Darkroom photography
13 months ago
It’s an absolute amazing and abrupt change to the daily digital photography the world is so comfortably accustomed to today.
I admit.. MUCH more work.
But I loves it.
How to learn darkroom photography
It made me
happy! 
"Time consuming and expensive but essential to understanding photography."
How I did it: Due to some interesting circumstances, I bought a Photography class at the local Art Center through a charity silent auction. To my surprise, darkroom photography was the main thing we learned to do. The techniques were a bit old but I actually learned to develop black and white film and then develop various prints. I had to buy a film camera to get started so I chose the Nikon FM10 and got a great deal off ebay. I got the basics down fairly quickly, but did not have as much time to spend in the dark room as was necessary to get very good.
Lessons & tips: Darkroom photography is very expensive and time consuming, yet essential to learning photography. In my opinion it is good to know how to do this even if you just use digital. Invest the minimum amount of money to learn and then reevaluate if you want to continue once you finish the class.
As materials and dark rooms are difficult to come by, the best thing to do is to take a class first to try it out and then possibly build a makeshift darkroom for yourself. Beyond Basic Photography: A Technical Manual by Horenstein is a good book for that.
If you are trying to decide on where to take a class, pick a place in close proximity to your home or work, as long hours in the dark room are necessary to learn and achieve good results.
Make sure to study your camera manual carefully and to learn how to properly load and unload film before going out to shoot. A classmate lost a whole day of shooting after realizing that the film was not loaded correctly.
Resources: Hyde Park Art Center, Central Camera (in chicago), Ebay,
Nikon FM10, Black and White Photography by Horenstein
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Entries
In College
2 years ago
Did it in 1986 when in college. Was a great passtime. I took a class and developed black and white photo’s. It was one of those things were you go into darkroom and get involved and look up and it would be like 5 hrs later and 1 am. Was lots of fun!
Elderbear is subverting the dominant paradigm. kickn' back ...
Fond memories of
2 years ago
Aatahasamana in the darkroom where film wasn’t the only thing that developed – so did a 24 year relationship.
Miss Mavis is actually working hard today
I can't see!
2 years ago
All I need now is enough room, and a red light bulb…
Untitled
2 years ago
I took a couple of b&w classes a while back and I loved it! I’m taking another class in July but I want to start working on building my own darkroom.
lilliputtigerlily is settling in the Denver area.
three classes i've taken, i need more
2 years ago
it’s been awhile since i’ve done darkroom photography. need to get back to it!
photography
3 years ago
I learned how to do this in jr. high. I only learned how to develop black and white film. I still have my hand written notes from back then on how to do it. Someday I would love to have a darkroom of my own and do this again.
Untitled
3 years ago
I took a course while I was in Wellington to learn how to develop and print my own film.
Only black and white, but I made the most of the darkroom opportunity to print out a whole bunch of photos from the 70’s of me and my brother as little children.
I really enjoyed the course and even now in the digital age, I still find my favourite camera is my Nikon FM2. (However, I’ve taken thousands of photos with my Sony DSC-F717, so until I get a digital that feels like the FM2 I’m a bit stuck)
Untitled
3 years ago
So much fun! For a while we had a darkroom set up in our house but we don’t have the room for it now. It’s a dying art, keep it alive!
