mobile darkroom

[Tom Kershaw]

I'm looking forward to the photographs.

Tom.

 

[RobertP]

I'm giving some thought as to using Porter's darkcloth,( maybe doubled or two ply) to use as the actual door. It could be as simple as a material that can be stuck in place with velcro or as elaborate a zippered door with a piece covering the zipper to assure it to be light tight. I'll take some photos as the construction progresses. With a light tight bulkhead the use of Porter's darkcloth would be much easier than trying to fit a piece of cloth to all the contours of the van walls. You would only have to fit it to a nice flat wall surface slightly larger than the door opening.Thanks for the ideas guys....much appreciated. Robert

 

[RobertP]

Any recommendations on the type of zipper that would be used on this type of application. (Light tight door). I assume the first place to start looking would be at a tent type zipper. Does anyone know what type of zipper is used in the large changing bags?...like the Harrison changing tent.

 

[glbeas]

I would look at a separate battery or two for powering the darkroom. A marine deep cycle battery is ideal for this kind of work as it will tolerate a deep discharge in a way a standard auto battery won't. As well you don't want to run down your starter battery and wind up stranded after a long darkroom session. You can run them in parallel for longer run times and have a switch between the vans charging system and the darkroom wiring to prevent the starter battery from being drained while working. A transformer to plug the system into available AC at a campground or at home to recharge would be a very good option too. All this is available technology in campers and should be fairly easy to cobble together.
Water tanks are available, fresh water and grey water, as well as the pumps, fixtures and drains. This online dealer links to local camper stores so they may have a nearby outlet to you, though you can order direct and have it shipped to you.
Dead Link Removed

 

[glbeas]

Any recommendations on the type of zipper that would be used on this type of application. (Light tight door). I assume the first place to start looking would be at a tent type zipper. Does anyone know what type of zipper is used in the large changing bags?...like the Harrison changing tent.

Try Velcro so you can overlap the edges by a few inches for a better seal.

 

[RobertP]

Gary, I was thinking about a RV roof exhaust fan. But as someone pointed out, I'm working with ether and ether based products so an electical motor may not be a good choice considering the flash point of ether. I'm leaning more toward a passive air vent on the roof (near the rear doors) and a couple near the bottom of the bulkhead. The water supply can be used with a faucet/pump that will pump the water from a fresh water supply. So I don't really need a lot of electical power doing it this way. I already have a 16 gal tank that is designed for a camper. This should be enough for a days printing (or plate development). The gray water tank will be placed directly beneath the sink so gravity will take care of that. But I still do like the idea of an exhuast fan. Thanks

 

[smieglitz]

Try Velcro so you can overlap the edges by a few inches for a better seal.

For the portable wetplate darktent I made last year, a heavy-duty zipper (for sleeping bags?) purchased at a fabric store was used. The zipper needed a flap of lightproof material overlapping it to cover light leaks through the zipper teeth and the needle holes. The flap was several inches wider than the zipper and was closed by several small pieces of Velcro spaced roughly 1' apart. The sides of the tent overlap also and there a full-length piece of Velcro was used to seal the edge. Full-length pieces were also used on window flaps. The stuff has a lot of strength and full-length pieces require some force to rip them open, so for a door flap I would use the stuff sparingly. For a door, I would probably attach the material permanently along the bulkhead and use a zipper with overlap material for the baffle.

Porter's darkroom material (the thinner, more expensive stuff) is a good choice for a fabric door as it stands up to repeated folding and movement well without cracking as the curtain blackout material is liable to do with extended use.

I'm curious though as to why bother with a bulkhead door for access to darkroom space? I can see why one might want to retain access to the cab with an opening that could be sealed light-tight, but that door presents a lot of complications if it is to be used for always entering the darkroom space. Why not just use the side or rear doors of the van? I would want the cab sealed off from the fumes as much as possible so I'd probably not include a bulkhead door in a dedicated vehicle. Otherwise, I'd have the darkroom material function as the major part of the partition, perhaps having only enough plywood around the contour of the interior so that a large square piece of the fabric could be attached. (And in this design I would use full-length strips of Velcro to secure the fabric.) Then, the fabric could be rolled up and allow for better visibility when driving, yet quickly put into place to seal the dark space.

Joe

 

[Photo Engineer]

Early photographers all had portable backpacks with both camera and darkroom included. It isn't hard.

As for LED safelights, the LED itself is inherently a DC device so it would be rather easy to build a battery operated unit. It is a diode that permits only DC to flow. AC will heat it up and shorten its life IIRC.

PE

 

[smieglitz]

The portable darkboxes/darktents have their strengths and weaknesses. You can haul them places a vehicle won't be able to get to. But, OTOH it would be really nice to have a mobile darkroom already set up to use instead of fussing with the setup and tear down a tent or box requires.

