Recommend an Alternative Process - I have no Dark Room

[Alan Edward Klein]

I see there are many alternative processes. Which ones would you recommend for someone like myself who sends their film out to develop and has no dark room?

Unblinking Eye - photography, darkroom, alternative process, historic photographic processes, travel

 

[Ian Grant]

Platinum printing. Some years ago I visited a member of this forum in southern Turkey, he had no darkroom and his UV lightbox took up very little space. He scanned ghis negatives with an Epson scanner, the made his digital negatives with an Epson printer, and Quadtone RIP. He explained the economics, it was relatively inexpensive because once calibrated it was virtually foolproof, so very little waste.

Ian

 

[Andrew O'Neill]

You don't really need a darkroom. I did cyanotypes with kids in Japan, in a dimly lit classroom. We used the Sun to expose them. The question is, what density range are your lab developed films?

 

[Don_ih]

Cyanotype. Cheaper than platinum printing by a mile but a good way to get your feet wet. Use the sun for exposing the print.

 

[Andrew O'Neill]

Will you be working directly with film negatives, or making digital negatives?

 

[xkaes]

Since you send your film out (you don't say what format), all you need is a way to digitize your negatives -- there are many ways to do that which don't take up space at all. Then you can use software to manipulate the images as you want (there are lots of options here, as well -- many FREE), and then electronically send the file to a place to print it in whatever size you want (TONS of places do this, but NOT for free).

I'll add that lots of places that develop film will convert the images to electronic files, so you don't even need a way to digitize your negatives.

 

[Raghu Kuvempunagar]

Try Lumen process. You don't even need to coat the paper with a sensitiser.

Christina Z. Anderson, The Experimental Darkroom, is a great reference for Lumen and other interesting processes.

 

[Peter Schrager]

Come take a trip to Connecticut and ill teach you how made your own POP PAPERS!!
NO DARKROOM REQUIRED!

 

[koraks]

Cyanotype and Van Dyke Brown. These are the most common 'gateway drugs' to alt. process printing. Both processes are easy to get decent prints out of using cheap and easily available materials.

 

[Sharktooth]

It's more than just a darkroom to consider. Many of the alt processes require dangerous chemicals, and even if they're not specifically dangerous, they're still chemicals that need to be handled. You'll need a space with running water to develop and wash your prints, and also to clean up everything afterwards. That could be done in a basement utility sink, but you may get in trouble if you want to use a "shared" bathroom or kitchen sink.

 

[koraks]

I think many of us when we started out with alt. process stuff, we used an existing bathroom or the kitchen sink. The main risk is persistent stains with the processes I mentioned above; health risks are really, really minimal to the point of not being a concern unless you do really, really stupid stuff like eat/drink the chemistry straight out of the bottle. To prevent stains, a board or even a piece of cardboard can be placed on top of a table or worktop to catch any spillage.

If a spare bathroom or basement with sink is available, that's great of course, but the absence of either doesn't have to stop anyone from trying their hand at alt. process printing.

 

[Alan Edward Klein]

Will you be working directly with film negatives, or making digital negatives?

What's the difference and how does it work?

 

[Alan Edward Klein]

Since you send your film out (you don't say what format), all you need is a way to digitize your negatives -- there are many ways to do that which don't take up space at all. Then you can use software to manipulate the images as you want (there are lots of options here, as well -- many FREE), and then electronically send the file to a place to print it in whatever size you want (TONS of places do this, but NOT for free).

I'll add that lots of places that develop film will convert the images to electronic files, so you don't even need a way to digitize your negatives.

I shoot medium 6x7 cm and large format 4x5". I also scan them with my Epson V850. I have no photo printer any longer.

 

[Alan Edward Klein]

Come take a trip to Connecticut and ill teach you how made your own POP PAPERS!!
NO DARKROOM REQUIRED!

What are pop papers?

