Stupid darkroom tricks

dphphoto · Oct 29, 2005

I tray developed some 8X10 sheets the other day. I set out my trays, mixed down the developer, and had the film pre-soaking when I realized I hadn't poured out the fix! I found the bottle in the dark (don't ask me how) and got fix in tray, thus averting disaster.
I'm sure I'm not the only person to absent-mindedly do something completely stupid in the darkroom. Just wondering if anyone else is willing to share their stories? Dean

BruceN · Oct 29, 2005

dphphoto said:
I tray developed some 8X10 sheets the other day. I set out my trays, mixed down the developer, and had the film pre-soaking when I realized I hadn't poured out the fix! I found the bottle in the dark (don't ask me how) and got fix in tray, thus averting disaster.
I'm sure I'm not the only person to absent-mindedly do something completely stupid in the darkroom. Just wondering if anyone else is willing to share their stories? Dean

Nope. Sorry. I'm afraid you're the only one.

Bruce

rbarker · Oct 29, 2005

I always take a quick look around before I turn off the lights. That way, an image of the spacial relationships is stored in current memory, should I need it. Sometimes, in doing so, I'll even notice something I forgot to prepare.

A side benefit is that should I go blind from developing images of bare breasts (as discussed in the other thread), I'll always have that memory to cherish.

Bruce Osgood · Oct 29, 2005

Once, I put a test print into an empty developer tray, only once. I put the print back into the paper safe, turned on the light to find all the trays were empty. I'd set out the trays but neglected to put anything in them.

Woolliscroft · Oct 29, 2005

Long ago when I was a student, we had a dark room that almost no one ever used. A particular member of staff (now long dead) had an alcoholic wife who used to lurk in their. I once developed a film and found that the fix smelt odd. It tuned out she had replaced it in the bottle with gin! It does not make good fixer, trust me on this

David.

Donald Qualls · Oct 29, 2005

I'd guess replacing the gin with fixer didn't suit the drinker's needs very well, either...

Flotsam · Oct 29, 2005

Once, I absent mindedly filled my fixer tray with permawash.
I couldn't understand why my test strips were changing tone in just a few minutes.

fhovie · Oct 29, 2005

dphphoto said:
I tray developed some 8X10 sheets the other day. I set out my trays, mixed down the developer, and had the film pre-soaking when I realized I hadn't poured out the fix! I found the bottle in the dark (don't ask me how) and got fix in tray, thus averting disaster.
I'm sure I'm not the only person to absent-mindedly do something completely stupid in the darkroom. Just wondering if anyone else is willing to share their stories? Dean

I have only done this 3 times - fortunatly the bottle of fixer is stored right next to the tray. Now - I have built some tubes and am no longer be doing 8x10 film in trays.

Dave Starr · Oct 29, 2005

Developing sheet film with Pyrocat-HD. Put part A in the developing tank and part B in the presoak tank. It didn't work very well.

nworth · Oct 29, 2005

There is always the great favorite - I dropped the film on the floor. First, floors are dirty. Second, it isn't easy searching on hand and knee for fillm on a dark darkroom floor without doing damage to the film, stuff in the darkroom. Solution (and I wish I followed it consistently): handle film in some area that is (a) clean, (b) will catch and contain the film if you drop it, and (c) where you can find it. A 20X24 tray would do nicely, if you had one. Otherwise, a reasonably large, clear, flat area will avoid most problems.

Another stunt I have pulled from time to time is to leave the lights on in an adjacent room. My darkroom is not absolutely light-tight, and light from adjacent rooms can sneak in. But my darkroom is almost light-tight, so stray light is too dim to notice right after you turn off the darkroom lights. Solution: Turn off all the lights, including the safelights, and let your eyes adjust to the dark for a minute before you begin. Then look for leaks.

srs5694 · Oct 29, 2005

I once got a box of new paper (a brand I'd never used before, and only the third brand I'd ever used), pulled out the top sheet, exposed it, developed it, fixed it, and only then realized I'd pulled out a cardboard insert, not a regular sheet of photographic paper! I thought it seemed awfully thick for photo paper, and turned awfully mushy in the chemicals!

ggriffi · Oct 29, 2005

How about mine from just last night. I was looking but not seeing and I picked up what I thought the bottle of HCA after I was done with it and poured in it, only to realize that it was the developer, AFTER the next set of negatives were pulled out of the tank

g

BruceN · Oct 30, 2005

OK, since we're on stupid - Played cards with the guys until about midnight. Couldn't sleep and for some reason (probably something to do with the amount of liquor in my system) decided to start printing. Made one 8x10 after the other, all completely max black. Finally quit after a dozen or so. I guess after that many drinks the whole safelight/white light thing is just beyond me... What I'm wondering now is how (or if) I even got the neg focused under the bright lights.

Dave Miller · Oct 30, 2005

You are not alone Bruce, I have a growing collection of beautiful black squares and rectangles, all set-off against stark white backgrounds. I intend mounting an exhibition of them one day, but must first seek advice on the type of toner to use to render them fully archival.

Mick Fagan · Oct 30, 2005

We changed our cordless telephone system about two months ago. It's a wonderful little thing and a bit like a mobile phone in it's functions and layout.

It's a panasonic digital thing which replaced the old Panasonic flip one which used to fit in my shirt pocket, provided I pushed the antenna in. All was going well and went to the darkroom to load film, last minute check before the lights went out, away I went.

Midway through loading, the phone rang and lit up like a Christmas tree, it did affect a few frames on the roll I was loading.

I now have the telephone in a secure and dark place in the darkroom. Would you believe that it now resides in the changing bag and that one can have a conversation through a changing bag!

Mick.

Woolliscroft · Oct 30, 2005

BruceN said:
OK, since we're on stupid - Played cards with the guys until about midnight. Couldn't sleep and for some reason (probably something to do with the amount of liquor in my system) decided to start printing. Made one 8x10 after the other, all completely max black. Finally quit after a dozen or so. I guess after that many drinks the whole safelight/white light thing is just beyond me... What I'm wondering now is how (or if) I even got the neg focused under the bright lights.

I have a sober variant on that theme. The first time I used Panalure I didn't know you were meant to turn the safe light off. Bye bye to most of a box of 8 x 10. Oops.

David.

dphphoto · Oct 30, 2005

Thanks for all your responses. It's nice to know other people are human, too. I spent about a dozen years working in professional photo labs, as in-not Walgreens; you can imagine the stories I could have told. (How about the new hire, who's panicked reaction to anything that went wrong in the darkroom was to hit the lights. He didn't last the day.)
I posted a print of one of the surviving negs, "U. of Tenn. Arboretum 2," on the standard gallery. Dean

Blighty · Oct 30, 2005

I've been in the situation where having calculated the perfect exposure, decided the correct grade, dodged, burned and flashed ad nauseum (in short trying to produce a perfect print), only to find I hadn't put any paper in the easel

Dan Henderson · Oct 31, 2005

My stupidest trick was putting my 4x5 films in the tray, agitating them faithfully for 6 minutes, then just before taking them out realizing I had gotten lost in the dark and had been developing them in the stop bath tray. I rinsed them well, put them in the proper tray, and agitated another 6 minutes. Their stop bath "presoak" seemed to kill the contrast somewhat, but they were still printable.

Stupid darkroom tricks

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