Dividing time between Darkroom and Shooting Film

Svenedin · Sep 1, 2017

M Carter said:
I've learned to ask myself "will I really really want to spend hours printing this image?" as I look through the camera. 90% of the time, I put the lens cap back on and move along.

But, I have gotten to where I know what I want an image to "say" I suppose, and I can tell through the VF if it seems like I can get it there in the darkroom. (I'm a lith printer and lately been getting into masking, so one print can take quite some time - days even, to dial in. That's just my thing, very happy with it, YMMV of course).

My last road trip, I street-viewed some of the route and found some things to check out. Shot very few frames, and my print backlog right now is maybe 6-7 images, including stuff I've test printed and put aside to think about.

Yes. I was out with my camera today and I had just one subject in mind. I wanted to take some photographs of a tower. I took about 20 shots, fully knowing that I would only want to print 1 or 2 (assuming they are acceptable). I was out for about an hour in a town but I didn't think anything else was interesting enough to bother with.

RalphLambrecht · Sep 1, 2017

Svenedin said:
I am finding that I am shooting more film than I have time (or inclination) to print. Years ago, when I shot a lot of colour film I would just send the films out to be developed and printed in high street labs. Slide film was usually process paid too so that was sent away as well. When I shot black and white films (which was probably a roll a week) I had time to spend hours in the darkroom but now much less so. I am also solitary in the darkroom now whereas years ago I would have company and it was more fun.

So how do other people manage the divide between shooting film (which I particularly enjoy) and actually printing the film (which I sometimes find a chore)? I have become very selective in the frames that I will print. Sometimes I might only print 3 frames from a roll of 36 exposures even though there are other frames that are worthy of printing. More recently, I have a backlog of developed films that haven't been printed at all which is perhaps a bit pointless!

It might be that I am too fussy when printing which slows everything down a lot. I usually like my prints as 8"x10" but perhaps I should print smaller prints but more of the frames on the film. That might speed things up and at least I would get to see the photographs.

Winter is a bit grim in the UK so I usually spend much more time in the darkroom then. Maybe I will catch up. It seems wrong to be indoors in the dark on the (rare) sunny days when there are months of grey cold ahead!

I don't think you are alone in this; it's a vey common problem nd is what eventually drove me into digital because, I decided, if a hobby turns into a more it's time to stop it. Nevertheless, I still enjoy the occasional printing session and my suggestion is to do what you enjoy, otherwise, you'll eventually stop anyway and the results can only be good if the heart is in it as well. all the bested keep having lots of fun!

Bill Burk · Sep 1, 2017

I like Bob Carnie's approach to shooting for inventory. Then print for the occasion. When it was a friend's birthday last weekend, I got the chance to look through my negatives and slides.

She mentioned a passion for Giant Sequoia redwoods to my wife... and although I should have much more to choose from, considering I lived in the Sequoia Forest for a few years, I found only relatively few frames to consider. An un-started project you might say.

So I encourage you to shoot more than you can possibly print... that one day you will have the negative that you must print.

I did find a Kodachrome slide of the Alonzo Stagg tree, which I had taken from about a third of the way up, having climbed a tree next to it. It was, without a doubt, the print that I had to give.

eddie · Sep 1, 2017

faberryman said:
I have been focused on developing cohesive series of images rather than "happy accidents", and found it more satisfying.

I generally have a few series I'm working on at any time. Still, I jump at the chance for "happy accidents", which often lead to a new series of work. At the same time financial considerations will regularly force me to spend darkroom time on older projects (I sell a good bit of my work), for income purposes. Sometimes it feels like a chore. Sometimes I've spent enough time away from it so it feels fresh again.

To the original post: I really don't think in terms of dividing my time between shooting and printing. All I know is if I go a few days without doing something photographic I go through painful withdrawal.

mooseontheloose · Sep 1, 2017

This is something I struggle with as well. As a single woman who has very little in the way of prints in comparison to how much I shoot, I am very much a part of the school of Vivian Maier (although I do not have even a fraction of her talent). However, a lot of this is due to how I shoot, and my work schedule. I currently teach at least twice as many courses as most university professors, which usually means I spend my weekends recovering. Shooting may happen on occasion during the school year, but the majority of it happens during the winter and summer breaks (4 months total) when I travel. Unfortunately that's also the best time for me to develop and print, but I often run out of time before I'm back to my very full work week. If I didn't shoot anything else for the next ten years I would have more than enough negatives to keep me busy in the darkroom during that time.

