Darkroom Photography Process - 24 inch print making
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 15 ก.ย. 2024
- In this video I show how I make my 24Inch Silver Gelatin Prints in my Darkroom Shed! It's a small space and can limit your printing size but with a bit of patience and practice I manage to make these prints without much fuss and have a quality result. The video is longer than most of my other videos and I've tried to include as much info as possible in a that time.
A really good demonstration. I had a smaller darkroom! Paper on floor, enlarger turned around, held down with clamps. Dodging and burning a trapeze moments. Easier to digital print BUT film never made to be digitized! You want quality and jump tone and resolution, get an ENLARGER. Bravo! Oh, if made a 8x10 i kept notes of burn and dodge, makes big prints easier. Bravo.
This is great. I've wanted to make some 16 x 20. Have to get bigger trays and figure out how to arrange the easel and enlarger. Also in a small darkroom. Once I had to work in a bathroom, put a plywood board over the bath tub for the trays, very convenient for washing.
For making 11 x 14, I put the 4 x 5 negative in the enlarger, compose and focus. Take the negative out and make a 4 x 5 contact print with the Kodak projection print scale. Pick best exposure, put negative back in enlarger, paper on easel and expose. You can't usually get good coverage everywhere with the projection print scale on a 4 x 5, it may take more than one test print. For your large print, put several projection print scales on the areas of interest contact printed on 4 x 5 paper.
There is a reason why i keep looking at your videos while i do my own darkroom stuff...keeps me inspired.
I've put out lots of videos over last few years and mostly stuff I'm trying out and learning myself. Glad they're helping,
Absolutely loved watching this! I have a new goal for my photography!!
Just saw this from five years ago. Brilliant!
These are not TH-cam videos they are great films...you are addictive
Thanks David.
Fascinating I watched this till the end. I'm trying not to get lured into setting up a dark room but watching this I 'm getting tempted. Thanks for making!
ONE OF US! ONE OF US! ONE OF US!
instablaster...
LOL...same here....same here!!
Really nice work! I really like the size of the print - you make all this look so easy 😀
Mouth fell open at 3:09. So very well done brother. Always wanted to see how to make that big print magic happen.
I'm amazed! Excellent!
Fine Example of Art, Beautiful photograph and watching the process of it going into the Developer and the image appears onto photographic paper. It's still Amazing 🤩! Loved the Share!
I really miss the darkroom. I may set one up again. Great show thanks.
Amazing process!! Congratulations
Thank you so much!
It's so wonderful tonal gradations, and perfect black and white processes in a substitute hardboard 50×60 really amazing idea, I've maximum dish size 30×40 this idea will help me much, I've a similar Durst M 601 with an optional color head, that needed for Ilford multi crade papers. Thanks for your nicely big enlargement, and its fine processing.
Make a tray ladder. My first room was as small as yours. Enlarger table has drop down easel shelf for larger prints. This must be made to perfection so it is parallel to negative. Do not measure, but use stick to get all four corner the same distance from top.
My 4x5 enlarger is on a very sturdy table 24" high. small prints are made on a small table that brings up 24 to 35 ". Both these setups have proven to work well for me.
Great idea!
fantastic video, so enlightening. Thanks for sharing.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Just now caught this video gem! Wow seeing your darkroom in it's earlier form is interesting. It has come a long way since. CHEERS Roger!
Thanks Rick, I since removed that vertical wall for printing large to make more space.
I can rotate the head of my old Gnome rangefinder 6x9 condenser enlarger on the single pillar after putting a few heavy books on the baseboard.
I then put my 20 x 24 adjustable masking frame on the floor, and then I can raise or lower the head as required. I use a 100mm 5.6 Schneider Componon S enlarging lens for 6x9 negs from my Moskva 4 camera.
For 35mm negs, I change the condensers and use a 50mm Componon f4 lens.
Never thought about turning the enlarger on its side, great to see it in practice thanks. I've recently been on a darkroom course, so really need to start putting it into practice, but it's great to see and pick up other useful tips like this 😊👍
Thanks. It's all practise and experimenting. Good luck with your DR sessions in future.
Great video, can't beat having a man shed.
Loving these videos. Please continue to make more. One suggestion, get a siphon with hand pump and put something underneath one corner of the trays to easily drain.
flam3srock it's a good suggestion. I can usually hit the jug! Thanks.
Great video! I made it to the end! Thanks for sharing! Will start by making my larger bath pans! )))
amazing job!
Down and Dirty printing.The coke on the table with the nicotine gum, I love it! Most darkrooms so sterile I can throw up. Great images; great work. love your shed/darkroom. Keep it up and thank you.
ha ha thanks for noticing! ✌️
Bravo! Beautiful print.
