rpavich Posted January 22, 2016 Share #1 Posted January 22, 2016 Advertisement (gone after registration) Well, I finally got all of the gear necessary, I got it all together and did my first test print!How danged exciting!I know I made tons of mistakes, but this really is amazing to me. I've never done this before. I do have a question now that I've done this; Do I leave the chems in the trays or do I have to bottle them up pretty quickly? Do they stay effective if left in the trays for days? 6 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted January 22, 2016 Posted January 22, 2016 Hi rpavich, Take a look here Yipee! My first darkroom test print ever!. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
LarsAC Posted January 22, 2016 Share #2 Posted January 22, 2016 Great! Looks pretty good. Don't see mistakes you mention, but with practice you'll iterate towards great prints. Bottle the chemicals up after the session. They'll last longer. Lars Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rpavich Posted January 22, 2016 Author Share #3 Posted January 22, 2016 Great! Looks pretty good. Don't see mistakes you mention, but with practice you'll iterate towards great prints. Bottle the chemicals up after the session. They'll last longer. Lars Thanks Lars, that's what I needed to know. The first print I printed on the wrong side of the paper. The second print I accidentally dipped the corner of the paper into the stop first.. This was paper #3. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Hiles Posted January 22, 2016 Share #4 Posted January 22, 2016 Good for you - printing is a long learning experience, and worth every minute. Bottle your chemicals, particularly the developer. A few hours during a session in a tray is fine, of course. Don't leave developer exposed over night. The large exposed surface encourages oxydation, which kills developer. There are some useful sites and turorials available on the WWW. One I like is www.darkroomdave.com. Amongst others, he has a tutorial on split grade printing. Even if you don't use that powerful approach, you can watch him handle himself and his materials in the darkroom and learn much. Shortens the learning curve. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rpavich Posted January 22, 2016 Author Share #5 Posted January 22, 2016 Good for you - printing is a long learning experience, and worth every minute. Bottle your chemicals, particularly the developer. A few hours during a session in a tray is fine, of course. Don't leave developer exposed over night. The large exposed surface encourages oxydation, which kills developer. There are some useful sites and turorials available on the WWW. One I like is www.darkroomdave.com. Amongst others, he has a tutorial on split grade printing. Even if you don't use that powerful approach, you can watch him handle himself and his materials in the darkroom and learn much. Shortens the learning curve. Thanks! That's just the sort of thing I'm looking for. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mijo Posted January 22, 2016 Share #6 Posted January 22, 2016 Congrats! I always run my paper through the chemicals face down so half the magic of traditional printing is lost (i.e. watching the image appear). I don't trust the safe lights in the community darkroom or the fact that people will turn on their enlarge w/o the carrier in it. Exciting times for you... 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Hiles Posted January 23, 2016 Share #7 Posted January 23, 2016 Advertisement (gone after registration) Safe lights can be not-so-safe. Mine is behind me, and when I am handling paper I avoid having direct light from the safe light fall on the paper. The paper is almost always in my shadow, whether under the enlarger or in the developer. In the developer, I start the paper face down, but I turn it over 5-6 times during the 2-2.5 minutes in the developer, which also provides very good (and necessary) agitation. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tobey bilek Posted March 9, 2016 Share #8 Posted March 9, 2016 Great! Looks pretty good. Don't see mistakes you mention, but with practice you'll iterate towards great prints. Bottle the chemicals up after the session. They'll last longer. Lars Paper developer at WORKING STRENGTH has about an 8 hour life, used or not, sealed from air or not. It will seem to work, but full tone prints will elude you and you will not know why. Long story how I learned this. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rpavich Posted March 9, 2016 Author Share #9 Posted March 9, 2016 Paper developer at WORKING STRENGTH has about an 8 hour life, used or not, sealed from air or not. It will seem to work, but full tone prints will elude you and you will not know why. Long story how I learned this. Oh wow...that's something to think about. I will have to group my printing chores in that case. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hugh 38 Posted March 12, 2016 Share #10 Posted March 12, 2016 Hooray ! Even though I have done a few B&W prints it is still magic seeing the image build up on the paper when it is in the developer . You will make mistakes. Learn from them , keep a note book of what you are doing. Good advice above. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gbealnz Posted March 12, 2016 Share #11 Posted March 12, 2016 Wonderful RP, congrats. Told you it was fun. Onwards and upwards from here. Looking back,you've accomplished a heap lately, well done. Gary 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Hiles Posted March 12, 2016 Share #12 Posted March 12, 2016 Watching a print come up in the developer is magic. More fun is watching your prints get better. Printing is a skill and craft, and continuous learning is really gratifying. A little like cooking or playing a musical instrument, we get better with practice. Ansel Adams said that a negative is like a score, a print is like a performance. Performances get better only with thoughtful and well organized practice. A useful exercise is to look critically at good prints - in my experience not so many people know what a really good print looks like. HAving a sense of what can be achieved is a very good way of setting goals and improving skills. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff S Posted March 12, 2016 Share #13 Posted March 12, 2016 Another visual resource, if you can find it used, is the old video (later DVD) trilogy from Fred Picker (Zone VI), 2 of which cover 'Negative and Development' and 'Printing'. Fred was a controversial figure at times, but inarguably a good teacher. Jeff 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Hiles Posted March 13, 2016 Share #14 Posted March 13, 2016 I support Jeff - Fred's videos/DVDs are excellent. Fred was a master of his materials and technique. He kept it simple and he had a "No BS" approach. And yes, an excellent teacher, which come out in the videos. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paulus Posted March 13, 2016 Share #15 Posted March 13, 2016 Well, I finally got all of the gear necessary, I got it all together and did my first test print! How danged exciting! I know I made tons of mistakes, but this really is amazing to me. I've never done this before. I do have a question now that I've done this; Do I leave the chems in the trays or do I have to bottle them up pretty quickly? Do they stay effective if left in the trays for days? Congratulations! I always bottle my fluids in 2 liter winebottles and use a vacuvin to undo it from air. The developper will last as long as the next thunderstorm ( due to the static it perishes I think. ) Maybe you can show your darkroom here? It would be nice if you read " The Negative " from Ansel Adams, which was inspiring to me. http://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/186432-show-us-your-darkroom/ Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rpavich Posted March 13, 2016 Author Share #16 Posted March 13, 2016 Congratulations! I always bottle my fluids in 2 liter winebottles and use a vacuvin to undo it from air. The developper will last as long as the next thunderstorm ( due to the static it perishes I think. ) Maybe you can show your darkroom here? It would be nice if you read " The Negative " from Ansel Adams, which was inspiring to me. http://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/186432-show-us-your-darkroom/ Well..it's not much, It's a back bedroom. Really just a portion of a bedroom. I'll see if I can get a picture of it. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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