This guy has some good equipment in his darkroom

darkosaric · Apr 21, 2020

And he knows what is he doing !

Lachlan Young · Apr 21, 2020

Sorry for sounding so cynical, but...

It gives off a whole vibe of 'buy tens of thousands of dollars/ euros/ pounds of kit and you too can produce technically 'correct' but emotionless prints to XXL scale and beyond!' On the other hand, if it keeps Heiland, Kienzle, Deville etc going...

It's also oddly un-lived-in compared to most professional darkrooms.

Sirius Glass · Apr 21, 2020

Lachlan Young said:
Sorry for sounding so cynical, but...

It gives off a whole vibe of 'buy tens of thousands of dollars/ euros/ pounds of kit and you too can produce technically 'correct' but emotionless prints to XXL scale and beyond!' On the other hand, if it keeps Heiland, Kienzle, Deville etc going...

It's also oddly un-lived-in compared to most professional darkrooms.

Sounds like a case of grumpy old man. If someone can afford to buy better equipment, they use it and enjoy it, exactly whom are they hurting?

Lachlan Young · Apr 21, 2020

Sirius Glass said:
Sounds like a case of grumpy old man. If someone can afford to buy better equipment, they use it and enjoy it, exactly whom are they hurting?

No - but would you call a Lamborghini owner a professional racing driver? That's what I'm getting at.

Luckless · Apr 21, 2020

Lachlan Young said:
No - but would you call a Lamborghini owner a professional racing driver? That's what I'm getting at.

So, what would you call someone who owns a darkroom and sells prints of their photos?

Lachlan Young · Apr 21, 2020

Luckless said:
So, what would you call someone who owns a darkroom and sells prints of their photos?

That's between you and your conception of art. And whether pre-programmed post-Anselisms are anything other than boring.

Sirius Glass · Apr 21, 2020

Lachlan Young said:
That's between you and your conception of art. And whether pre-programmed post-Anselisms are anything other than boring.

So do not read those threads. Do you have to be told because you cannot figure that out yourself?

grain elevator · Apr 21, 2020

Lachlan Young said:
[...] pre-programmed post-Anselisms [...]

Thank you, exactly what I was thinking when he talked about "artistic expression" but I couldn't find these words!
Maybe thanks to the strange blueish tint of the video, the first straight print had a surreal quality that was lost in the final print, where he turned it into a run of the mill dramatized landscape picture. A pretty nice one though.

mshchem · Apr 21, 2020

Very cool.

Patrick Robert James · Apr 21, 2020

I don't get the negativity. I mean if the dude has money and he wants a bunch of equipment, good for him. I just skipped though the vid. I am not really his target audience He looked like he was enjoying it though.

Roger Thoms · Apr 21, 2020

Enjoyed the video, thought the image was nice. Thanks for posting.

Roger

NortheastPhotographic · Apr 21, 2020

Lachlan Young said:
Sorry for sounding so cynical, but...

It gives off a whole vibe of 'buy tens of thousands of dollars/ euros/ pounds of kit and you too can produce technically 'correct' but emotionless prints to XXL scale and beyond!' On the other hand, if it keeps Heiland, Kienzle, Deville etc going...

It's also oddly un-lived-in compared to most professional darkrooms.

It's cooler than a room full of Phase One gear hah. And you just recommended to Kienzle to me as an affordable option lol! If you're a DINK it's not so expensive, who knows?

amellice · Apr 21, 2020

nice video, am I the only one seeing it super blue/cold?

Michael Firstlight · Apr 21, 2020

Ha! compared to what huge numbers of people spend upgrading ever newer models of digital bodies and lens - a fully decked out, high-tech darkroom today is a still bargain by comparison. $4K for just one high end digital camera body (only) buys some darn good darkroom equipment that doesn't need to be upgraded again and again and now hold most of its value.

Mike

awty · Apr 21, 2020

Interesting methodology.
Nice beard.

Sirius Glass · Apr 21, 2020

Patrick Robert James said:
I don't get the negativity. I mean if the dude has money and he wants a bunch of equipment, good for him. I just skipped though the vid. I am not really his target audience He looked like he was enjoying it though.

Michael Firstlight said:
Ha! compared to what huge numbers of people spend upgrading ever newer models of digital bodies and lens - a fully decked out, high-tech darkroom today is a still bargain by comparison. $4K for just one high end digital camera body (only) buys some darn good darkroom equipment that doesn't need to be upgraded again and again and now hold most of its value.

Mike

I would rather see what he is doing and he way of doing it beat seeing people moving slider in FauxTow$hop.

MattKing · Apr 21, 2020

amellice said:
am I the only one seeing it super blue/cold?

