The Cottage Darkroom

I brought my 'new' Sinar along on my annual summer vacation to the East Coast (New Brunswick).
Being a newbie to LF, I also brought some chems and trays so that I could soup a few sheets of film to check my progress.

What I've learned: Remember to pack a good thermometer. Remember to pack a graduated cylinder. Flat bottom trays are a pita for sheet film. All the misc chems, tongs, clips etc., are back home.

So, with the aid of some rubbermaid tubs, a digital meat thermometer, measuring cups, and dormer closet, I have a functioning darkroom! The clothes hangers are important - they act as warning that I'm about to hit my head on the closet bar. It's rustic, but functional.

Nice set up. I often travel with a darkroom kit. I have a 1950 vintage Federal stowaway enlarger, 6X9, I take black making tape to seal the doors and windows, 5X7 trays, quart size chemistry, D76 and Foma's version of Extol, Dektol, fixer, hypo clearing agent (gallon size) and wetting agent, quart size graduate, dial thermometer, old and small Kodak safe light, 2 tongs, Patterson tank, print file negative pages. I might have missed something. I and print 35mm and MF up to 5X7 and contact print 4X5 on grade 2 RC. I rent a motel or hotel with a bath tub for my trays, the stowaway enlarge will usually fit on the sink counter, a few times I had to set it up in the bedroom. I dump all the chemistry and mix anew so I don't carry any bottles of chemistry in my SUV.

Next trip is the 4 Corners, Monument Valley. I read in an old catalog that Federal made a 4X5 Stowaway enlarger, but have found on for sale.

Looks great, Ian!

Many years ago I developed 4x5 negs in Australia on my In-laws' dairy farm, using an old abandon dwelling on their farm -- water from a tank using run-off from the roof. Fortunately, they had filters (for milk) that I could use to filter out the insect larve from the tank water. The chemicals I bought in a shop in Sydney before we headed north to the farm. I have forgotten what I used for trays. Blankets on the windows, but really there were no lights about. But I had to stop for an hour or so when a lightning storm came thru -- "flashing" my film did not seem to be a great idea!

Traveling to give carbon workshops certainly makes one deeply consider all the little bits and pieces needed. Some places might be well equipped, others may not have much of anything. UV light sources, sheets of 1/4" glass, electric kettles if the local hot water supply will not get up to 120F (or very small tanks), razor blades, magnetic stirrer(s), and on and on! I fill up my Eurovan! Then there is the worry about the local humidity and water quality! Quite the adventure.

My decision to take chems to soup film was very last minute (literally), and it was done with an "I'll make it work" attitude. The darkroom (closet) is used to store extra blankets and bedsheets, which made for great blackout cloth. The storage bin acts as a seat. Being 150 yr + old house, the temperature under the dormer fluctuates wildly - cold in the morning, to sweltering at the end of a sunny day.

Next trip, I will put a lot more thought and planning into the process. One thing I will pack for sure: a timer with a luminous dial, or audible 'tick' - several minutes in the dev without any indication of actual time elapsed is unsettling (did I actually press the start button????). Printing can wait until I return to Ottawa - though the thought did cross my mind, a DIY enlarger is a bit too ambitious... this time.

Expensive, but a Jobo expert tank (#3010?) for the 4x5's sure would be nice to have -- load up to ten in the drum while in the closet and then turn on the lights! Develop outside or in the kitchen or wherever, and relax with a beer while things are rolling along on the Beseler motor base!