I honestly think that you are my new super hero!!
Iain Hamilton-Cummings lol. I don't have a cape or a special gadget yet but I have more videos coming 😊. Thanks Iain!
You don,t need a cape to be a super hero!! Just pants over jeans!! ;-)
O...... and produce work like this!!
fantastic video. very inspiring results. thanks for sharing
Excellent printing!!! Please share more videos!
Rick N6x6 thanks Rick
I really felt for you when you realised you’d smudged it, all that hard work. The finished print was gorgeous though, it was really exceptional and it was a very interesting video and I really enjoyed it. I like watching how methodical you are, over time I’ve learnt how important it is to be organised. Out of curiosity do you do any bleaching at all on your images? I haven’t, but I’m ordering the chemicals to make some Farmers reducer as I have some old paper I got very cheap. I might do some sepia prints. You are inspiring me to become more confident and adventurous in the darkroom. Fantastic video that is impossible to fault, thank you for going through the effort and expense of making this one.
Yes it's a bummer when you've just messed a print that large! I have hardy made the same mistake again though. Glad the vids are helping you. I'd say just crack on with it, have fun and enjoy! :)
Excellent video!!!! Subscribed.
Welcome aboard!
That Print is beautiful
Cheers. It's a nice place to shoot.
Thank you for making this video! I just bought a 20x24 easel to make life easier. Right now im working on a way to empty the trays without lifting them up and spilling everywhere, lol. Thinking drilling a hole in one corner, pluging it with some sort of plug, sealing it to make it water tight. I dont know if it will work but it sure beats balancing huge trays with splashing liquids in them ;)
Analog Adventure great idea!
I watched it to the end :-). Great job, very interesting.
I swapped out my 2 enlargers today for a de vere 504 floor standing . 40 inch wide base !!! I must admit I would like to try a 40 incher !!
I was considering making one big tray then pouring the chems back into buckets with the print still in the tray then washing so all in one tray
I like your video. I would like to give you two tips as a fellow small darkroom developer:
I made a tank of gray PVC piping for 18 inch prints. Its 160mm in diameter and 750mm long. It has an endcap glued on and a screwcap on the other side. In the middle of the screwcap is a plug for the chemicals.
- I never used the kentmere paper but I would have gone for splitgrading this one instead of dodging.
Cheers Fabien. I no longer print that size but have often thought of making a tube. Glad it works for you
Lovely shot 😁 it’s a lovely place.
Yes I watch it to the end and loved it, it’s pretty addictive, so very well done .
It’s just a suggestion, but it may be useful to use a good quality silicon sealant on your trays instead of gaffa tape.
If the silicon isn’t suitable, today I saw that the brand GORILA have a new tape, and wow that can stick fantastic quality , getting a corner of it off the roll says everything, on sale in Aldi of all places. Thanks, Gary Compton
+Gary Compton Yeah i sae that tape in Aldi the other day. Thanks fir your help Gary!
love it
Beautiful!
Thank You
I imagine you'd probably save yourself a lot of headaches if you buy or make one single tray that doesn't leak and then do the entire process in it, pouring out the solutions each time. That way you save space and reduce mess as you only remove the print once it's washed.
Very nice work, but why cotton gloves? Great prints and great work.
I had no idea you could buy that paper in rolls, I have been buying Kentmere VC select 20 x 24 inch sheets. Lovely print, cheers Roger
I have another. I've been trying over the weekend. Tricky
Great Work !
Thanks for the video and explaining your workflow, great to see your techniques. For the trays ... did you try to build a rack below your table to slide the trays in and out? maybe that would be more convenient than emptying them every time. The leaks in the trays ... did you consider seal the trays with silicone and then taping them? Just some thoughts that came up while watching you making this nice print. Thanks a lot for sharing your knowledge!
+monochrom.space Ha, yes I silicone sealed the trays and gaffer taped them. They still leak slightly. Sliding them under the worktop is something I haven't thought of! Great idea!. I haven't printed that size for a while so may have a re think. Thanks for that.
btw look up planter trays. can get 60cmx60cm trays for like £20
I suppose you could use a JoBo drum for the processing? Might be easier (I was just thinking how I'd do a print this size, my room is so small I wouldn''t have space for the trays (I reckon I've got the space for projecting, just)
You can see-saw a 20x16 print through chemicals in a 16x12 tray. OK, you need to be quite careful about washing hands to avoid contamination, but it works fine. As you are getting chemicals all over your darkroom with your current method, I can't see that the extra 4" is really worthwhile.
