Shoot, proof, print the same day

[Michel Hardy-Vallée]

Because of the current situation, I have monopolized a section of the garage for my darkroom-psychotherapy corner, and I don't think I have ever had such an opportunity before to be able to pop in and out for an hour or so, and then return to the usual routine.

Processing film can be done with minimal setup time, but proofing and printing require a larger infrastructure. When you have a dedicated space, an enlarger that doesn't move, and trays you can just fill and empty, suddenly shooting analogue becomes a rather fluid endeavour. Before that, I would batch process my films, then plan for a darkroom evening, batch proof for an evening, sometimes barely having the time to print, and then plan for another day(night) of printing.

So much so, that I can now shoot in the morning, process in the afternoon, and proof in the evening, doing a few enlargements of the obvious keepers.

And you, does it happen often that can go from shot to print in the same day?

 

[Andrew O'Neill]

No. I usually have too much sheet from to process, and they could take a few days. And if I could I wouldn't want to.

 

[Tom Kershaw]

I sometimes shoot and process the film on the same day but would leave prints to a later point. Even though I use a drying cabinet, I prefer to make sure the film is fully dry before filling away.

 

[Deleted member 88956]

With permanent set up it is rather easy to do it all in one day, but too often a day is too nice to lose it all in the darkroom There are usually crappy days that are hard to usefully organize and darkroom is one place where things are easy to commit to. Sadly, I have not had a permanent darkroom for a long while, and still maybe 2 years before I do.

 

[Rick A]

In my youth, my friends and I would get together and shoot all day, return to the shack and process our film(s), then kick back for a while awaiting film to dry. We would then pull a marathon all-nighter printing everything.Not all my friends had their own DR and several would use mine, an excuse to party all night? Sure.

 

[radiant]

Shoot, dev, proof, print sounds a bit heavy for me - even I consider myself "fast" film shooter. I don't know what is the need to shoot + print on same day?

I usually shoot films until I have enough to fill my 5 reel Paterson tank.

My "day" process is following:
Day 1) I develop batches too save time and then let the film dry overnight
Day 2) I cut & "scan" the film (just shooting complete sheets with digital on light table). I analyze and pre-adjust & crop the frames digitally. This saves a lot of time & paper & frustration in darkroom. The digital part can be split to many small "sessions". Usually takes quite a lot of time refining cropping and going through the frames.
Day 3-4) First proofs in darkroom. Sometimes I need to do this for two sessions, depending on amount of film.
Day 5) Few "real" enlargements based on proofs (two frames is maximum for one night)
Day 6) Repeat step 4 as long as there arew worthy frames left

If I combine even shooting & film dev & scanning ons ame day I loose my energy and become sloppy & loose quality and inspiration.

 

[MattKing]

In my newspaper photography days that was normal!
Nowadays, if I need something that day, I am more likely to need it for the internet, so the workflow has scanning at the end instead.

 

[Ron789]

I occasionally give an introduction workshop in analogue photography: shoot portraits of the participants in a (home) studio setting, develop the film and make a few prints that they can take home, all in a 4-5 hour time span.

 

[revdoc]

I've shot film in the late afternoon, developed it, dried it (a fan helps, and here in Sydney it rarely gets extremely cold or humid, so it does't take long), picked the one or two good frames using a phone camera, then printed them in the evening. Really it's the prints that take the time, but I'm lucky to get 1 good frame out of 20, so I guess it's mostly my incompetence makes this possible!

 

[koraks]

And you, does it happen often that can go from shot to print in the same day?

Very rarely these days, and only with sheet film. Too much going on right now to even manage to expose a roll of film within the timespan of even a few weeks. I miss it sometimes.

 

[radiant]

Very rarely these days, and only with sheet film. Too much going on right now to even manage to expose a roll of film within the timespan of even a few weeks. I miss it sometimes.

Basically same reason here, life gets in the way.

If I had nothing else to do, then sure I can do all on the same day. But why should I? If I want results right away, I shoot digital. Choose the right tool for the job

 

[kevs]

I tend to use my scanner to 'proof' my negs, though when I was at Uni I could have developed the film and made a contact sheet within two hours. I could probably do it now if the fee was right!

 

[halfaman]

I tend to use my scanner to 'proof' my negs, though when I was at Uni I could have developed the film and made a contact sheet within two hours. I could probably do it now if the fee was right!

Same thing here. I take enlarging with much more patience.