Darkroom secrets, tips and tricks

[Guivd]

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[RalphLambrecht]

hi,

Could you share here your darkroom secrets , tips and tricks about chemicals.
The thing that helped you for printing in the darkroom.

not about chemicals, but start to learn and actively use f/stop timing. It's the most effective way to get to please a pleasing result.

 

[Frank53]

hi,

Could you share here your darkroom secrets , tips and tricks about chemicals.
The thing that helped you for printing in the darkroom.

Not the cheapest tip, but it helped me a lot when I went back to the darkroom after many years: split grade printing with the Heiland system.

 

[silvercloud2323]

not about chemicals, but start to learn and actively use f/stop timing. It's the most effective way to get to please a pleasing result.

Thx Ralph Lambrecht,
I must admit that I didn't know about this, but will check it out..
I also see there's a lot going on bout it on Google..
Have your wonderfull book too "Way beyond Monochrome."
Thx for the tip

 

[Pieter12]

Once you’re comfortable in the darkroom and have a feel for how the process of printing works, try to learn split-grade printing.

 

[David R Williams]

If you've bolted your enlarger to a wall below on the level of your home below your washing machine, don't make prints while the washing machine is running.

 

[Philippe-Georges]

Wash (rinse) your hands as much as possible, and dry them thoroughly, to prevent chemical infected fingerprints while handling the printing paper...
After all, you shouldn't put your hands in the processing bath's anyway, use tongs.

Save as much as possible water as it is so precious:

 

[VinceInMT]

Wash (rinse) your hands as much as possible, and dry them thoroughly…

I use the 3-towel method: 3 towels hanging next to each other. Dry on them left to right (or reverse if you prefer) and by the time you are done your hands are very dry. At the end on the session, towel #1 goes heads for the next washing machine cycle, and the remaining towels move over and a new towel is added.

 

[Philippe-Georges]

I use the 3-towel method: 3 towels hanging next to each other. Dry on them left to right (or reverse if you prefer) and by the time you are done your hands are very dry. At the end on the session, towel #1 goes heads for the next washing machine cycle, and the remaining towels move over and a new towel is added.

This the most 'perfect' hand drying sequence I ever saw...
But, if you want to avoid the risking chemical contamination, then thorough cleaning is your mantra!

 

[MattKing]

Old linen souvenir tea towels make great darkroom towels, as long as they have been washed many times.
They have very little lint, and can often be found cheap in thrift stores.
Just have a bunch of them, throw them in with the wash after using them, and don't try to iron them!
And if there is a pause in the darkroom, you can enjoy the drawings of the Eiffel Tower, the Statue of Liberty, Niagara Falls .....

 

[Sirius Glass]

Gloves are a must for pyro, FT4 and FT5; and they are a good practice with those with sensitive skin.

 

[VinceInMT]

This the most 'perfect' hand drying sequence I ever saw...
But, if you want to avoid the risking chemical contamination, then thorough cleaning is your mantra!

Yes, I use lots of water in rinsing and am fairly OCD about contamination. Where I live, water is still plentiful as long as the Yellowstone River is flowing.

 

[Kino]

Restaurants that use a lot of oil tend to have lots of plastic jugs for free or minimal cost that are useful for spent chemical storage.

 

[BHuij]

Make a work print to get your exposure and contrast right before you worry about dodging and burning. Make careful note of your enlarger height, lens, f/stop, exposure time, contrast grade, etc. Let it dry and flatten it, and examine in normal room light. Then you can draw out a dodging and burning map on it, note the exposure info on the back, and from there you're well-positioned on your next printing session to make a great "final print" on your first try, and without faffing around with test strips first.

Particularly effective workflow if you use f/stop enlarger timing instead of seconds/minutes.

 

[AnselMortensen]

Take the cap off of the lens of the grain focuser before trying to use it.

 

[JPD]

If you try a film developer with carbonate as alkali, use plain water instead of an acidic stop to prevent millions of micro bubbles in the emulsion. That ruined a roll of Efke R50 for me. It might work better with a film that doesn't have a soft emulsion as the Efke, but I'm not taking the chance for rolls I want to be able to print...

 

[Donald Qualls]

If you try a film developer with carbonate as alkali, use plain water instead of an acidic stop to prevent millions of micro bubbles in the emulsion.

This isn't a problem with newer, harder gelatin emulsions. I've used Dektol (carbonate alkali) on modern films with stop bath and seen no issues. That said, this combination of carbonate accelerator and soft emulsion is the one place I'd agree, it may be simpler to avoid acid stop bath. Perhaps just avoid carbonate developers altogether for these soft emulsions.

 

[JPD]

This isn't a problem with newer, harder gelatin emulsions. I've used Dektol (carbonate alkali) on modern films with stop bath and seen no issues. That said, this combination of carbonate accelerator and soft emulsion is the one place I'd agree, it may be simpler to avoid acid stop bath. Perhaps just avoid carbonate developers altogether for these soft emulsions.

Yes, Efke films have soft emulsions. They are not made anymore, but many of us have Efke films in our freezers. Haven't tried Foma films, but they are said to have rather soft emultions too.

 

[Donald Qualls]

Haven't tried Foma films, but they are said to have rather soft emultions too.

I've used and processed lots of Fomapan. It's softer than modern Tri-X, T-Max, etc., but nothing like as vulnerable as Efke films. In fact, I've developed it with Dektol 1+9 and used stop bath; I didn't see any of the "bullseye" marks that come from bubbles in the emulsion. Lots of other stuff wrong with those sheets of 9x12 (they'd been in the plate holders for a long time), but not that.

 

[Patrick Robert James]

Don't put your hands in any chemical ever.

 

[MurrayMinchin]

Don't put your hands in any chemical ever.

Even Dihydrogen Monoxide?

I was shocked to find how much research time has been devoted to studying its multiple threats to Humanity, and that people are even calling for the ban of its use. You can even buy Ban DHMO t-shirts!

Facts About Dihydrogen Monoxide

Dihydrogen Monoxide Research Division provides an international clearinghouse for information on Dihydrogen Monoxide including current research results, governmental regulations, and exposure and contamination alerts. Dihydrogen Monoxide (DHMO) can be dangerous to humans. Dihydrogen Monoxide...

www.dhmo.org

 

[MattKing]

As I understand it, Kitimat residents have great difficulty keeping out of the Dihydrogen Monoxide.

 

[MurrayMinchin]

As I understand it, Kitimat residents have great difficulty keeping out of the Dihydrogen Monoxide.

Prince Rupert and Ketchikan is even worse. I can't believe the Dangers of San Francisco thread is getting more attention!

 

[Donald Qualls]

Ketchikan

Yeah, no kidding. I've heard the stuff falls out the sky more days than not out that way. Dunno how anybody can actually live there.

 

[MurrayMinchin]

Yeah, no kidding. I've heard the stuff falls out the sky more days than not out that way. Dunno how anybody can actually live there.

I live at the head of a channel which cuts 60 miles into the Coast Mountains, so a lot of rain is squeezed out of the clouds before they get here. We have ferns growing in the moss that's growing on the branches of the trees, while on the outer coast (Prince Rupert & Ketchikan) they have ferns and small flowers growing in the moss that's growing on the branches of the trees.

The overall density of life forms is amazing.