Poll: Isn't Printing the Greatest Thing?

[dadsm3]

It's difficult for me to pinpoint exactly what I find so pleasurable about the darkroom experience. The solitude, the quiet, the leisurely pace, the retro feel, the cheapness, and the challenge of what you know is a great neg. There you stand, with a bunch of liquids you mixed up, a mediocre enlarger, the cheapest paper you could find, and way more enthusiasm than skill.
It takes half a dozen tries, change your f-stop, tweak your times, adjust your filters, burn or dodge a bit......and then you NAIL it, the most beautiful rendering of one of your best shots you could ever hope for, with a richness and beauty you could never attain in front of your computer. And that doesn't even take the personal satisfaction of taking your image from capture to completion into account.
For me, being born bereft of any real artistic talent, it is the closest I can come to real art. And I'm going to keep trying....

 

[Trius]

Now, I have a 16x20 Nova with Ansco 130 as my standard developer.

Sweeeet! What paper? I'm an Amidol man, myself, but when I reconstitute my darkroom, I might change my mind due to the difficulties of Amidol.

My vote: Absolutely. For me it's not just putting a fine finish vs. vinyl covering, it's also the zone/zen experience. I love being in there and creating, finishing a creation.

Earl

 

[sigma4ever]

I love the darkroom! I can not see myself using a computer for prints. I love being up and active switching the paper from the stop to the fix. I love the chair analogy. It works perfectly with my situation. For me having no lab is like having a car, but no gas to drive it. I have used a computer for a few prints and I have to say that there is absolutely no satisfaction in it.

 

[RayPA]

It's difficult for me to pinpoint exactly what I find so pleasurable about the darkroom experience. The solitude, the quiet, the leisurely pace, the retro feel, the cheapness, and the challenge of what you know is a great neg. There you stand, with a bunch of liquids you mixed up, a mediocre enlarger, the cheapest paper you could find, and way more enthusiasm than skill.
It takes half a dozen tries, change your f-stop, tweak your times, adjust your filters, burn or dodge a bit......and then you NAIL it, the most beautiful rendering of one of your best shots you could ever hope for, with a richness and beauty you could never attain in front of your computer. And that doesn't even take the personal satisfaction of taking your image from capture to completion into account.
For me, being born bereft of any real artistic talent, it is the closest I can come to real art. And I'm going to keep trying....

Well put! It tugs at my darkroom heartstrings (seriously). Anyone who has spent time over a tray of fixer can identify with the sentiment.

🙂

 

[Max Power]

I don't even know how to do darkroom printing.

If you look around the Ilford website, there are some excellent step by step writeups on how to do it. Once you've done it once, it becomes really easy. There's also a really good book out there called 'Into Your Darkroom Step by Step' which is an excellent intro to printing.

It's very rewarding and a lot of fun.

K

 

[JCT]

I do it 'cause I love the tactile quality of the whole process. From bulk loading the cassettes, to composing, to exposing, to souping and finally the whole process of printing.
I sit in front of a computer all day, go to meetings, discuss problems and solutions and catch up with a CrackBerry. Darkroom printing is my break from it all. I get to set up my chemistry, plug in my MP3 player and use my brain and hands to create something. It's tactile. As an added bonus, it's very inexpensive to do.

Just my thoughts,
Kent

I agree 100% --- exactly my thoughts, it's a refuge!

JT

 

[ChrisPlatt]

Printing your own black and white adds a whole new dimension to your photography.
You will finally have control of the entire process.

For those of you who have never tried it, there's no mystery; it's easy to learn the basics.
In no time at all you will be making better prints than any consumer photofinisher.
Then spend the rest of your life mastering the process...

Chris

 

[pesphoto]

Perfectly stated....

QUOTE=dadsm3]It's difficult for me to pinpoint exactly what I find so pleasurable about the darkroom experience. The solitude, the quiet, the leisurely pace, the retro feel, the cheapness, and the challenge of what you know is a great neg. There you stand, with a bunch of liquids you mixed up, a mediocre enlarger, the cheapest paper you could find, and way more enthusiasm than skill.
It takes half a dozen tries, change your f-stop, tweak your times, adjust your filters, burn or dodge a bit......and then you NAIL it, the most beautiful rendering of one of your best shots you could ever hope for, with a richness and beauty you could never attain in front of your computer. And that doesn't even take the personal satisfaction of taking your image from capture to completion into account.
For me, being born bereft of any real artistic talent, it is the closest I can come to real art. And I'm going to keep trying....[/QUOTE]

 

[l.mar]

Still as amazing to me now...

Still as amazing to me now...

