Photographing in Safelight

fasterthanlight · Mar 8, 2011

Hi Folks

I'm new around here so firstly hello.

I would like to make some colour photographs in the darkroom under red safelight conditions. I basically want to emulate this (which i shot digital) -

Dead Link Removed

Can anyone recomend a good film for this purpose. And perhaps if you have any technical advice that might help, that would also be great.

Thanks and best

FTL

Mike Wilde · Mar 8, 2011

Read up on using a red filter with b&w film under daylight lighting. It will tell you that the automatic meter exposure setting will likely underexpose by 2 or 3 stops due to the non usual spectral distribution of the red safelight filter.

Athiril · Mar 8, 2011

Mark Wilde: That's for B&W not colour.

The red sensitive layer on a colour film is red only sensitive and it's speed wont change, the blue and green portions of the image will drop out - which is what he wants.

fasterthanlight: Use the same exposure for digital whatever you're getting off that. That'll tell you the ISO speed film you need too for reasonable shutter speed.

fasterthanlight · Mar 8, 2011

Great thanks for the tips so far....

So should any colour film be useable??

FTL

bsdunek · Mar 8, 2011

Athiril said:
Mark Wilde: That's for B&W not colour.

The red sensitive layer on a colour film is red only sensitive and it's speed wont change, the blue and green portions of the image will drop out - which is what he wants.

fasterthanlight: Use the same exposure for digital whatever you're getting off that. That'll tell you the ISO speed film you need too for reasonable shutter speed.

And bracket!

Athiril · Mar 8, 2011

fasterthanlight said:
Great thanks for the tips so far....

So should any colour film be useable??

FTL

Yeah they should all come back looking red.

fasterthanlight · Mar 8, 2011

Super. Many thanks.

FTL

Worker 11811 · Mar 8, 2011

I think that Mark is trying to say that the METER in your camera might not respond to the red light the way you think it will. The film will be okay, provided it is properly exposed, but if the meter reads wrong because it is expecting full-spectrum light you won't get properly exposed film.

Neither do I think he's saying this WILL happen. He's just saying that it COULD happen and that you'll need to be ready for it if it does.

It's good to do your homework. You seem to be doing all the right things. Non-standard meter response in unusual lighting conditions is one of the things you'll have to watch out for. That's all.

Mike Wilde · Mar 8, 2011

Thanks, Randy. I thought everyone out there was 'drinkin the KoolAid' until you chimed in to support me.

Athiril · Mar 8, 2011

How is metering red light going to be any different to metering red light through a red filter?

NormanV · Mar 8, 2011

If you get automatic prints they won't come back red as the machine will average it out and probably give you some horrible muddy colour.

jp498 · Mar 8, 2011

You may need a blue filter as well or use tungsten film to get the same red. The light source is probably balanced for normal incandesent lighting before the red or OC filter is added to the safelight. If it's a long exposure there may be some reciprocity failure as well, which will be covered with bracketing of course. I too would bet the automatic machine prints will be nasty even when the negatives are good.

hrst · Mar 8, 2011

jp498 said:
You may need a blue filter as well or use tungsten film to get the same red. The light source is probably balanced for normal incandesent lighting before the red or OC filter is added to the safelight.

What? This is completely nonsense. The original light source color temperature before the filter does not matter. Red darkroom filter only passes red, otherwise it won't work as a darkroom filter. Okay, there may also be orange, or yellow, or yellow-green safelights. They look orange or yellow or yellow-green when filmed, depending on their spectrum .

Of course, our eyes adjust. The red darkroom light looks very red when we first go to the darkroom, but after a while it doesn't look so pure red anymore. The yellow safelight may start looking almost "warm white" after a while. But not quite.

But why blue filter? Blue filter passes blue and reduces (80A/B/C/D) or blocks other wavelenghts than blue. NO darkroom safelight ever contains blue. Blue filter in darkroom safelights is very close to ND filter. It may be something slightly else (something random) due to impurities or imperfections. No point in using. Of course you can fine-tune the green content by using a 80 filter in the case of yellow-green safelight, but if we are talking about red to orange safelights, I can see no point.

hrst · Mar 8, 2011

An example as an attachment.

Red fluorescent-type safelight. Expired Fuji Press 800. IIRC, the exposure was by the meter.

Because of scanning & adjustments by myself, cannot say much how it would have turned in some other workflow.

There's a Coca-Cola can in the image. White text on red background! Looks like a blank can.

jp498 · Mar 9, 2011

hrst, I think you're right; My mind has jumbled electronic color balance with film color balance which of course works differently.

Photographing in Safelight

Attachments

Privacy & Transparency

Privacy & Transparency