Tagged: darkroom

hello darkroom, my old friend

darkroom: time processing charts

Somewhere in my mind, I had associated the darkroom with negative things. Being busy and stressed. Investing hours and hours in a handful of prints. Sharing the space with the Photo I kids who cross-contaminate the baths.

darkroom: baths

But the last few days, I’ve had the darkroom to myself. And I can’t imagine why I don’t spend more time there.

darkroom: agitating prints in the fixer bath

It’s quiet, and dark. Just me, my photos, and the running water. The gentle swish-swish of my photos as I rock them back and forth in the baths. The magic, every time, of watching a print emerge from the paper as it develops; as it shimmers, ghost-like, and then appears.

darkroom: finished print in fixer

It doesn’t hurt, of course, that I’m getting better at reading test strips, and at taking film pictures in the first place. It doesn’t hurt at all that my prints have been coming out beautifully. And it certainly doesn’t hurt that Photo I doesn’t have midterm work due for another week.

But the darkroom and I are friends again, good friends. And it’s wonderful to be back together.

(to see some actual prints I made, check out this post from the archives with some black & white darkroom prints)

waiting on sunshine

boy on roof - 35mm film, printed on fiber-based paper

I took this picture in late September, the time of year where occasional breezes creep in but even their chilliness is only a foreshadowing of a crisp fall. I miss that sun, the sun that brings not only light but warmth. Today there was plenty of sun, but it was frigid, blindingly white, unfriendly sun. I’m ready for spring.

This picture was taken with a 35mm camera (canon ae-1! vintage and wonderful) and printed on fiber-based paper. I’m hoping to use the negative scanner at the library to scan my negatives into digital prints… as much as I love the darkroom, I can’t print many pictures when they take almost an hour apiece to get good results.

Now it’s back to studying for midterms, with all the lights in my room turned on as a fruitless attempt to make myself some sun.