How do you make money with your darkroom?

[logan2z]

The thread is about 8 years old now. I wonder what dancefloor decided to do in the end and how successful it was?

pentaxuser

You must be really bored

 

[MattKing]

Another ancient thread pops up out of the woodwork. I recall this one from - eight years ago, wow! It will be interesting to see what comments are added to it now.

I think it popped up because spam got added to it today. The spam is gone, but the thread is revived.
Dr. Frankenstein comes to mind.

 

[Dusty Negative]

You mean, one can make money doing this?

 

[foc]

If you are in any business you know this, but people keeps asking about stuff that they have no intention of paying for.

Don't I know it.

 

[pentaxuser]

You must be really bored

So no curiosity on your part about what the OP actually did or didn't do and what happened with his idea? He was here as late as yesterday so it is not as if it was a thread from a starry eyed newcomer whose interest waned within weeks or even days and then disappeared without trace

Still each to their own in terms of what excites their curiosity

pentaxuser

 

[Horatio]

So no curiosity on your part about what the OP actually did or didn't do and what happened with his idea? He was here as late as yesterday so it is not as if it was a thread from a starry eyed newcomer whose interest waned within weeks or even days and then disappeared without trace

Still each to their own in terms of what excites their curiosity

pentaxuser

I’m curious as well.

Did you try messaging the OP?

 

[pentaxuser]

I’m curious as well.

Did you try messaging the OP?

I have not. Frankly I wasn't even aware of the thread until it revived yesterday. As it was from someone who has been here since at least 2012 I voiced my thought out loud as it just excited my curiosity.

As the person is a regular member then I assume he will see a thread he started 8 years ago and respond or not as the case may be. He may have observations that will help others who may have the same idea to decide.

At least the curiosity club has now two members

pentaxuser

 

[logan2z]

I wasn't even aware of the thread until it revived yesterday.

Ah, I thought you revived the thread, hence my poor attempt at humor with the 'bored' remark - which obviously fell flat. Apparently, a spammer bumped the thread and their message was subsequently removed, which caused my confusion.

 

[pentaxuser]

Ah, I thought you revived the thread, hence my poor attempt at humor with the 'bored' remark - which obviously fell flat. Apparently, a spammer bumped the thread and their message was subsequently removed, which caused my confusion.

Thanks and no problem I hadn't realised that had happened which explains your remark.

I have often wondered how anyone can make money with a darkroom. Even getting a contract with a mini-lab that has b&w film customers but only does C41 will more than cover the cost of chemicals and this a few films a week might pay for most if not all your own darkroom chemicals, paper and possibly some films but when you take into account your time you are likely to be working for way below the minimum wage

At least the situation in the U.K. as I see it, suggests to me that this would be the case

pentaxuser

 

[MattKing]

Bob Carnie is an example of how to make money (or at least run a successful business) with a darkroom.
So the route is straightforward - become as good as Bob Carnie is, get some money behind you to give you time to build a business, work incredibly hard and for long hours and then watch the customers roll in!

 

[btaylor]

Oh, Matt has the secret! I can only imagine two ways to make money with your darkroom: work diligently for years to expand it to a true commercial enterprise with commercial volume equipment and a great marketing plan to eek out a corner in a very tough market, or work diligently for decades to become one of the best fine art printers out there like Mr. Carnie.
I have to admit the title of this thread tickled my brain- there were so many articles and books back in the day that promised some way to “make money” with one’s photo gear. I certainly read my share, though the few paying projects I did were never particularly satisfying and were not worth it for the time spent.

 

[NB23]

"I make photographs the way your granddad would have. Call me." and a phone number. Print this on business cards and distribute them.

“old fart photos”

 

[pentaxuser]

“old fart photos”

Yes the fartitude club is growing.

pentaxuser

 

[Nige]

Not even sure if that venerable institution, the Melbourne Camera Club, is still in operation, I recall they did have a darkroom at one time but the majority of their members are likely centenarians now and this facility may well be closed like the rest.

Just an update on this point. The MCC (not to be confused with a more famous MCC.. the Melbourne Cricket Club) is still in existence and the APG (Analogue Photography Group) are still a special interest group of the club. The APG has in fact grown over the last year or two and although currently in lockdown (no physical meetings and no access to the still functional darkroom) we are still holding monthly meetings virtually.

 

[reddesert]

Very few people can make good money with a darkroom. It is easier to make good money with a color photocopier. But eventually that draws the attention of the Federales.