After all, most things worth photographing are within 50 feet of the car.

 

[Photo Engineer]

Joe;

You are lucky. I've had to walk a lot more than 50 feet, on average, for a good picture. Some I could not get to anymore, especially at my age. Of course, the aerial photos were taken while sitting the whole time, and I left the driving to someone else while I took the pictures.

PE

 

[RobertP]

It's not really as though I have to be right next to the van. As long as I can get the plate back to the van in a matter of 4 or 5 min to develope I should be ok. So within a couple of hundred yards should be ok. So anything farther than that... then the old adage applies, "there's not a photograph there anyway"

 

[RobertP]

Joe, I see what you mean by a solid piece for covering the bulkhead opening. By eliminating the zipper you are eliminating another chance of light leaking in. Once in place the cab will not need accessed at all and when your done it can be rolled up out of the way for visibility and access to the rear. It can also still be left in place if desired. There are no side or rear windows in this model anyway.

 

[smieglitz]

"Of course, the aerial photos were taken while sitting the whole time, and I left the driving to someone else while I took the pictures."

PE,

That sounds a lot like "You push the button and we do the rest."

Earlier I was just paraphrasing a famous photographer's quote though I am embarrased that I don't recall who said it originally. (One of the Westons?) That's another thing that comes with age.

Seriously, I've had a triple CABG and am always looking for ways to minimize the difficulty in getting the LF/ULF gear to locations. This is especially so with wetplate as there are lots of peripheral tanks, chemical solutions, water, etc., that need to be taken along. Not to mention glass plates. Since I mainly do figural work much of the time, the environment is only a backdrop and the hiking can be minimized, or at least I'll have someone there to help share the load if I need to haul it any distance into the woods.

I've rigged an old 3-wheel jogging stroller to carry the cameras, lenses, chemicals and misc. equipment, and have also constructed a portable collodion darkbox on wheels to minimize stress on the old ticker:

Wetplate is worth the effort but a dedicated vehicle would really make things easier for me the majority of the time.

Joe

 

[RobertP]

Joe, I'll be doing up to 11x14 plates so the convenience of a dedicated vehicle will make it so much easier with these size plates. Even with any of my ULF gear, if I'm going to head off into the mountains to shoot then I'll do it with an outfitter that can supply the pack mules and horses. Other than that it is how ever far the land rover will take me. I think it was Brett who we are paraphrasing in our previous posts. But I tend to agree with him more often than not.

 

[Shmoo]

I'm giving some thought as to using Porter's darkcloth,( maybe doubled or two ply) to use as the actual door. It could be as simple as a material that can be stuck in place with velcro or as elaborate a zippered door with a piece covering the zipper to assure it to be light tight.

A good friend of mine says to be sure the Porter's darkcloth is the heavier cloth version. The lighter cloth version isn't light proof, but the heavier one is. She uses velcro around her windows and puts the cloth over it and it works like a charm. Be sure to leave enough of a flange around the edge so you can tuck it in and really seal out light.

S

 

[RobertP]

I was thinking of about 4-6" of over lap with two rows of velcro all the way around to insure light tightness. Sort of like a dual light trap design.

 

[smieglitz]

I've never used the heavier material from Porter's but as I understand it, the lighter material is more flexible and more expensive. I've never had a problem with light coming through it and have used it in my darkbox as well as for a camera bellows I constructed.

 

[smieglitz]

I was thinking of about 4-6" of over lap with two rows of velcro all the way around to insure light tightness. Sort of like a dual light trap design.

That's what I ended up doing with the ceiling flap on the darktent. The weight of the large red acyrlic window put enough strain on the fabric to allow small areas of wrinkles to allow light. Using two rows of Velcro eliminated the problem.

 

[Jim Jones]

Gary, I was thinking about a RV roof exhaust fan. But as someone pointed out, I'm working with ether and ether based products so an electical motor may not be a good choice considering the flash point of ether. . . .

Then use positive pressure ventilation. Blow air into the darkroom and use a passive exhaust vent near the work surface.

 

[smieglitz]

Looks like I just bought a 1969 Ford Econoline 300/Shasta class-C motorhome today. It's very compact as far as motorhomes go, about 18' long.

A couple details to work out but I hope to start converting it to a mobile wetplate darkroom within a few days.

Joe

 

[RobertP]

Joe, That should work great. Keep us posted on your progress. Send pics.

 

[smieglitz]

I just had another idea for the partition. At school I use a transparent gray welder's curtain as a surround to block UV coming from a Nu-Arc plateburner. These things also come in transparent red and might make a relatively inexpensive means to screen UV and wavelengths other than red from the darkroom area while at the same time letting in a huge amount of red light for visibility. In a vehicle with no other (red) windows it might make for good safelight illumination and it could be Velcroed in place just like the blackout fabrics.

Joe