3 Must-Know Tips for Perfect Darkroom Prints!

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In this video, we will go over 3 essential tips to help you achieve perfect darkroom prints. Whether you are new to darkroom printing or looking to improve your skills, these tips will guide you through the process and enhance the quality of your prints. Watch till the end to learn how to make your darkroom prints stand out!
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Relavent Links //
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Go to black and white film photography setup (medium Format) //
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Favorite Gear Back Pack - amzn.to/3c8iFET
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Go to film photography setup (35mm) //
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Brevite Jumper Back Pack - amzn.to/3Je22JU
Canon F1 - ebay.us/jn1xcM
Canon FD 35mm F2 - ebay.us/fgJNVE
Canon FD 50mm 1.2L - ebay.us/8D8R6E
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Go to digital camera setup //
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Canon R5 - amzn.to/35FUX0r
Canon 35mm f1.4 L ii - amzn.to/3ioIBPl
Canon 50mm f1.2 RF - amzn.to/2N47Hax
Canon 85mm f1.2 - amzn.to/38PaH34
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Thank you so much for watching!
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#distphotofilm #darkroom

[@dan.allen.digital]

I'm just starting back in the dark room after 30 years. Thanks for the tips these are really helpful.

[@Distphoto]

Happy to help!

[@lichtmaler]

I would agree on almost everything you say in this video. I am printing primarily on fiber paper. I had an experience that is worth sharing: I made a print of a lighthouse I photographed in Namibia. The cables connecting to the lighthouse were not visible on the paper while the print was wet. Only once it dried down they became visible. Fiber paper tends to strech while it is wet and then shrinks again while drying. This is why it is so important to dry the print to have better judgement. Your first remark that eyes need to get adjusted to light: I agree to some point but still depending on type of paper you use, the dry down effect varies to my experience from one to two stops darker. So it is half half in my opinion. Because of that you are absolutely right: You need to know your materials. That does not only include the paper but also the chemicals you use. And I am sure you do know that - having a chemical background.

[@Distphoto]

Thanks, I have had different papers do wildly different things. including shift colors a lot!

[@TomNorthenscold]

This is really helpful. I’ve just started working with fiber paper.

[@Distphoto]

@@TomNorthenscold Glad it helps!

[@philipu150]

I esteem Bruce Barnbaum highly, and when he says that countless workshops have proven that drydown is simply a matter of the initial illumination level you have described, I won't second-guess it. But my many experiments make clear to me that the high values darken when the paper dries. Period. As shown by the dry-wet adjacent comparison of the same values on the same print, wet on one half. With LED enlarger light sources and controllers to become the new standard, the former Zone VI enlarging timer "dry-down" dial, measured in percentage, appears to be in reach for those who would wish to have it. My coder friend, who built me an LED head and controller, said it's a simple matter. In short, if a given paper dries down, say, 5% (as determined by your test ), you proceed to make your print based on wet-squeegeed appearance under proper viewing light. Once you're set to make your final print(s), you dial in 5%, which subtracts 5% from your exposure time. For some printing methods, this may not be ideal. I expose using multiple, equal, short (e.g., 3-second) exposures, which keeps me from having to look at the timer or change it (usually) for dodging and burning-in. Yes, variables remain. If you're toning your print, you have to consider how it will deepen your low values, etc., though dry-down, like print flashing, pertains primarily to the other end of the scale. The biggest one, however, is the illumination where your print will be displayed. I took my wife to a Paul Strand exhibit in Philadelphia years ago, excited to share with her his extraordinary printing. Most of the exhibit was not only terribly dimly lit, but hung on white walls ---white makes your pupils close. So much for seeing his rich shadow detail and glowing mid-tones.We don't necessarily have control over that factor. I mention just because it can have a major affect on a print's appearance.

[@Distphoto]

Agree fully Phillip and in fact in his book he attributes some of it to the paper shrinking when drying that causes highlights to lose some of there luster. I believe it is a combination of these things, but the initial reaction to what the print looks like can certainly lead down a misleading path. I've never been a fan of just subtracting time from a print to compensate. I do see the validity in it, I just prefer a more methodical approach of drying and evaluation the prints... I have had many meters and electronics in my darkroom over the years and find the "simple aproach" has always worked best for me. The science in it is fascination but a technically perfect print usually falls flat. That's a bummer the gallery did not properly light the images. This is often overlooked. WOuld still have been a great thing to see and sure it was worthwhile... but yeah Also on the fence about actual viewing booths with "perfect" lighting as rarely will someone have that where they actually hang your prints. I felt for the video keeping it simple and seeiong what they will look like in average conditions is a huge step in the right direction for most.

[@philipu150]

@@Distphoto Reviewing a dry print, I agree, is the best guide. Perhaps if I were a better artist and photographed and printed almost daily, as I once did, my judgement could be better honed. As for a 'technically"ideal light, it's a chimera, in my view. Who wants a gallery or museum to look like a display booth?

[@josephasghar]

There’s certainly a skill to evaluating a print. I print at night, and it’s only the next day, in natural light, that I can truly determine if my print has been a success. It’s particularly hard to ascertain if I’ve achieved a true black, else just enough tone in the highlights to frame the print without excess density in the sky. Getting that consistently across your body of work is where the craft lies.

[@Distphoto]

Agree. Consistency with this is a learning process. My eyes often play tricks on me.

[@MichaelLloyd]

The only darkroom prints I've ever made was with a Sears developing kit I got for Christmas one year. Yeah... it's been a while. I have made platinum palladium prints. I love doing that. It's tedious but the results are worth the time.

[@Distphoto]

Want to do some platinum / gum prints at some point!!!

[@MichaelLloyd]

@@Distphoto Go for it. It's not particularly difficult. You make your own paper (mix chems and brush it on. Let it dry in the dark), You'll need to make a test strip with your light source to determine exposure time. Light source can be the sun. Expose, put the exposed paper in a tray. Pour on the developer and watch the image appear like magic. All in daylight. Subdued of course but it's easy to see what's going on.

[@erickvalerio3523]

Nice video❤

[@Distphoto]

Glad you liked it, thanks!

[@CD-kc5op]

I like your alter ego🤣🤣

[@Distphoto]

He’s a mess 😅

[@ЕвгенийМалышкин-з6к]

👍

[@Distphoto]

👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

[@fbraakman]

Wouldn't a "test strip print" of varying exposures help in determining the best exposure? Say 3 exposures increasing the exposure time from left to right. Start with what you think will be the best exposure as the middle image, and then the first exposure -1/3, and the third exposure +1/3. I do f-stop timing. This after doing actual test strip exposures to determine the best strip exposure. Then wash and dry and then evaluate under proper lighting conditions, not dim light. It's best to do a full sheet rather than small test strips. I would rather do this than making separate exposures on separate sheets.

[@Distphoto]

Yes, the dim inspection is just untill your eyes adjust. The print when you first turn on "bright lights" can be very hard to judge and it is common to quickly assume it is correct when in deed it is to dark... This contributes to the drydown effect. This is in tandem with making test strips or sheets. Not discounting those at all 👍🏻