It's 24 inch
@@ShootFilmLikeaBoss Yeh, I get that. But is the extra 4 inches worth all that contamination? You demonstrated what a problem that is in your first print. I learned photography in a contaminated darkroom (in the 1970s), and nothing I printed in that era has survived. Many, many years later I built myself a darkroom shed with wipe-down surfaces everywhere, but still I am very fussy about how I handle chemicals. Anyway, just my two pennyworth, FWIW. Some of your viewers may not have twigged that you can turn the paper sideways and seesaw it through the chemical in the tray.
Another worthwhile tip is to take a piece of black exposed and developed film from the end of a roll, scratch a grid of lines on the emulsion side with the tip of a knife, and place this in your enlarger negative carrier. Projected onto the wall it shows you to check enlarger focus across the entire negative area and thus helps you to get the paper and negative parallel.
@@jonathanreynolds2227 I get it. Holding the paper at each end whilst keeping it in an arc shape. I haven't made any that size since soon after that video. Something to keep in mind if I do project that big again. I took the wall area away for more space. Thanks for the tips.
I did my first 11 x 14 prints that way in 8 x 10 trays, on the diagonal. 12 x 16 trays are much more relaxing.
great video thank you
franck y.s thanks :)
Really enjoyed the video. Love your bespoke trays. Could you have used something like silicone to seal them as opposed to tape?
I don't see why not.
The main reason for the invention of digital camera to target those faint hearted boys out there to choose alternative path. ;)
Bravo!
Fascinating, and very inspiring. Credit for going to the effort of making the print again after the smudge! I wish I had room for a darkroom for sure. I have an enlarger that does produce good prints (the head is an Ilford Ilfospeed 400HS) but the chassis is creeking - the crank doesn't work properly, I need a new (better) negative carrier and I can't get the bellows to expand. I think the sliders have seized! What did you say your enlarger was? Did I hear you say its a 'durst 3605'?
Durst M605. I got it on eBay for about £120. It also has broken teeth on the column so difficult to move up and down but I get by. I started in a small bathroom Ted.
@@ShootFilmLikeaBoss OK, thanks. Re the bathroom - I hear you for sure....but it's such a nuisance to move that enlarger in and out of the garage! It weighs a tonne. And the Mrs, like most of our wives, does not take kindly to some of our cubpards being filled with developers and jugs! If I plonked the enlarger in or near the bathroom on a regular basis I think I'd head for divorce! :-(
@@tedsmith_photography Ha, I hear you!
Sounds like you don’t often work with hand tools. Get someone who is mechanically handy to tune up the enlarger. (If a plastic gear is chewed up, reverse it on the shaft so that the remaining, good gear teeth are now engaged, and be sure the mechanism is properly lubricated to avoid further gear damage.) Once that’s done (1 hour tops), get a solid roll-around, mechanics tool box with a wooden top (Costco sells these) and put the enlarger on top. Then you can roll it in and out of either a bathroom or another area with a water supply and drain (a garden hose out of a window or exterior door is a drain substitute). Your trays, filters, paper, etc can be stored in the drawers of the chest. Trays can be vertically stacked, with the proper setup, or use a board across the top of your tub as a working area. RC prints can be dried on hangers and fiber-based prints on fiberglass screens or between drying mats in other areas of your home. Ansel Adams used a microwave oven when he needed to quick-dry prints to check print density and tonality. Good luck.
nice one rodger I would not be able to do that in my bathroom
😂
A 10 x 8 slot tank flor your test strips and then then a 8inch developement tube for the final prints. This may then leave you with the room for a toner over the sink!Regards Hughes / fadu
Someone else mentioned tubes. I wonder if plastic gutter tubes would work?
Great Video and great work. I would like to ask What did you use to make the paper holder against the wall. And where did you buy the paper. Thanks.
Thanks Tyrone. It's actually a table top turned on its end. The paper is Kentmere VC Select Gloss 10m x24inch roll.
Awesome photograph! So much detail! I'd like to try that but I'm not sure if 35mm negs can been printed that large...do you have experience or suggestions with that?
Mark Maffioli This was Medium Format Film. So about as large I can go with MF. With 35mm I don't usually go larger than 10x8 although I've had good results at 16x12. It would break up at 24inch I imagine but then could look creative. Like anything it's always good to have a go. :)
Yes, they can, and they often are printed 20x16 for public exhibitions. At a recent Elliott Erwitt exhibition in London, there were some 6ft high enlargements! Obviously appearance will depend hugely on the quality of the negative (film emulsion, development, camera lens quality, camera shake) and on attention to detail with the enlargement set-up. And however good all of that is, the image will look grainy if viewed close up, and spotting/retouching will be a major task (because the blemishes will be so big). But if viewing will be done at a decent stand-off distance they can look great.
See Tim Layton fine art.com. Basically cut a grey pipe from the builders supply’s, cap each end and roll between a fixedset of casters.
