Darkroom newbie: Isn't it FUN?

[Ronald_H]

Had only three sessions so far, but maybe the learning curve is steepest in the beginning. Some observations:

- Rogert and Frances' 'Black and white handbook' is my favorite book at the moment.

- My early negative development was (too) inconsistent to easily make good prints from. I'm talking about the negs I developed two years ago, when I starting doing BW development myself

- If a neg scans well, it prints well. If it doesn't, it won't 😉

- If you can forgive the comparison, adjusting exposure times and swapping filters works exactly the same as adjusting curves in photoshop. I am surprised how easy it is already to 'home in' on the print result I want.

- Don't try to use your developer forever.

- Be thankful for that huge pile of Ilford paper you got completely free from a friend.

- Cleaning and washing old negs before printing is a GOOD idea.

- My nr. 4 filter is wonky, for some reason it is far too orange.

- A good print from a good neg (especially if taken with your old DR summicron)
looks (excusez le mot) f*cking AMAZING!

- Making a decent print is easy and fast, making a good print will cost sweat and tears.

- Boy what fun 🙂

 

[pakeha]

yes to all those points...also when that pile of `free practice'' paper runs out and ya pick up a new pack it gets even better.
regards
CW

 

[Brian Legge]

I'm about to start this process again as well.

I made prints for a year in high school but most of that experience is long since forgotten. I just picked up a Beseler 45 MRX with the intent of putting together a darkroom. I still need to set up the garage for it, but I've got all the parts in place. This will be my first time making medium format prints (and soon, large format prints).

I haven't made a single print (digital or traditional) since getting back into photography 3 years ago. This could be a big shift for me.