't have a problem with the depth or the height.

The wet side features a 10 foot stainless sink, two thermostatic valves (one for the print and film washers, and one for tempering water for mixing chemistry and other tasks), as well as two standard mixing faucets, all downstream from in-line water filters. The sink is also raised about six inches; otherwise, it would be very uncomfortable to use.

In addition, there is lots of storage, very adequate counter space, satisfactory ventilation, a comfortable rubber mat on the floor, and speakers tied to an adjacent sound system that I can control with a remote from the darkroom. I could almost live in here.

 

[MurrayMinchin]

My seven year old daughter just said, "Now that's a nice darkroom". I'm in total agreement

Murray

 

[Dennis S]

Wow ! Now that's a SINK. That must have been quite the adventure getting that spotted and plumbed.

 

[BobNewYork]

I've never been one to suffer from jealosy - until now

Sigh

Bob H

 

[Peter de Groot]

Yeah I am pretty envious as wel....but my time will come. Then again I am lucky to have a darkroom at all. Think tonight I will make it dark again in my darkroom.

 

[nsurit]

The pieces are starting to fall in place . . .

After living most of my life without a personal darkroom, that is about to change. For several years I've been hunting and gathering in anticipation of building a retirement home with a wet darkroom. This past weekend I finally got "wet" with the hekp of a plumber. There is still a bit to go, however the construction part is more or less complete. Here are a few photos of the space (about 9.5 feet wide on one end, 12.5 on the other, 15 feet long and 10 foot ceilings) and some of the stuff that will go in it. Most equipment was purchased used. I'm excited. The proof is in the pudding and I plan to post some of my images in the gallery section when it becomes operational. Bill Barber

 

[nsurit]

Hmmm, guess I better stick to analog if I can't get my dang digital images of the darkroom to attach to this post. What the heck did I do wrong, other than use a digital camera to record them? Small jpg less than 100KB.


Never mind, I just figured it out.

Bill Barber

 

[glaiben]

After living most of my life without a personal darkroom, that is about to change.

\

Wow - that looks to be a VERY pleasant space!!

 

[david b]

hey bill,
looks like you need a 20x24 print washer.

 

[Ken N]

Bill, I trust that isn't glossy paint on the walls around the enlargers!!!

 

[ic-racer]

After living most of my life without a personal darkroom, that is about to change. ... Bill Barber

This is one of my favorite threads. Good luck Bill, thats going to be a fantastic darkroom.

 

[lorirfrommontana]

Finally pictures of my very small but dark darkroom! There is still some trim work to be done but it is light tight! There is a large shelf all down the right hand side wich I'm sure will come in handy. It has a lip built up around the wet side to keep the wet on that side. The waterproof counter is plenty big enough for my largest trays. I'll put up black paper on the wall and ceiling around the enlarger. The walls are all the white waterproof sheet paneling stuff so it is shiney. It will make it easy to wipe down. The door has an edge around it to make it light tight. There is a bathroom type fan above the wet side. There is plenty of room under the counters to store chems and all the equipment I have that I'm not useing (color analyzer, and all the stuff for color processing). I'll need more racks and storage containers. I wish the ceiling was higher but it is not so I'll have to do larger prints on the wall. My mini fridge is stocked with paper and I'm ready to go. I'll be mixing up the dektol tonight and will try and print tomorrow night. Yeah!! Anyway, here are digi pics of the small space. Sorry so many but it is so small I couldn't get an over all picture too well! It is not much but it is mine!
Lori
http://s401.photobucket.com/albums/pp98/lorirfrommontana/darkroom/

 

[36cm2]

Bill, I'm laughing my butt off right now. Your third picture looks exactly like my basement work-out room has looked for the past 6 months. My wife isn't sure whether she gets more exercise on the treadmill or by jumping over the light table, enlargers, jobo units, etc. Congrats on getting closer and closer. I'll be doing the same in about a month.

Leo

 

[MattKing]

Bill and Lori:

Both places look great - have fun!!!

Matt

 

[jasonhall]

Bill and Lori,

I agree the photos of your babies look great. Here is a photo of mine as well. Well mine is more like a sonagram.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/15184234@N02/3498261180/

(there was a url link here which no longer exists)

Jason

 

[nsurit]

The last picture is of a storage unit that contains 4 enlargers, two film drying cabinets, a couple of presses, a print drying cabinet, screens, print washers, bottles, gadgets and doodads. There is actually another image I didn't post with a bunch of my stuff in a holding pattern waiting to get moved into the darkroom. One of the nice things about our new house is I have a separate space for my stuff that doesn't have to be shared. It isn't that I don't play well with others . . . Bill Barber

 

[Roger Thoms]

I use either a rental darkroom or my friends darkroom. I did recently get these flatfiles and made a top for them. This is set up on one side of our living room luckily which is large.

Roger

 

[bsdunek]

Not my darkroom. Found this on a UK forum http://www.film-and-darkroom-user.org.uk/forum/index.php
Interesting way to show your darkroom!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/consumptive/3146893782/

 

[nsurit]

Roger, I'd love to find some flatfiles like those. What would even make it better would be if I could trade for something I had but didn't need. Bill Barber

 

[Tony Egan]

Here's my first designed from scratch darkroom. It was built inside one half of a 2-car garage and fully insulated to keep temperature variations to a minimum. We moved house late last year and a potential darkroom space was a must-have on the shopping list! I designed the space with wiring and plumbing requirements and had a builder complete the frames and walls and I did all the sink, benchwork, shelves etc. Finally, no more negatives drying in the shower recess! Thank you Ikea for my glass drying cabinet just the perfect length for a roll of 35mm film. I'm still making a few adjustments here and there as I figure out the best workflow but it's a great place to be day or night.

 

[ic-racer]

You darkroom looks great.
Was that Durst baseboard ever used as a door at any time in its life ?

 

[kwmullet]

Not my darkroom. Found this on a UK forum http://www.film-and-darkroom-user.org.uk/forum/index.php
Interesting way to show your darkroom!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/consumptive/3146893782/

That reminded me of the flickr set I did on Dianna's and my darkroom.
We've since moved to a new house, but the very cool people we're renting this house to now not only wanted the darkroom to remain, but have no problems with us using it while we're in the process of converting a travel trailer in our driveway into a darkroom... but that's another story.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/circlesofconfusion/sets/72157605316713422/