Poll: Isn't Printing the Greatest Thing?

Poll: Isn't Printing the Greatest Thing?

  • Absolutely !!!!

    Votes: 461 76.6%

  • It's okay, but I hate the chemicals.

    Votes: 41 6.8%

  • No, it's just something you have to do.

    Votes: 26 4.3%

  • Forget about it -- I'm all-digital now.

    Votes: 74 12.3%
  • Total voters
    602
Joe Dojcsak said:
I teach conventional, chemical-base printing techniques plus inkjet printing in two totally different classes at Los Angeles City College, CA, and I can assure readers that most students still enjoy the results they get in a traditional darkroom. Furthermore, they become far more proficient in digital photography once they've mastered the basic printing skills in what now is referred to as an analog darkroom.
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hey joe, i live in valencia.

you have any idea who to call to get an enlarger "cla'd"? i have an old beseler (1970's) 4x5 that seems out of whack.

thanks,
chris
 
What about the option for dunking your own films but scanning the negs? I would print in a darkroom, but have no room.
 
I find I am actually getting depressed lately because I am working with a scanner to produce prints from my film only. It is completely possible to get a print every bit as breathtaking using a digital workflow, BUT it takes a lot of knowledge, skill and most importantly, experience to acheive stellar results - just like in a wet darkroom. I don't know if I have the time and energy to spend to get as good with a scanner and pritner as I am with an enlarger and chemicals.

I would consider myself a pretty decent printer. But, I have 4 kids so I have been finding less and less time to mix up chemistry, get into the darkroom and work at the end of a day. If I printed an image and it stinks or I am not happy in any way with it, I become defeated and quit, because the idea is now in the back of my head that I could be doing this all so much faster on my scanner. It's like I've now eaten from the forbidden tree, and I hate the quandary!

At first I was overjoyed with the time I think I am saving working digitally, and I actually have learned a lot about working my prints up in PS, but there is a whole new set of annoying holdups not present in wet printing - like DUST. You think dust is bad when optically printing? Oh MAN is it an issue in scanning. I'd much rather spot tone the one or two specks on my conventional print than spend 20 mins in PS cloning out every little bit the scanner seems to pick up.

But I digress - this isn't a digital versus optical opinion - like I said before you can get first rate professioanl work with either process. I just think I am really missing the darkroom, but feel frustrated because I don't have enough time to get to the end result I am seeking - finished prints I don't have to make excuses for. Maybe there's no shortcuts when it comes to black and white - maybe if you're just getting in to black and white and scanning negs, a digital file output on good paper with archival ink and all that looks fine, but I must agree with a lot of other people who have posted in this thread; I really have to say that nothing beats a silver print - it's about feel, which is something you just can't quantify.
 
Chris,

Chris,

It would be tough to find anyone to work on an enlarger. I suppose an electrical shop if thats the issue. If not, you can buy alignment tools.




chris91387 said:
hey joe, i live in valencia.

you have any idea who to call to get an enlarger "cla'd"? i have an old beseler (1970's) 4x5 that seems out of whack.

thanks,
chris
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About an hour ago I finished doing my first prints in my bathroom. I covered the enlarger area with a dark towel, since there was a lot of light coming through the door cracks. I didnt check the developing times. I just kept them in there until they looked right. I think I exposed one paper too much, because a fully developed image appeared in about 15 seconds, so I quickly got it into the stop-bath. I did 6 prints + test strips in 2 hours, and I cant wait to get in there again. The prints are quite curly, but I hope keeping them under something heavy will straighten them up.

I used Slavich Unibrom 160 BP paper and Slavich UP-2 developer.
 
ManfromH - good for you getting into the darkroom. One thing you mentioned I should caution you on though - don't evaluate when your print is done processing based on how it looks. At least for a while, stick to the set time the paper manufacturer recommends for whatever developer you are using. Reason being, it is hard to judge exactly what have when looking at it under chemistry in safe light. The first tones that "come up" on the paper in the developer are your darkest areas, which will come up even faster if you are using RC paper. The lighter areas of your prints - the zone 6, 7 and 8 areas, take longer to fully develop, and while you think they may be done, they may need the full time, or (even more.) By pulling your print out early you are cheating yourself of getting the full range of your negative in the print. Rest assured that the tone of your blacks have already been detrmined first by the exposure and development of your film, and then by the exposure in your enlarger. The whites are much more dependent on length of time in the developer, so while the blacks come in fast, they won't be much affected by the rest of the time spent in the developer.

