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
Old thread comes to live :)

I´m not good at it and seldom have the place to put up my darkroom, but when I can I love it. Nothing beats a good darkroom print..........nothing.
 
sepiareverb said:
It really is sculpture- the negative is the die, the paper the blank- we play with the light as it hits the paper-
Click to expand...

But sculpture is 3D. It's more like intaglio printmaking, where the negative is the printing plate and you control the final image by manipulating in various ways. I equate dodging/ burning/ flashing with how you ink and wipe the plate...
 
I think there are two experiences in photography that rock my boxers: 1. nailing a special moment on film and 2. discovering/finding the best way to see it become tangible through wet-printing. Even after all these years, I still have ineffable "wow" moments when I wet-print.
 
I don't care for it anymore... I prefer to print digitally while watching TV, checking e-mail, eating, paying bills, getting busy, etc. I don't fetishize the darkroom process... did it for too long.
 
jsrockit said:
I don't care for it anymore... I prefer to print digitally while watching TV, checking e-mail, eating, paying bills, getting busy, etc. I don't fetishize the darkroom process... did it for too long.
Click to expand...

You were in no need to fetishize it... Most photographers and printers have a natural and sane relation with wet printing... Fetishizing can lead to sickness and an unnecessary end of valuable relations... :)

Cheers,

Juan
 
I voted absolutely !!!!, but I'm not that fanatical about it. I did however, make a small darkroom at home.

I started out scanning, and that's made me lazy. Scanning and PS make image management extremely easy, especially dust removal and exposure. In the darkroom, those things take time and patience.

totifoto said:
... Nothing beats a good darkroom print..........nothing.
Click to expand...

^^ this, 100%. There is a real difference between proper B&W prints and those that come out of a printer.

I have a personal disdain for printers: ink is expen$ive, and always runs suspiciously low. A few bucks for photo chemicals and I can spend hours making tons of prints in the darkroom.
 
jsrockit said:
I don't care for it anymore... I prefer to print digitally while watching TV, checking e-mail, eating, paying bills, getting busy, etc. I don't fetishize the darkroom process... did it for too long.
Click to expand...

At least you have the right to say how you feel about it (darkroom printing) because you have done it.

What makes me sad is the fact that those who has never done it today probably will never get to even try it because it's considered obsolete. And there is a 50% chance that they may like it a lot.

TheHub said:
I have a personal disdain for printers: ink is expen$ive, and always runs suspiciously low. A few bucks for photo chemicals and I can spend hours making tons of prints in the darkroom.
Click to expand...

I worked for a number of years in the commercial printing industry. It is well known there that printer manufacturers *do not* make a lot of profits off their printers. They do it via the consumables, paper and ink. So we will see better and better printers getting cheaper, but when it comes to paper and ink, we won't.

And those who are really serious about B&W printing using inkjet, will use even more expensive carbon inks, which may or may not shorten the life of the printer heads.

Yes, *quality* digital printing is much more expensive than a simple enlarger and a handful of chemicals and paper.
 
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I thought printing with a wide format printer would be more economical that it turned out to be. I was using the Piezgraphy inks & high grade paper. After all the mis feeds (printer problem) and expensive inks, I added it all up and quickly sold everything.

The craft of working in a darkroom is central to why I love photography. I don't make a living with it, I don't even make and money (ever)! My prints are usually gifts to friends or fans of my subjects (Bluegrass music) - so the speedy workflow gained with digital photography is lost on me. I liken it to hand made horse shoes or knitting a scarf. The extra time and effort matters more to the reciever (my thoughts only).

Additionally - I have been able to score some real bargins for top-shelf darkroom gear since the digital rage took over. Bought my 10X10 Durst for $150 - just picked up (from the -Bay) a new in the box Leedal temp control panel (nice one) for $100. Good drymounting presses are going cheap too. So - I am happy that digital is so popular, it is making my darkroom time that much better!
 
Best of Both Worlds

Best of Both Worlds

I loved printing, but like many photogs, I closed my darkroom years ago. Recently I discovered two things that might be better than working in the darkroom. First i started using the Photoshop plugin Nik Silver Efex Pro. The controls make working on a b&w digital file just like burning and dodging, etc. Also the software perfectly replicates film grain, even changing the look and density of the grain depending on the exposure of the different areas in an image. Just like film. It also makes doing some difficult things easy, like vignetting, and making small local changes.