It is slightly cool in tone, but not by a lot.
The Russian closed captioning was intriguing, until I switched it to English, although that didn't make a lot of difference.
It is a reasonably well equipped darkroom, and it is quite organized, but it doesn't strike me as extraordinary.

Rudolf Karachun · Apr 21, 2020

This is a collective darkroom in Sankt Petersburg, Russia. This is not a personal darkroom. They build 20x24 horizontal enlarger together with Heiland.

removedacct1 · Apr 22, 2020

Rudolf Karachun said:
This is a collective darkroom in Sankt Petersburg, Russia. This is not a personal darkroom. They build 20x24 horizontal enlarger together with Heiland.

There. Now don't you feel silly for your cynical remarks?!

Adrian Bacon · Apr 22, 2020

Michael Firstlight said:
Ha! compared to what huge numbers of people spend upgrading ever newer models of digital bodies and lens - a fully decked out, high-tech darkroom today is a still bargain by comparison. $4K for just one high end digital camera body (only) buys some darn good darkroom equipment that doesn't need to be upgraded again and again and now hold most of its value.

Mike

exactly. This is why I enjoy film so much. Once you have a piece of functionality in your darkroom, you don’t really have to keep upgrading it. Of course you don’t really have to keep upgrading your digital body either, but if you don’t, the perception is that you’ve fallen behind. The reality though is that digital cameras from 10-15 years ago are still quite capable of making excellent images. Just don’t fall prey to GAS and know your equipment inside and out and you can make great images.

ciennepi · Apr 22, 2020

Hi. I consider myself a newbie but I liked the video and I learn something new. I learned the trik to overlap the test strip of burning and dodging to the straight print to see better the change and the various combination of time and contrast.
Thanks darkosaric for the post.
I think that anyone can always learn something new.......if he wants!

darkosaric · Apr 22, 2020

Rudolf Karachun said:
This is a collective darkroom in Sankt Petersburg, Russia. This is not a personal darkroom. They build 20x24 horizontal enlarger together with Heiland.

Later when I went to see other videos - I have figured that out as well. They have very cool 20x24" camera, and even more cool 20x24" enlarger. When I make prints from my 35mm negatives - I always think of large format guys (in general, not those from video), and their remark that my negatives are "postage stamp" .

David Lingham · Apr 22, 2020

I have watched this before, nice room. Trying to guess the background music, possibly Jimmy Smith?

Lachlan Young · Apr 22, 2020

NortheastPhotographic said:
It's cooler than a room full of Phase One gear hah. And you just recommended to Kienzle to me as an affordable option lol! If you're a DINK it's not so expensive, who knows?

The Kienzle very much is an affordable option - especially for the specification you wanted, but the whole feel from that video and their others is of a small well-heeled enthusiast group having spent 100's of thousands (I understand that the 20x24 enlarger cost a EUR 6-figure sum) without any need for a business case for any part of it - a nice situation to be in. Or maybe their business plan involves marketing themselves as darkroom printing lifestyle influencers - to that end there is a sense that they did a couple of courses (Heiland's and Moersch's) & bought all the kit and gadgets marketed to them and are consequently marketing themselves through a heavy social media presence as darkroom 'experts', when essentially what they're doing is pushing a button & Heiland's kit does the rest - which is absolutely fine, especially if they get enjoyment out of it, but people do need to be aware of what they are seeing.

Oh, and Deville trays are very much worth the money, especially the embossed surface ones which prevent you using too little solution in them.

NortheastPhotographic · Apr 22, 2020

Off topic but I really don't understand 20x24 enlargers. First if you do a 2x enlargement you're talking about a massive 40x50 print...where is that thing going to hang?! I've been in and around photography since 2000 in Minneapolis, Illinois (Southern and Chicago), and NYC for 10 years, now Maine. The only 20x24 work I've ever seen was in Polaroid form. I saw exactly 1 Richard Learoyd photograph at ICP (which absolutely blew my mind and I adore his work). I saw many many very large prints from 8x10 to 35mm negatives or positives. One of the largest prints I've seen was a big 35mm enlargement that I believe was taken at a Concentration Camp (semi present day not war time) and was hanging in a private collection in Miami (Yes it was very grainy lol). So I've been around for 2 decades now in this industry/art and the only 20x24 shooters are those I've encountered online. The small percentage of LF shooters that are using 20x24 and using a negative process AND using a lens that warrants enlargement boggles my mind. Who among this group is paying 6 figures for a 20x24 enlarger?!

This guy has some good equipment in his darkroom

Moderator

Privacy & Transparency

Privacy & Transparency