However, next year I will be a full-fledged (assistant) professor, possibly with tenure, with a much reduced teaching load. I'm hoping that this will allow me to print more in the darkroom. I have a variety of projects that I would like to start and finish, I have just needed time to be able to do the work justice.

Arklatexian · Sep 2, 2017

bvy said:
Your last statement... Summer is for shooting, winter is for printing.

Where you live, probably. Where I live the summers are normally too blasted hot and the winters are mostly mild.. My darkroom and most others down here are cooled by airconditioning so we do darkroom in summer and try to shoot in winter. You should see all the different kinds of cameras that come out whenever we get a snow that stays on the ground for 24 hours.. Maybe once every five years. How often do we reach 100+F in the summertime? Nine out of ten years........Regards!

guangong · Sep 2, 2017

How many frames on a roll of film are worth printing. Not every sketch becomes a painting. The advantage (and perhaps the purpose) of smaller film formats) is that film is relatively cheap and cameras contain many exposures, thus allowing grab shots and other risky attempts. The larger the format the less film use and more concern about individual exposures. Sometimes not even one shot on a roll is worth printing. But think of the decisions that must be made by the poor digital capture photographer with an SD card filled with 570 pictures to be viewed on his computer screen.

480sparky · Sep 2, 2017

I spend time in the spring, summer and autumn shooting.

I spend time in the winter (when it's cold and dark out) in the darkroom.

Svenedin · Sep 2, 2017

I spent a few hours in the darkroom today making contact sheets. I had about 20 films, developed and in negative sleeves. I had given them a cursory look but had not really studied them. Some of them were nearly a year old and I had already printed a frame or two. I feel better now; I've caught up a bit. Looking at the contact sheets I'm not as behind as I thought; only a few frames per film are really worth printing. There are some interesting photos that I had overlooked by not bothering with a contact sheet and going straight to the frames that caught my eye including some experiments I did pushing Ilford Delta 3200 to 12,500 in a pre-war Zeiss Ikon Super Ikonta.

Bob Carnie · Sep 2, 2017

An old trick many photographers would do is make your contacts 1 stop darker and 1 stop lighter than your normals and look again... It may not be a full stop but the darker and lighter renditions clearly will show more keepers.

Svenedin · Sep 2, 2017

Bob Carnie said:
An old trick many photographers would do is make your contacts 1 stop darker and 1 stop lighter than your normals and look again... It may not be a full stop but the darker and lighter renditions clearly will show more keepers.

Yes, sometimes I have a roll that is inconsistent in exposure. This might be because the film was shot with an old camera with slightly wild shutter speeds or it may be that there was a great difference in contrast between scenes. When that happens there is no way to get a single contact sheet that shows all of the frames properly. I will then make another either with less or more exposure (or sometimes a different grade) so that the whole film is covered. Today my experimental Ilford Delta 3200 at 12,500 was so inconsistent that I made one contact sheet at 6 seconds and another at 36 seconds (+2.5 stops). The reason for that was me, no fault of the film or camera. Some of the film was exposed indoors and some outdoors. It was impossible to stop the lens down enough and get a fast enough shutter speed outdoors so those shots were heavily overexposed in comparison to the indoor shots.

RattyMouse · Sep 3, 2017

None of the rooms in my house can be light tight so I dont have a dark room. Never will it seems so I have given up ever wet printing and dropped some serious money on printer ink. Enough to equip my darkroom with all new gear if I had one.

So now I scan and can usually keep up with my shooting.

winger · Sep 3, 2017

I also tend to shoot in spring, summer, and fall and then use the darkroom in the winter. But it depends on the weather and school schedule, too. If my son is home (he's only 7), then I don't usually start anything I might have to drop, so no developing film or printing. Consequently, I have a to-do list of two rolls of 35mm, 4 rolls of 120, and 10 sheets of 4x5. Some of those date back to May.
I enjoy shooting and printing, but not really developing the film.

winger · Sep 3, 2017

I also tend to shoot in spring, summer, and fall and then use the darkroom in the winter. But it depends on the weather and school schedule, too. If my son is home (he's only 7), then I don't usually start anything I might have to drop, so no developing film or printing. Consequently, I have a to-do list of two rolls of 35mm, 4 rolls of 120, and 10 sheets of 4x5. Some of those date back to May.
I enjoy shooting and printing, but not really developing the film.

Dividing time between Darkroom and Shooting Film

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