 

[removed account4]

Don't I know it.

lol

in every biz ness there are a lot of looky - lou's
===
the way to make $ at doing darkroom work is to either team up with someone who shoots a lot of film and do their printing + processing for them, or make a big splash on local news programming as the last person left who does black and white darkroom work, or get all your friends hooked on film and first roll developed for free after that charge /roll and make quick and dirty rc prints like a mini lab... burning and dodging extra, custom cropping extra. .. SAIEW

 

[Bob Carnie]

Bob Carnie is an example of how to make money (or at least run a successful business) with a darkroom.
So the route is straightforward - become as good as Bob Carnie is, get some money behind you to give you time to build a business, work incredibly hard and for long hours and then watch the customers roll in!

hi Matt - thanks for the nice words... the main ingredient after 45 years of printing for others and my self is the love of Photography,, if you do not have it this is a shitty business to get into.

 

[M Carter]

You mean, one can make money doing this?

I've yet to make a living from it, but I can do about $2k a year in prints if I put my mind to it. It's essentially saving all my "good" keeper work prints (I dial-in a print from 5x7 or 8x10 to 11x14 and then final 16x20 or up), make more than one large, final print, and then order mattes online (one of those internet frame shops is in my town, so no shipping and the mattes are perfect). Dry mount, sign, poly bag everything with COAs, and then push it out on social media. I'll either do a sales page on my web site or do a popup event at the wine bar down the street. Most I did at one of those in one night was like $800+, maybe spent $130 on mattes though - my daughter's honeymoon was a week later so I paypal'd the cash to her. You really have to get across that they're darkroom prints and hand made and so on - I have info sheets on easels with "no pixels, no digital" and explanations, sometimes I'll even display a couple cool old cameras near the shots they were used for (that Busch Pressman turns some heads). Smaller prints I'll be sure to matte where they'll fit 8x10 or 11x14 frames and note that on the bag, make it clear an "off the shelf frame" will work.

I gauge interest in a print by posting on social media and keep mental track of which images people say "How can I get a print of that?!?!?" I have a couple negs I could sell as many prints as I could make. And my stuff - I guess - It's sort of got a uniformity of feeling and subject. My last popup had friends of waiting for the stuff to get setup and snagging what they wanted, and then complete strangers buying as well. Having a paypal or stripe card reader is essential, too, and it's free.

This was prepping for my last sale:

 

[Dusty Negative]

I have info sheets on easels with "no pixels, no digital" and explanations, sometimes I'll even display a couple cool old cameras near the shots they were used for (that Busch Pressman turns some heads). Smaller prints I'll be sure to matte where they'll fit 8x10 or 11x14 frames and note that on the bag, make it clear an "off the shelf frame" will work.

I based my decision on setting up a darkroom in great part on that idea (offering an "all-analog" product). We'll see how that pans out!

Lovely work on that table!

 

[M Carter]

I based my decision on setting up a darkroom in great part on that idea (offering an "all-analog" product). We'll see how that pans out!

Lovely work on that table!

Thank you - if nothing else, my kids will gobble up my test prints - but I've found there's quite a demand. I'm pretty sure what's helped me is there's a sense of uniformity to my stuff (I hope anyway) it's sort of its own world/worldview, and it's not like random street shooting - I think non-collectors don't imagine hanging pictures of strangers in their homes. Subject and theme might give you an edge for sales.

 

[W_Taylor76]

I didn't know my darkroom could possible make me some money. Mine only seems to take my money.

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

Revival of old threads rather than starting new threads on existing topics is welcome and encouraged here. Thread moved from "Enlarging" to "Marketing and Presentation"--better late than never.

 

[MattKing]

better late than never.

Some would argue that would be a good slogan for some parts of Photrio .

 

[RalphLambrecht]

I really liked the thread: How do you make money with your medium format camera?
(there was a url link here which no longer exists)

It's one thing to be a great shooter and market your photography, but I think that there might be a larger market for the person who can make prints for other photographers. My local lab has stopped doing B&W for a few years now, and they've told me that people are still asking about it.

What would be the tools and resources you'd need to run a profitable black and white lab?

Providing a dark room for rent is a no go as I do not want others to mess with my stuff.Printing for others doesn't work either because printing is a very individual thing. Good news is you don't need to make money with your dog and you didn't get it to make money you're gonna have to do your own processing and that is a lot of fun so just do that.

 

[Down Under]

This thread is proof that the website is in terminal decline. These ancient threads are being revived by persons mysterious, perhaps (or possibly) in a desperate attempt to keep things alive and kicking, at whatever cost.

Time passes, things move on. Photrio has passed, many of us have moved on.

So why am I hanging in here?

Until this post is deleted by Our Glorious Leader, and my membership is deleted, for which I would be ever thankful, as there seems to be no other way of being quite of this site, unless I become completely obnoxious, which is really not my way of dealing with life's issues, in this instance when something is no longer desired but there seems to be no defined way of being quite of it.

Note to OGL. Please!!