Second, I send those files to www.digitalsilverimaging.com. They make REAL silver gelatin wet process prints from the digital files on Ilford Galerie fiber base paper. The prints are actually as beautiful as my old prints (most printed on Oriental Seagull, and Agfa Portriga). Best of both worlds!

My disclaimer is that I do now work for DSI, but i did use them before i started helping out my friend there.
 
As mentioned before, lack of space for a dedicated darkroom and the difficulty of setting up and taking down a temporary darkroom keep me from giving it a try. About a year ago, I went out in a fit of enthusiasm (akin to GAS), bought a bunch of stuff, and then cooled on the whole idea.

So, I'm curious to know how many others have attempted or contemplated setting up a temporary darkroom and then decided it wasn't for them.

Here's what decided for me: First, the enlarger (I bought a nice looking Omega B-22) won't fit in the spare bathroom. Second, the room I could blackout is carpeted and I'm not willing to risk spills or drips. Third, I'd need to blackout a very large window (about 7'x7') and the only way I can see to do that requires repeatedly driving nails or tacks into the wall. I don't want to do that. Fourth, the room I could use is currently, in effect, a study. I'm not excited about spending a day in there with the lingering fumes from the previous night's darkroom session.

So, digital seems to be the way I'd go, if I eventually get into printing. It's cleaner, doesn't need to be knocked down and put back up every time, smells better, and, all things considered, takes up less space.

However, if I did have adequate and convenient space for a darkroom, I certainly would have at it.


I could find workarounds, of course, but it doesn't seem worth the effort, not least because everything still would need to be torn down and stored away after each session.
 
Yes, it's pretty pretty pretty great!

I print on an Epson Stylus Pro 3800 .. :D
. . ok ok, wait - hear me out before crying heresy! :p

3 weeks ago, decided to start printing again after many months without putting a single photo to paper. Carried some in a small box and shared with friends, my dry cleaner, and earlier this week a colleague at work. Today was his last day, moving on to retirement, and he shared that he was inspired to start shooting B&W again, and also will be building a darkroom in an extra bathroom that's not being used. Guess I'll have access to a darkroom pretty soon!

So in this case, digital printing is opening the door to a dark room...
 
jbrianfoto said:
I thought printing with a wide format printer would be more economical that it turned out to be. I was using the Piezgraphy inks & high grade paper. After all the mis feeds (printer problem) and expensive inks, I added it all up and quickly sold everything.

The craft of working in a darkroom is central to why I love photography. I don't make a living with it, I don't even make and money (ever)! My prints are usually gifts to friends or fans of my subjects (Bluegrass music) - so the speedy workflow gained with digital photography is lost on me. I liken it to hand made horse shoes or knitting a scarf. The extra time and effort matters more to the reciever (my thoughts only).
Click to expand...

Well expressed :)

jbrianfoto said:
Additionally - I have been able to score some real bargins for top-shelf darkroom gear since the digital rage took over. Bought my 10X10 Durst for $150 - just picked up (from the -Bay) a new in the box Leedal temp control panel (nice one) for $100. Good drymounting presses are going cheap too. So - I am happy that digital is so popular, it is making my darkroom time that much better!
Click to expand...

Man, 10x10???
I have seen a 8x10 Durst and that thing is bolted to a moving platform on a rail (wall projected enlargement).

In the same vein with your story, I paid $50 for a Durst 4x5 (forgot the model number), plus a Schneider lens, and negative holder. That thing almost didn't fit in my truck :)
 
I find myself unable to turn away from good darkroom gear that people are virtually giving away. Especially Durst, which pack up so easily because of their modular design. I have come to really appreciate the Durst film carriers. I must be crazy, I have three Durst's stored away in addition to my Focomat and Omega D2 which are my regular users. When the darkroom renaissance comes, I'll be ready with gear to help people out. In the meantime, one of the joys of the digital age is that I no longer have to struggle to evaluate pictures from a contact sheet. New to me is a chintzy $100 film scanner from Staples Office. I use simply it to evaluate what I've got and email the odd picture. The rest gets wet printed!
 
Had a small darkroom years ago.
I have resisted the lure of the injet having decided , perhaps unfairly, that they are unreliable and expensive to run.
I have recently started to use Ilford printing for the few shots that I think may make a decent print .
http://www.ilfordlab.com/
 
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