I suck at this! I'll take up knitting!

[Hexavalent]

Here's how the workflow went this morning: fail, fail, screwup, fail, mistake and a few more fails.
Now nursing a coffee and asking myself "why do I do this?". Answer "Because I love it". Right now, I don't like it, but I still love it.

 

[michaelbsc]

Here's how the workflow went this morning: fail, fail, screwup, fail, mistake and a few more fails.
Now nursing a coffee and asking myself "why do I do this?". Answer "Because I love it". Right now, I don't like it, but I still love it.

Yeah, I find that the trash can in my dark room is almost never big enough.

I suppose I kid myself that the old guys who made my snap shots were trying to to the same thing I'm trying to do when I make a print. But that's not true. All they were doing was making an image "good enough" so you paid the cashier at the drug store.

When I'm trying to make one, I'm usually doing either 8x10 or 11x14, and I have a much more critical eye than one would expect from a drug store snapshot.

Plus, those who make their living at this stuff print far more often than I do. I *MIGHT* get to print several weekends in a row, then I have other responsibilities for weeks on end. And I never print during the week. So it's no wonder that I always have to get back into the groove.

Maybe that's why it's called my avocation instead of my vocation.

 

[ic-racer]

Just have to get used to it. You will keep making those same mistakes. As you progress, mistakes will become less common, but they never go a way.

Knitting or Sewing won't be any better . I recently was helping my daughter sewing a stuffed animal and when we flipped the head right-side-out, the ears had been sewn sticking inward....

 

[Black Dog]

You get days like this sometimes....just relax and take it one step at a time. Taking a break is always good too!

 

[tkamiya]

I think the worst times are when you think you've created a masterpiece until you look at it the next day.

... and the best times are when you think you had screwed up so badly that there are no images to be saved.... then wake up the next morning and look at the work from the night before and go - hum?

When I start obsessing on just few fractions of exposure and start wasting paper fast, I stop then re-evaluate the next day. So often that I go back to the very first print and that's the one I like the best.

I had that happen to me few times.

 

[jp498]

My sympathies. Your contrast might not have been working right if the print developer was expired/failed. I've seen dektol still darken the silver almost right but get muddier and contrast grade variations just not work right. If you have an air cleaner device, you can run that for a while in the darkroom to help remove dust from the room air as a whole.

 

[MattKing]

Knitting eh ... I could use a photo vest .

I find that it can help to have a print evaluation place that is separate from my darkroom (mine is in our kitchen).

Pausing, and looking at your work in a slightly different environment helps.

And a day like this makes all the rest more fun.

 

[Mats_A]

Knitting eh ... I could use a photo vest .

I'll get right on with it!

r

Mats

 

[Ole]

Just have to get used to it. You will keep making those same mistakes. As you progress, you will become more confident in your mistakes.

Fixed it for you.

 

[Vonder]

My own fine example of screwing up, today. Went shooting in the cold and with frozen hands, couldn't figure out why my camera wasn't advancing all the way. I'd always bought this film in ONLY 36 exp. rolls but got some for Christmas that were 24!!!! Before I realized it I'd ripped the film in half. Some images might be salvageable, but gosh... this is the first time I've ever ripped the film in half.

My name from now on is Gorilla Joe.

 

[Jayd]

Actually you can do to much cleaning stirring up dust that need not be stirred concentrate on just the areas you touch and blow out negative carriers glassless are best use a baby nose thing or a brush blower and a anti static glass cleaner when you do your general surface cleaning, always wash and dry your hands before you touch negatives or anything in darkroom, some people use steam to arrest dust if it's a big problem in dry air. as for contrast and exposure try to be more consistent with metering and exposure I highly recommend Fred Picker's "Zone VI Work shop" book if you follow his methods even loosley it will save lots of frustration.

Hope it helps
Jay

 

[Ken Nadvornick]

On every paper safe, I have a blue painter's tape across the latch. This is a re-usable low stick adhesive tape that you can (well, at least we can in US) buy at home improvement centers. It's there to slow me down, give me tactile feed back, and be one more step - before I can open the lid. It works for me.

Nice.

That's like the old "Are you sure?" admonition in software user interface design.

I do something similar. With all of my clamshell paper safes I have epoxied two sets of powerful (neodymium) magnets to the lids. They are placed so that one set is split left and right on top of the lid front edge, and the other set positioned inside the paper safe directly beneath those. After a quick spritz of black spray paint and they become almost invisible.

