12/03/2016

Essential Principles On Darkroom Equipment And Set Up

By Amy Davis


Photography is an art that has been around for so many years. For top quality results the artist, in this case the photographer needs to have the right equipment. Anyone who has embarked on an artistic effort would know that it equipment are expensive. But these people could not care less, after all it is an investment for the betterment of their craft.

The most manual way of producing photos using film needs a specially constructed room. The darkroom is where negatives get developed and come out as beautiful images. Now you may think that there is little need for darkroom equipment these days since everything has gone digital. But there would always be the novelty of being able to process your photos the old fashion way.

So many technicalities are involved with this. As in all fine art, being delicate and meticulous can pave the way to greatness. A good number of iconic images were produced this way, especially by publications like LIFE magazine. Knowing the whole development process, makes digital photographer appreciate the difficulty, technique and skill required in film photography.

Looking at the matter as an art, knowing how to develop these pictures without the help of a software takes a lot of skill and discipline. In hindsight, it makes you appreciate the presence of these digital solutions while learning a thing or two about the roots of photography. There are a good number of things that you would need to assemble your own darkroom.

Darkrooms for rent or borrowing may be available but making one, for those who really want to invest on it, can be quite rewarding. Many things need to be noted when it comes building these things. Temperature, light, and ventilation are the main concerns, above everything else. Expect that doing this may cost you some money.

The dynamic involved in this are basically the right concoction of light, ventilation and overall temperature. The circumstances where the photo is developed can greatly affect its outcome. Lots of water is needed to soak the prints, like how you would see it in the movies, but never really understood. Even the water in this process needs to be a specific temperature. Too hot or too cold and your image is well done for.

Light, in this case has four settings. That would be white light, safelights, enlarger lights and no light at all. The thing with film is that it needs to be processed in a place with zero brightness. Even the smallest amount can destroy the image. Now it is understandable why people would rather work with a software instead.

While it may be called a darkroom, you would still need ordinary white florescent lighting because who can clean up any mess when you can't see anything, right. This is needed for choosing which negatives you would want to develop, inspecting finished print and basically seeing what is going on around you once you are done with staying in perpetual darkness.

It has already been established that zero lightning makes sure that development comes out perfectly, as you would have pictured it while taking the shot. Enlarger lights are there to make sure that you see every detail in your print. Note that during the whole process, temperature inside should be between 65 and 80 degrees Fahrenheit, else it may also ruin the photo.




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