The Darkroom

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Frances E. Schultz  |  Oct 01, 2003  | 

"A house is a machine for living."--Le Corbusier

Any machine needs maintenance. Here's how I maintain my darkroom: a "strip, clean, and overhaul" in...

Frances E. Schultz  |  Aug 01, 2003  | 

The Darkroom

Everyone gets them: negs that just won't print. Sometimes, you can see why: they are hopelessly thin; far too contrasty; or flat and muddy. At other times, they look fine. You can have plenty of detail, just the...

Darryl C. Nicholas  |  May 01, 2003  | 

The Darkroom

I love digital cameras. However, they all have one serious problem. They tend to block up the shadow tones. That is, they have a short dynamic density range, compared to film. If you use very flat lighting you get...

Frances E. Schultz  |  Apr 01, 2003  | 

The Darkroom

Beginners tend to be very cautious about the amount of paper they use. Paradoxically, therefore, they waste more than they need to. Rather than making test strips, and then a work print, they will go straight to what...

Frances E. Schultz  |  Nov 01, 2002  | 

A good darkroom is a joy to work in. A bad darkroom can be so inconvenient and uncomfortable that you find excuses not to use it, and at its worst, it can even endanger your health.

Ten years ago, my husband Roger...

Darryl C. Nicholas  |  Oct 01, 2002  | 

The next step is to lay in a circular gradient on the top layer. I thought a gradient that would go from white in the center to dark blue in the corners would look nice. So, I selected Blue (Red=0, Green=24, Blue=70...or, 0, 24, 70). That is a nice, dark, blue. Set that for the background color...

Frances E. Schultz  |  Jul 01, 2002  | 

Most enlargers look much the same: a tall column, with the lamp and negative holder at the top, and a baseboard at the bottom. But given that a cheap, used enlarger with a good lens will, unless badly out of alignment, outperform a brand-new, state...

Frances E. Schultz  |  May 01, 2002  | 

One of the never-ending
fascinations of darkroom work is the way in which you can manipulate your
images. Two effects in particular, softening and vignetting, can give
you lovely, vintage looking pictures with a minimum of effort. Both tend
to...

Darryl C. Nicholas  |  Feb 01, 2002  | 

Believe it or not, a color
enlarger is one of the best you can use if you want to print black and
white negatives. This is especially true if you want to print onto variable
contrast black and white paper. Now, to be totally accurate, a variable...

Darryl C. Nicholas  |  Apr 01, 2001  | 

I suppose a typical reaction to understanding H&D curves would be, "Who cares?" And, unless you're interested in learning how your film will perform under various circumstances, it might not be of any interest to you. But, I've...

Darryl C. Nicholas  |  Feb 01, 2001  | 

Almost all enlargers will accept lenses of different focal lengths, designed so you can match the focal length of the lens to the size of the negative that you are printing. If you do not, your negative might not print correctly.

Darryl C. Nicholas  |  Jan 01, 2001  | 

Sooner or later you will
want to make a copy of a color print. If you have the negative, it's
an easy task. If you own a digital imaging darkroom (computer, scanner,
and printer) it is still an easy task. However, if you have to do it the...

Darryl C. Nicholas  |  Dec 01, 2000  | 

While conventional photography
(as opposed to digital) continues to be the main stream of the industry,
conventional darkroom activity has declined over the past few years. Today,
most conventional darkroom activity seems to be in the area of fine art...

Darryl C. Nicholas  |  Sep 01, 2000  | 

Good optical alignment is
extremely important. If your enlarger is not in proper alignment, you
will not be able to produce prints that are sharply focused. Of course,
if most of your printing is done with a soft-focus diffuser, maybe it
doesn...

Darryl C. Nicholas  |  Aug 01, 2000  | 

The Beginners Method.
You'll need three trays; a black and white enlarger; a red, green, and
blue filter; some of the special, ambient temperature, color chemicals;
and, of course, some color printing paper.

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