The effect is to create a positive "snapping" mechanism as you close the lid. Just like a locking detent. Once snapped shut, a fairly substantial intentional force is required to reopen the lid. Nothing excessive. But enough so that no amount of accidental or unintended force is sufficient to open them. You must be trying to open them for it to happen.

Reference: I purchased and used these BX042 neodymium magnets from K&J Magnetics. They will fit and function perfectly when using this class of Arkay of paper safe, or any other similarly designed one. (Note the two protruding stops in the front base section. The inside magnets fit into the underside tops of those. The outside magnets on the lid edges directly above.)

Ken

 

[MattKing]

I have a "no expense, no hand tools required" alternative.

Through repetition, I have developed an ingrained habit. Before opening any door or turning on any light (including the enlarger) I always do a look around check for open paper safes or packages of paper.

It only takes about 100 repetitions ......

 

[Jerevan]

Well, knitting... I just hope it is less expensive and less frustrating. I know the feeling, Mats! Today, first it was "Plus-X 120 gone" with the morning coffee and then, a bl**dy electricity bill going back to 2008 up to 2011 for the darkroom with the evening tea. I am glad this day is over soon and it'll be a normal monday again. Gah.

 

[tim k]

Actually you can do to much cleaning stirring up dust that need not be stirred concentrate on just the areas you touch and blow out negative carriers glassless are best use a baby nose thing or a brush blower and a anti static glass cleaner when you do your general surface cleaning, always wash and dry your hands before you touch negatives or anything in darkroom, some people use steam to arrest dust if it's a big problem in dry air. as for contrast and exposure try to be more consistent with metering and exposure I highly recommend Fred Picker's "Zone VI Work shop" book if you follow his methods even loosley it will save lots of frustration.

Hope it helps
Jay

I agree, my first darkroom was a wood shop. I used a leaf blower the day before to clean things off. Surprisingly it didnt work out too bad.

 

[2F/2F]

Even if you really do suck, you can have fun anyhow!

 

[CBG]

OK all you electronics experts out there. Is there any kind of contact switch that could disable room lights if one lifted the door to say, a papersafe? All our usual way of working based upon remembering seems like a scheme designed to induce expensive errors. Why should we have to remember if we can automate? And, yes, I too have blasted paper through stupidity and forgetfulness.

 

[IloveTLRs]

The next time will be magical.

^-- this. Sometimes I print nothing but drink coasters. The next time in I'll come out with real winners.

 

[Coffeehound]

Just remember that a bad day in the darkroom is much better than a good day at work.

 

[Hexavalent]

I tried sharing my feelings of frustration with a friend this morning, who happily chimed things like "learning experience" and "opportunity for growth". Grrrrrr! I went outside and threw snowballs at a road sign for 1/2 hour - it DID help

 

[Stuggi]

OK all you electronics experts out there. Is there any kind of contact switch that could disable room lights if one lifted the door to say, a papersafe? All our usual way of working based upon remembering seems like a scheme designed to induce expensive errors. Why should we have to remember if we can automate? And, yes, I too have blasted paper through stupidity and forgetfulness.

No problem actually, a normal open relay and a door switch will do the trick, just wire the relay in series with the wall switch for all the "normal light", and wire in the door switch after the wall switch to the coil on the relay. That way, when you open the door, the light go out, and if you switch off the lights with the wall switch, the relay isn't energized and doesn't draw energy.

 

[tkamiya]

When you turn OFF switches, the lights do not go out completely at the same time. There are always time lag even with incandescent lights. Florescent lights are even worse. In addition to this, unless you are familiar with electrical wiring, I do not suggest trying to rig something like this on your own.

An easier way to do this may be to rig a buzzer on your paper safe and if you try to open it without disabling it first, it will go off. You can even go further and use a light sensor and a switch and it will only go off if you don't disable it and the lights are still on. My adhesive tape method I mentioned earlier is an ultra simplified version of this. It just slows me down and gives me tactile feedback to think twice when opening a paper safe. (that is, to put a strip of painter's tape over the latch of paper safe)

Sure it isn't the automation you desire but works and very simple.

 

[Stuggi]

I wouldn't say that wiring that up would be very hard, but anyone that need a better description than what I just gave shouldn't try it, main voltage and all that jazz.

But how bad would that time lag actually be? Enough to destroy your paper stock?

 

[MattKing]

I think it would be better to have a light sensitive lock on the paper safe.

 

[Black Dog]

Amazing what can happen when you put words that are normally perfectly understandable on their own together...the true believer uses them as verbs even when they're not though!