Who's Darkroom Printing? What's your style.

waynecrider · Jun 25, 2020

Years ago I got into Ziatype's. Coated my papers and exposed my 4x5 neg's in a split back frame out in the sun. It was easy to do and alot of fun. Now years later I'm looking to start wet printing my better B&W negatives and will be exploring other styles as well. I'm just wondering who's doing what, what they like about their favorite style and how often they work at their discipline.

dpurdy · Jun 25, 2020

I still print in my darkroom. Since the mid 1980s my primary (art) printing has been in traditional platinum/palladium. Some years ago I inherited a bit of money and invested in a large supply of Platinum and Palladium. That supply is now dwindling... and the price of those metals is out of sight. I am not decided what to do when I run out... whether to go to iron/silver process or gelatin silver paper or cash out some of my retirement money and buy more pt/pd. I have a life time supply of platinum printing paper so that weighs in. I don't have a life time supply of silver gel but I have a lot. Roll film is cheaper than sheet film and my 8x10 film supply is dwindling. So a lot to consider. As it stands, I am leaning to reinvesting in pt/pd and when I run that out... let it go.

Paul Howell · Jun 25, 2020

I print, my style is photojournalistic, I shoot 35mm to 4X5 print on RC glossy or semigloss on fiber, due to lockdown I shoot each day when I walk, usually 35mm or on occasion 6X6, only print once a week or so, might get 3 or 4 prints from 4 or 5 rolls of film.

winger · Jun 25, 2020

I darkroom print when I can (have a 10-year-old). I have occasionally done cyanotypes and lith and I want to try Van Dyke Brown, but haven't had a chance. I shoot with 35mm, 645, and 4x5, but mostly the larger two (that d** stuff covers the smaller end most of the time). My website shows what I usually do. I also like Lensbabies and such.

ic-racer · Jun 25, 2020

I have always used commercial produced silver paper going on 40 years now.

Peter Schrager · Jun 25, 2020

I'm spending less time in the darkroom these days. mostly coating POP emulsion onto fixed out baryta paper. this is a twofold experience.
first making the photograph and secondly exposing the prints in the sun.
there is a learning curve to coating the emulsion. I'm still learning but in the 80% range of success.
the materials are cheap and the most expensive part is buying the silver nitrate.
the prints are totally unique and have a long scale; no worries about high key exposures
I've done all the other alt process stuff but prefer any process that actually prints out
Ziatypes are cool but the price of platinum and palladium have gotten ridiculous.
I consider my hand coated prints one of a kind and that suits me fine!
have a great day everyone
wash your hands!!
Peter

logan2z · Jun 26, 2020

I print in my darkroom once or twice a week, all silver gelatin.

Donald Qualls · Jun 26, 2020

Before the end of the summer, I'll be printing again. Silver gelatin, in the "hang this on your wall" style -- I'd like to get to the point of being able to sell my print (on Etsy?) for enough to pay for my photography habit, er, hobby. I've also done cyanotype, VDB, and salted paper a little, and might get back into those (especially once I have the infrastructure to produce enlarged negatives with alt-process friendly contrast levels).

ProfessorC1983 · Jun 26, 2020

I've only recently begun my journey into darkroom work with a very basic old enlarger that I'm using for both traditional silver gelatin (just RC papers for now) and UV/alt work (so far only cyanotypes). My goal is to become skilled with some of the more "advanced" alt processes like salted paper and Pt/Pd. But for now only baby steps, as I learn what kind of negatives print best with which processes, conditions, and so forth. It's a long road but I've rarely felt something so rewarding as that moment an image from my camera comes into view on paper. To me, a child of the digital age, there is something almost spiritual about the ability to create imagery without ever relying on a screen or microprocessor, and I find myself sacrificing sleep to stay in the darkroom another hour or two chasing that feeling again and again.

Alan9940 · Jun 26, 2020

I enlarge everything from 35mm to 4x5 on VC silver paper; contact print 8x10 on slow silver papers such as Adox Lupex and Lodima. I craft digital negatives from all of the film formats I use and from my iPhone, and print pt/pd. I guess I'd loosely refer to my style as "west coast", but, overall, my subject matter is quite varied; not just landscapes, etc.

Old_Dick · Jun 26, 2020

I do seasonal silver printing when I can. My basement is too cold in the winter and too cold when the AC is on, 59F. Then there is this neuropathy thing. The bottom line , I love spending time printing. The magic still thrills me, even at 72.

Adrian Bacon · Jun 26, 2020

waynecrider said:
Years ago I got into Ziatype's. Coated my papers and exposed my 4x5 neg's in a split back frame out in the sun. It was easy to do and alot of fun. Now years later I'm looking to start wet printing my better B&W negatives and will be exploring other styles as well. I'm just wondering who's doing what, what they like about their favorite style and how often they work at their discipline.

for personal work, I try to print once or twice a month traditional silver gelatin prints on paper. For paid prints for others, I that comes and goes in bursts. Sometimes I’m super busy and print a whole pile of stuff over the course of a week and other times, not so much.

jim10219 · Jun 26, 2020

I jump around. For me, it depends on the image and what I'm trying to do with it. I do a good bit of silver gelatin, fiber based. I also do some cyanotypes, some Van Dyke, some gum bichromates, and sometimes I'll even combine cyanotypes or Van Dyke prints with gum bichromates over the top. But if I had to pick the one I like doing the most, it's casein printing.

