A Lost Art
First of all, film photography is becoming a lost art. To further that trend, manual printing is being replaced with digital cameras, printing stores, and photoshop. However, the more commercialized photography becomes, the more we compromise manipulation in the final product. For instance, most point and shoot digital cameras are pre-programmed to place everything in a frame into focus.
What if you wanted to have a blurry background with only one object in focus? You would have to manually go into the camera’s menu and change the depth of field, and by the time you were done, the object of interest may have already passed by. Or take printing – you take your pictures to Kits, and they print them for you. However, some of them turn out too dark or washed out.
Well, most of these problems can be fixed in the dark room, but printing places like Kits won’t spend too much time editing your photos for you. Photoshop is a powerful tool, especially for effects and filters, but limited to user knowledge. Manual printing is more assessable and intuitive. Photoshop also relies on the original photo and may require more effort as a result. However, you can do many interesting things in the artistic medium in both shops… Anyway, it still takes a certain interest to want to build a dark room in order for someone to spend time into developing quality prints.
Basic idea: shop online!
Step 1 – Space
Before you even start thinking about buying equipment, you should have room. At least a minimum of 36 square feet. This measurement will give you room for everything to be placed on the floor, as well as maneuvering space for yourself to work in. You can definitely work with a smaller space – get tables, wall shelves, or store some things outside. Secondly, the place will have to be dark (and will only take red light for printing), so if the room has windows, seal them up with a black bag. You will also need a temperature friendly room that remains cool and dry (about 70 degrees Fahrenheit, and for the sake of chemical storage).
However, there are options for temperature control. For lighting, you can replace the light bulb with a red coated bulb (about 3-6 dollars at local hardware store). Some people have converted their bathrooms and closets into photo labs. However, for closets, it should be noted that you WILL need ventilation. If you are lucky enough with spatial resources, you may also want to consider the ease and functionality of your options. It would be nice to have sinks connected to a water supply, and a place with permanent electricity. (In case you’re thinking about doing it outdoors in a tent, you will definitely need an extension cord that is protected from potential rain).
Step 2 – Equipment
Film developing supplies include film tanks, film rollers, graduates, and a place to dry them. There are many ways to dry your film, just make sure that you have a way to separate wet film from other strips of wet film, and to keep them away from dirt/dust. At my college lab, they have nails on a board to hang film, and a screen in front. Another method is a box – other than that, you be creative given your resources. You will also need chemicals: developer, stop, fixer, photo flow, to name a few. Photo flow isn’t necessary, but will save you a lot of wash time. If you do buy “previously owned” chemicals, make sure they are still good – on the bottle, it should say the expiration date. To preserve integrity, you may also want to purchase air tight bottles. For reusable chemicals such as fixer, you may want to purchase a funnel.
Between film and print, you will need an enlarger. Back in the day, an enlarger would cost around 1000 dollars. Today, antiquity only depreciated its value. You can buy an enlarger used for around 40 dollars. Most photo stores won’t carry enlargers, so go shop online on craigslist, for this will connect you with local sellers and you won’t have to pay the frivolous shipping charges on ebay. Most ad postings on craigslist will also come with a complete package for a darkroom.
Make sure that your enlarger doesn’t come with a cracked or molding lens, that it comes with a film carrier and filters, and that the electrical and mechanical components are working. It is difficult to replace lenses or find a film carrier by itself unless you go to ebay. However, a film carrier alone on ebay will cost almost as much as your enlarger! Some enlargers online come with extra lenses, a grain focuser, and timers, so keep an eye out for those too, for although they are unnecessary, it’ll make for a better purchase, maneuverability, and efficiency.
For the printing process, you will need… PAPER! (no shit). But just to stress how shopping online saves money, buy your paper online! At Kits and at my college, they sell RC paper at almost a dollar a sheet! You can get way better deals at online stores or even on craigslist. A classmate of mine has reported that he spends about 10 dollars for 50 sheets. If you buy yours on craigslist, make sure that the paper is still good. How? Well, again, check the shelf life. Or to be sure that the previous owner kept it in a cool dry place, run a test strip at home. And if the paper turns out to be foggy, you will at least remember how to contact the seller. Best way to store paper is in the fridge.
After enlarging and “burning” the light image on paper, you will need chemicals – developer, stop, fixer, water, and RC wash. You will need trays to hold these chemicals. Some places sell fancy temperature controlled trays, but all you really need is regular plastic ones (that is, if you’re not developing extreme weather conditions outside in a shack). All I can say otherwise is common sense – make sure your trays can fit a paper. If you don’t want to expose your skin to chemicals too much, you may want to buy tongs.
A nice accessory to have is a timer. This will maintain consistency between test strip printing and final product. Finally, you will need a place to dry your photos. Most people on a budget use string and clips, otherwise an RC dryer.
STEP 3 – Test it out
Now that you have finished building your darkroom, make a test print just to see everything is working, and that no extra light has made a burn mark on your print. You can troubleshoot many of the problems and fix them accordingly. If there is an unwarranted black spot, check the red light bulb or the windows. If there are white “dust marks” on your print, clean the lenses on your enlarger with a clean dry cloth. Again, these are all common sense. Know how your equipment is supposed to work and there shouldn’t be any difficulty troubleshooting.
The Journey
The total amount I spent was 80 dollars for all the supplies (without chemicals). I’d say from shopping around, there are dark room “packages” ranging between 40 – 300 dollars. Depending on what you have at home, you may need only film rollers, film tanks, and an enlarger. Most local people are willing to negotiate, so send them an e-mail to see if they’d be willing to break up packages or lower the price (or even trade!) If you do want to negotiate, make an offer, for if you ask a dealer what they want, they’ll only stick with what they already posted for.
You never know if they would appreciate a used motor dirt bike or a guitar amp. you may also consider services such as building a website for them in exchange. Sometimes if you search long enough, you’ll find someone giving away their darkroom for free. The great thing about craigslist is that shopping online will also be good fuel for competition against corporate pricing! Also, buying previously owned in general is also a form of recycling, so it saves our planet from more junk and the need to produce more. Find room and shop online; you’ll be surprised how much cheaper it is than paying dark room rental fees or college tuition. With that said, as a photo hobbyist, you may also find it gratifying to share your dark room with your neighbors and build your own little community of photographers.
Have fun and good luck!