Perhaps the most important reason for not developing your prints by "feel," is that it is hard to quantify what you've done and repeat it in the future. Try to establish a baseline starting point for a good print, and if you have to overdevelop a little more or less, you can make a note of that for the future. There are just too many variables in the whole proces of getting to the final print to allow developing time to be a guessing game. Make your creative decisions for what you want the print to look like from your test strips, and then stick your decisions and evaluate the print from there.

Hope that helps a bit.
 
Sitemistic - I would love to use Digital Ice but I almost always scan black and white film, which makes Digital Ice useless unfortunately. but if I ever shoot/scan color, I'll be sure to sue it. For black and white, usually when retouching a broad area of uniform tone, I'll use the "dust and scratches" filter in PS, which works well. But for any are of the negative with detail, it's a LOT of cloning for me.

After I gave up trying to be rational with people on that thread I started in philosophy, I actually rebuilt my darkroom yesterday afternoon. I would like to say it was because I'm sick of digital and long for the conventional process again, but in truth, I got drunk and ordered a used Fuji GA645ZI from KEH online Friday night, and now I have to sell my scanner to pay for it! :) I'm a lot more comfortable in the darkroom anyway, but I'll keep learning, and reading on the digital forums.
 
Here is my nightmare: I have to move and the new place has no room for a darkroom. No place for the enlarger or trays. I have to sell everything and move to hybrid or digital. Then a 1000 ton weight hits me and my remains are eaten by army ants as things could only get better from there on.

Stefan
 
I did another printing session today, and I payd more attention to the times and was generally more careful. The results are a lot better aswell (I actualy got blacks and whites) :)
 
Though the poll sounds as "Isn't Darkroom Printing the Greatest Thing?" (as opposite to "Is Darkroom Printing the Greatest Thing?") my answer is absolutely, i.e. it is absolutely the greatest thing. I don't care about results and comparing real prints with inkjet prints. I like the process. One can buy much better fish than (s)he may catch spending a day on a bank of river, but some people still go fishing.
Cheers,
Eduard.
 
Its the perfect antidote to an otherwise hectic life. An iPod, decent negatives, a 67c and 4 trays... thats about as good as it gets.
 
I like it very much, it is so slow and baryt paper is always surprising to me and you could do so many variation.
sem
 
Set up the Darkroom two days ago and developed a few prints...found a wonderful neg I wasn't even looking for...will print it again with paper more suited for this shot...
Made prints for the family of shots taken at my Brother-Inlaw's College Graduation...
I don't think they know I was shooting B&W...so far the wife is happy with them...
 
crawdiddy said:
Has anyone heard from ibcrewin? He's been in the darkroom since 02/29.
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Thought you meant February 1929 there for a minute.:eek:

From the sound of things on some other threads printing 35mm is just always a disappointment though, all that ugly grain and lack of 'sharpness' :D
 
sepiareverb said:
Thought you meant February 1929 there for a minute.:eek:

From the sound of things on some other threads printing 35mm is just always a disappointment though, all that ugly grain and lack of 'sharpness' :D
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No, I just noticed he said he was going into the darkroom, and would check in on Monday. That was in February, and he never checked in. :rolleyes:

Ugly grain and lack of sharpness, huh? I love the grain. I usually go for maximum sharpness in the printing process, though. But I do enjoy OOF background/highlights on the negative. Out of focus stuff is sort of the visual equivalent of distortion in music, which I also enjoy. Some people have funny ideas. Some on this very forum make snide remarks about bokeh.
 
To me, darkroom is my ZEN time. Unplug myself from computer, phone, the web and chitchat. Just me, light and darkness. (and smell of chemicals ;))
 
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