I usually have the process in mind when I'm taking the photo. Though some times I take the photo first, and then change my mind after developing the negative. The good thing about all of the alternative process stuff is I can switch between them fairly easily. They're all contact printed with digital negatives. The silver gelatin, however, have to be decided upon first, as I don't do RA-4 printing. So I have to choose a B&W film for that up front.

Vaughn · Jun 26, 2020

I do stuff in the dark (and the dim)...never enough, though.

Scott Murphy · Jun 26, 2020

For black and white I use Oriental Seagull G2 or G3 and Kodak Dektol 1:1, Indicator Stop Bath and Rapid Fixer. I used to PnP all of my color negatives and slides but don't do enough of it to make it economically practical any more so I have it done commercially.

KenS · Jul 2, 2020

waynecrider said:
Years ago I got into Ziatype's. Coated my papers and exposed my 4x5 neg's in a split back frame out in the sun. It was easy to do and alot of fun. Now years later I'm looking to start wet printing my better B&W negatives and will be exploring other styles as well. I'm just wondering who's doing what, what they like about their favorite style and how often they work at their discipline.

Being now 'well and truly retired' after many years making photographs for Fed. Gov.t 'scientists'. I try my best to 'stay active' and get out with either my 8x10 B&J... or my 4x5 Linhoff monorail and 'make photographs for 'Me'.

I can't really afford 'commercial' B/W papers on my 'pension income', so I started printing using the 'archaic print processes' since I have the 'time' and required UV light source 'hardware to so do. Yes... it IS a LOT slower and more 'work'... But... somehow, much more 'satisfying'

Ken

Bill Burk · Jul 2, 2020

Every day I think about turning on the water and printing. I always work towards making the darkroom ready for use. For example, this week I had a filter case blowout on my reverse osmosis filter so I swapped with the one on my darkroom water filter. That was fine. We had drinking water again. But it incapacitated the darkroom water filter... So I had to replace that. It’s ready to go again. Just have to move a darn computer off the sink

Peter Rockstroh01 · Jul 2, 2020

I print when I have enough negatives for a productive session, which I consider between six to ten images. I print almost everything
on graded papers. My standard session consists of making a reasonably good 8x10 from every negative I considered might make it
to the wall. To produce six to ten negatives that look good enough to print I normally expose about 100 negatives.
Once printed I´ll look at them for at least a week, until I filter out those images that are not worth continuing. From the remaining negatives
I take the printing recipe and make notes regarding necessary improvements, so I know what to do in the darkroom.
I usually take the print to the point where I´ve corrected dark and light areas, balanced it and I´m pleased with the result.
If I still like it a few weeks later I print a numbered series of it.

mooseontheloose · Jul 2, 2020

I used to experiment with different alt processes (like cyanotypes, VDB, etc.), but since I moved to Japan 10 years ago I haven't touched any of them (I wonder if the chemicals I brought with me are still good (!)). I do traditional darkroom printing in a converted bedroom, so it's a dry darkroom, but it's been working for me since I set it up. My favourite process is lith printing, but I rarely get to do it due to my work schedule and all the travel that I do during my time off. But now that travel is off the table for awhile, it means I'll finally be able to catch up on a lot of work. But that means, first, making some work prints (probably 5x7 to keep costs down) to figure out what I want to print larger and for keeps. I have multiple photo projects on the go, and lots of paper and chemicals to keep me going, so there really is no excuse, other than it's hard to work in a tiny room with no aircon in the middle of a hot, humid Japanese summer.

summicron1 · Jul 2, 2020

Style? Bohemian modern, mostly. Usual music is 70s rock with some classical.

chemicals are dektol and fix, nothing fancy. Paper is ilford multi or FB. The goal is to eliminate as many variables as possible so I can control the result.

jimjm · Jul 3, 2020

Style-wise, pretty traditional B/W aesthetic with a bit of Lith printing thrown in if the image suits it. All formats from 35mm to 8x10 and some 5x7 glass plate contact prints as well.
Mostly Ilford MG developers and paper, FB and RC - they're consistent and reliable. I'm printing several times a week, usually at night after everyone's asleep.
It's a great feeling having a final print turn out the way you hoped it would. I'm just a barely competent printer, it's the learning and progressing that excites me.

Andrew Kleinfeld · Jul 3, 2020

I've been doing it since 1957 and still enjoy it a lot, about once a week. Everything from 35 to 4x5. My last couple of times I used RC papers instead of fiber, and it was so easy and fast that I'm wondering whether to switch to them for prints to frame, not just tests to see whether the negative is worth printing.

Daniela · Jul 3, 2020

I use a local public darkroom once a week. I like it because I have it reserved for Monday evenings and I get to have it all for myself. I usually shoot a roll of film or pinhole images on paper every week and develop/print them on that evening. Of course, negatives are piling up because there's only so much I can do in 4 hours, but I'm content with at least having this option for now.

Greg Heath · Jul 7, 2020

Old_Dick said:
I do seasonal silver printing when I can. My basement is too cold in the winter and too cold when the AC is on, 59F. Then there is this neuropathy thing. The bottom line , I love spending time printing. The magic still thrills me, even at 72.

I have a space heater in the basement. its cold, but warms up good.

Who's Darkroom Printing? What's your style.

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