At its simplest, the early photographic darkroom was a darkened room
where silvered copper plates or paper could be sensitized and processed and, later, where light-sensitive printing processes could be undertaken in darkness or subdued light. The term darkroom dates from 1841. Not all photographic processes required a room; much of the daguerreotype process The daguerreotype required a space near the camera where images could be developed and fixed. Some materials lost sensitivity once the exposure had been made or chemicals had been allowed to dry, and a darkroom or temporary dark-tent or developing box allowed processing to be done immediately after exposure. The wet-plate process, which dominated photography from the 1850s to the 1870s, made a darkroom essential for professionals.
History of Darkroom The spread of commercially produced dry plates from the 1870s obviated the need for a darkroom near the camera. The growing practice of enlarging from negatives, and the standardization of negative processing from the late 1860s, shifted the emphasis in the darkroom from the making of the negative to the production of finished prints. Darkrooms became essential for professional studios, certainly for black- and-white photography, until the 1980s. By the end of the 20th century, economic and technical change had altered this situation, with studios increasingly outsourcing conventional colour work, or switching to darkroom-free digital imaging.
History of Darkroom The rise of commercial photofinishing, especially for colour photography from the 1960s onwards, began to limit the need for amateur darkrooms, most of which only ever produced black-and-white prints. Digital photography, however, may be giving a new lease of life to the darkroom, in the new sense of a space for making images by means of scanners, computers, and printers.
Early Darkroom Process Film Developing Tank and Reel Thermometer Film Squeegee Measuring Graduate Chemical Stirring Rod Chemical Bottles
Film Clips Film Washer Timer Funnel Film Developer Fixer The basic equipment and supplies you will need to develop black and white film are: Procedure Developing the film is the first step. With the help of a lightproof room, the film is removed from the camera and loaded onto a reel. The reel then goes inside a light proof canister with a special light trap cover (film tank). This is where your film is processed into negatives.
Procedure The next step is to add the film developer to the tank. The developer is the primary processing chemical. It makes the image visible. developing time for film runs between 6 to 9 minutes. During this time, the canister is agitated at a rate of 30 seconds of agitation and 30 seconds of rest. At the end of the developing time, the developer is emptied out of the canister.
Procedure Following the developer is the stop bath solution. As its name implies, the stop bath neutralizes the developer. During this stage, the canister is agitated for 15 to 30 seconds. The chemical is then emptied out of the canister. Procedure A fixing solution follows the stop bath. Fixer protects the negatives from further development when they are exposed to the light. Most fixers include a hardening agent which toughens the emulsion on the film and makes it more scratch resistant. During this stage the canister is agitated for 2 to 4 minutes, then poured out.
Procedure The final stage of film development is the washing of the film. It is best to keep a flow of constantly changing water running into the canister for 10 to 15 minutes.
Procedure The negatives are now ready to be air dried, preferably in a dust free environment. Hang film to dry in drying cupboard and put a clothes-peg at the bottom to make it straight. Once they are dried, they can be cut into sections of 4 to 5 images and slipped into archival negative sheets, which protects the negatives from damage such as scratches and dust.
Into the Darkroom The prints above are from a 35mm camera. Medium and large format cameras give you bigger negatives which result in clearer pictures. The process for developing prints is much like that for developing your negatives. The developer is specific for paper, but the stop bath and the fixer can be used for both processes. In the darkroom, the chemicals are set up in trays, developer, stop bath and fixer. The negatives are laid out onto a sheet of photographic paper and exposed to the light of the enlarger. Once developed this sheet will become the contact sheet. The exposed photo paper is then placed into the tray of developer. Developing time for RC (resin coated) paper is 1 minute. Fiber based paper takes 2 minutes in the tray. Next step is to stop the developing process with the stop bath. The paper stays in this tray for 30 seconds and then goes into the fixer tray. RC paper stays in the fixer for 2 minutes, 4 minutes for fiber based paper. The final step is to wash the print in running water for 5 to 10 minutes.The contact sheet is now read to be hung to dry.
Darkroom Basics - Trays with Developing Chemicals, Developer, Stop Bath & Fixer. Developing the Print Choose the negative you would like to enlarge and slip it into the negative carrier. The carrier is then inserted into a slot below the light source on the enlarger. When the light is turned on, the image is reflected onto a frame called an easel. The easel will hold your paper once you have determined the size, right amount of light, and the exposure time. Once the exposure time is determined, a piece of photo paper is inserted into the easel. The enlarger light is turned on via a timer, and exposes the paper. The exposed paper is then developed following the same steps used to develop the contact sheet. Enlarger with negatives in negative carrier & timer. Photographic Effects
Toning
Toner is a solution that can change the tone of the print. There are many to chose from such as red, blue, brown and sepia tone. Color toners are applied in the darkroom after the final rinse. The toning bath is placed in a separate tray, and the wet print is submerged into the solution. Sepia tone is a two-step process. The first step bleaches out the print making the image almost invisible. The second step brings the image back in a sepia tone, giving it the appearance of an old photograph. Solarizing or the Sabatier effect is the process of re- exposing a partially developed print to light. This leaves the print with silvery image that contain light lines that separate the shadowed areas. Summary Summary of Film Processing Steps: 1. Developer (use film or developer instructions) 2. Stop bath or water rinse (30 seconds) 3. Fixer (2-4 minutes with rapid fixer, 5-10 minutes with regular fixer) 4. Hypo eliminator (optional) 5. Water wash (5 to 30 minutes, depending on equipment) 6. Wetting agent (optional, 30 seconds) 7. Dry Summary of Print Processing Steps: 1. Developer (60 to 90 seconds) 2. Stop bath (30 seconds) 3. Fixer (2 to 10 minutes, depending on paper and fixer types) 4. Hypo eliminator (optional) 5. Water wash (4 to 20 minutes, depending on paper type) 6. Dry
Using a camera is only half of photography. If you shoot digital, youll probably use Photoshop or similar to edit your photos. Working in a darkroom is the other half of film photography, and I find it hugely satisfying. - Jonathan Gazeley