Fun project.
How about magnets for your wall frame matte, they make them in strips even, with either the appropriate magnets behind or just some sheet metal? Throwing it out there.
omnesilere I tried magnetic tape and it wasn't strong enough.
It is nice
Thank you for this video. I have a question, how much of the developer, fixer do you use every time? Thank you, hope you can answer me.
For printing? I use a litre in each tray Wendy. Email me if you have any other questions.
Beautiful print there!
Wondered how much chemicals did you use for the trays? 3l? Just got myself some 16x20 inch trays for some big arse prints!
Would have been 2 ltr in each tray James. 16x20 trays I use a ltr. I think they say your print should be submerged by an inch or so but 1 ltr in those trays work for me.
@@ShootFilmLikeaBoss Thanks!
I know you wear cloth gloves but is there a reason you don't use rubber gloves instead? Wouldn't using a fresh pair of clean rubber gloves be better than a cloth pair that can hold dirt and oil? Plus it provides a grip. I don't print in a darkroom so maybe there is a good reason but I thought I'd ask. I use rubber fingertips (finger condoms) to handle my negatives and I like the grip they provide while not having to wear an entire glove. P.S. have you considered changing your youtube name to Roger the Dodger?
Roger the Dodger 😂😂. I'm not very good with gloves of any kind. Disposable Rubber gloves I have tried but mostly I handle my negs without any gloves and handle the sides only. I only use rubbers with selenium
The annoying thing is that my enlarger can do do up to 20x24" natively but I don't have enough table space in the cellar to do bigger than 8x10!!!
Try an extension board. I use one. Heavy backing board from a picture frame is what I use.
@@ShootFilmLikeaBoss thanks, I'll try that for the future, can't do it at the moment as the cellar is jam-packed with stuff so don't have the space to make the table space bigger
Planning on doing anymore prints this size bud?
I will do. Just need to make the process less cumbersome!
@shoot film like a boss..nice video..great prints and what type of enlarger do you use or what model you apparently used on that prints?
Hi, I use a Durst m605
Great video !!!
Which camera and film do you use for your shots?
For these large prints I'd use medium format cameras. Mamiya 645 or Zeiss Ikon Nettar.
@@ShootFilmLikeaBoss And which film?
@@cbra736 that was fp4
@@ShootFilmLikeaBoss Thanks for your patience :). I really love this tree picture!
how do you focus on the grain?
How did you decide on 45 seconds at f11 to start with?
just a hunch I guess. times are longer with the size and distance
Shoot Film Like a Boss You pretty much nailed it! Good hunch 😎🤘
@@IainHC1 I'd probably did a few tests on other prints prior to making the video. I can't remember. it was last year. Or too many sherberts 😛
I have a question about enlarger lenses. I need to print some 6x7 negatives for a school project and all of the sources I can find on the web are contradictory. What is the minimum length of lens you need to print 6x7? Thanks.
My larger don't take 6x7 so I am not familiar with that size but here is a thread I found. www.photrio.com/forum/threads/enlarger-lens-for-6x7-negative.46463/
It depends on the enlarger lens and the maximum negative size it will 'cover', or project a sharp image of (you need to look up the technical data for the lens from the manufacturer). Usually, the lens focal length will be approximately equal to the diagonal of the negative, which is 91mm for a Linhof 6 x 7negative (56 X 72mm). If printing only 6 x 7 I would buy a 90mm lens, but as I also print 6 x 9 I use a 100mm or 105mm lens. Also, if you want to make big enlargements, check the magnification range that the lens is corrected for. Some enlarging lenses are only corrected for up to 8x or 10x enlargements, others up to 15x or more.
what type of paper do you use?
Use a pizza dough tray it’s perfect, look on amazon
Interesting!
Our pizza tray has holes in it!
So hard for me to watch how you clean your negatives prior to putting it in the carrier. I suppose that is a good method if you don't mind scratches.
No scratches. Sleep well
Hi Roger...when you project onto the 'wall', do you ever use your grain focuser, or is the situation too awkward?
Please reply
I can use my image focuser and grain focuser.
@@ShootFilmLikeaBoss I'm new to this. Are they the same device, or separate devices?
@@mosephina one projects the image through a periscope like object. So I can visually focus. The other is a grain finder where I can focus just on the grain.
How far is the distance between the enlarger and the frame for that print with the heads sideways?
I haven't measured the distance. Just far enough to make a 24 inch print sharp. I'd say probably about 5ft
Fkn awesome!!! :-)
What kind of gloves are you using here to Handel negatives
+street photo just soft gloves I got online. Lint free? Cotton? I don't know. They just stop my finger prints going on the negatives.