 

[Alan Edward Klein]

It's more than just a darkroom to consider. Many of the alt processes require dangerous chemicals, and even if they're not specifically dangerous, they're still chemicals that need to be handled. You'll need a space with running water to develop and wash your prints, and also to clean up everything afterwards. That could be done in a basement utility sink, but you may get in trouble if you want to use a "shared" bathroom or kitchen sink.

Which alt processes don't require sinks, if any?

 

[Andrew O'Neill]

4x5 negs make nice little contact prints. I'd work with those, for now. The easiest Alt. process in my opinion, is the Cyanotype. Alternative Photography is a great resource. You will have to tailor your negs to the process.

 

[MattKing]

What are pop papers?

POP papers = Printing Out Paper papers.
These are papers that self develop, due to the interaction between their chemical makeup and the (strong and long) exposure of light itself.
Historically used a lot by old time portrait photographers to prepare relatively short lived customer proofs, but they can be made more permanent.

 

[jeffreyg]

While you don’t need a darkroom you do need some equipment and supplies: a source of running water, trays, appropriate chemistry, a graduate, a printing frame , good brush or push rod,droppers,timer and light source. As mentioned enlarged negatives unless you are using large format. I have been doing platinum/palladium for a number of years. I have a dedicated darkroom in my house but it’s not necessary and you can do it in the light. I started with a starter kit from Bostick and Sullivan and my light source was the sun. Once I started, I was hooked and bought a light box and more supplies and continue. I started with 4x5 negatives then started enlarging on to dental X-ray duplicating film but now digital enlarged negatives on Pictorico The size of prints is limited to the size of your printing frame, light source and negatives.

 

[Don_ih]

Alan, you need b&w negatives. They should be developed to a higher contrast than you'd want for scanning. So most people manipulate things digitally and print them out on transparency film.

I think the first cyanotype I made wasn't even using transparency film. I printed on white paper. Exposure takes longer, of course.

 

[Alan Edward Klein]

POP papers = Printing Out Paper papers.
These are papers that self develop, due to the interaction between their chemical makeup and the (strong and long) exposure of light itself.
Historically used a lot by old time portrait photographers to prepare relatively short lived customer proofs, but they can be made more permanent.

So these don't require separate chemicals except possibly to make permanent? It's all built into the paper that's exposed to light? Do you have a link where I can review the process

 

[MattKing]

So these don't require separate chemicals except possibly to make permanent? It's all built into the paper that's exposed to light? Do you have a link where I can review the process

There are no longer any commercially available POP papers, so you will have to make your own.
The old Kentmere factory - the one purchased by Harman/Ilford and then closed down - was the last commercial source.
@dwross 's site The Light Farm is where I would start for how to make POP papers: http://www.thelightfarm.com/

 

[Peter Schrager]

POP papers = Printing Out Paper papers.
These are papers that self develop, due to the interaction between their chemical makeup and the (strong and long) exposure of light itself.
Historically used a lot by old time portrait photographers to prepare relatively short lived customer proofs, but they can be made more permanent.

think Atget prints or belloq.. from new New Orleans
I haven't lost any prints after 4 years...they were poorly handled in the past and not fixed properly

 

[Sirius Glass]

Darkrooms are expensive, not just in the money to collect the equipment and supplies; the space used by darkroom takes a toll on the space you live in the rest of the time that you are not in the darkroom. Consider using POP paper.

 

[Don_ih]

I haven't lost any prints after 4 years...they were poorly handled in the past and not fixed properly

Matt was referring to the practice of photographers providing unfixed pop prints as proofs to clients. That they disappeared after a while was actually what they wanted.

 

[MattKing]

Matt was referring to the practice of photographers providing unfixed pop prints as proofs to clients. That they disappeared after a while was actually what they wanted.

Don has it correct - although I expect that the fact that the un-fixed POP prints could be made relatively quickly and inexpensively (back then) was as much a motivation as anything.