... as it was when I souped my first B & W print more than thirty years ago. Just like watching the sunrise still never ceases to amaze me (wow, this is either incredibly "deep," or I am very easily amused...)😱

 

[mbisc]

It's difficult for me to pinpoint exactly what I find so pleasurable about the darkroom experience. The solitude, the quiet, the leisurely pace, the retro feel, the cheapness, and the challenge of what you know is a great neg. There you stand, with a bunch of liquids you mixed up, a mediocre enlarger, the cheapest paper you could find, and way more enthusiasm than skill.
It takes half a dozen tries, change your f-stop, tweak your times, adjust your filters, burn or dodge a bit......and then you NAIL it, the most beautiful rendering of one of your best shots you could ever hope for, with a richness and beauty you could never attain in front of your computer. And that doesn't even take the personal satisfaction of taking your image from capture to completion into account.
For me, being born bereft of any real artistic talent, it is the closest I can come to real art. And I'm going to keep trying....

Wow, although there are some great comments on this thread, this one is my personal winner so far -- very well said! The last paragraph reminds me of the old saying that "photography is for artists that can't draw" -- not sure who said that, but it certainly applies to me😀

I am also glad to see current vote-count in favor of the wet darkroom (heavily-biased audience maybe 😉 ) -- nice going, group!

 

[BJ Bignell]

I am also a fan of the wet darkroom. I love knowing that I've just created an image from start to finish. Photography for me is about the process as much as it is about the art.

 

[jaapv]

Funnily enough- liking printing (I do!) is what got me into digital. I'm not much of a B&W photographer and I always hated to give my colour photo's to some anonymous lab. The computer gave me back my darkroom.

 

[Ewoud]

Funnily enough- liking printing (I do!) is what got me into digital. I'm not much of a B&W photographer and I always hated to give my colour photo's to some anonymous lab. The computer gave me back my darkroom.

I agree, only I am an B/W photographter 70% of the time... those photo's I process in the darkroom..
I just love that digital gave me my own 'colourdarkroom'..


Its pretty funny I still introduce people tot wet printing trough a course I give every few months 🙂

 

[Silva Lining]

I love the smell of fixer first thing in the morning!

 

[Rob Skeoch]

The greatest thrill in photography is watching that print come up in the tray. For me that's what photography is all about.
I printed for two days this week.... and loved it. You can't beat the modern papers like Ilford Galerie or Kentmere Bromide.
-Rob
bigcameraworkshops.com

 

[traveller]

I really love to print BW, colour is for the lab.

I'm sure that I could get some nice pictures from scanning if I wanted to do it but I am staring at a monitor the whole day. So printing is relaxation for me, I can calm down, sort my thoughts and as reward I get a print.

 

[Solinar]

To make a print directly from the neg with no intermediate steps truly is analog photography done in reverse.

Also, the view through the grain magnifyer doesn't lie. The subject is either in focus or it is not.

 

[canonetc]

'cause I feel like I'm creating something with my own hands. It's an alchemy and magic that no lifeless computer can give. A print exists; I watch it come into existance in "real time" through a process I can only marvel at.

Chris
canonetc

 

[amateriat]

I am sure this is one reason that "purists" dislike digital - it has caused the commoditization of photography. You can be a mediocre photographer and so-so post-processor and turn out very good pictures digitally; whereas, you would have to be a near-master to do the same with film and chemicals. I routinely make what I consider great balck-and-whites digitally that would be far beyond my reach chemically.


T.

You'd think so, but I see an awful lot of ham-fisted technique borne of the "lightroom" – people pulling too many levers and pushing too many buttons, largely because they can. Not fun to watch.

Like Tuolumne, however, I moved to the digital "darkroom" some nine years ago, largely because I never had a proper darkroom of my own, and was heavily frustrated by the limitations involved in using others' facilities, often on a challenging schedule. Dealing with black-and-white printing digitally has been a PITA until a little over a year ago, when I found a printer that truly delivered for both b/w and color (HP 8750), meaning I could give up the madness of having to maintain a second printer, loaded with specialty inks, just for b/w printing.

But it all still starts on film (well, 90-95% anyway). As I said to a colleague a few years back while shooting with a "Mk I" version of Canon's EOS-1D, "I could get down with the digital photography thing, if only I didn't hate the cameras with such an intense passion." This hasn't changed...much.


- Barrett

 

[sigma4ever]

I love the darkroom.....It's my favorite refuge....Everything about it is great....The seclusion from the world, the peaceful atmosphere, the chemicals, knowing that you are in charge of the product that comes out, the triumphs, the mistakes, and that moment when your print finally comes out the way you want it to.....