The Darkroom

Leonard Bernstein's Mass is the next thing I want to buy for my darkroom. It might seem an odd choice, but for me the darkroom is not only a place of work: it is also a place of sanctuary. We quite often get letters from people who are returning to the wet darkroom, or are setting one up for the first time. What is the appeal? After all, you can now just sit down in front of...

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...

A few months ago I showed you how to create a background for a portrait by using the Adobe Gradient tool. That tool produced a nice, smooth, gradated background as though the photographer had put a small hot spotlight on a smooth background. In this article I will show you how to create a mottled background similar to the painted canvas backgrounds that are so popular among...

Enlarger lenses are generally grouped into three price categories: hobby (inexpensive), regular "professional" (moderately priced), and Apochromatic (APO) professional (very expensive). APO lenses are designed mostly for use in precise color separation...

Enlarger lenses are generally grouped into three price categories. I refer to them as: amateur lenses (very cheap), regular "professional" lenses (moderately priced), and apochromatic (APO) lenses (very expensive).
Amateur lenses are usually already mounted on the enlarger when...