Dark Room Photography - Making a black and white print

[@markus8538]

amazing video. Lots of valuable insights. Thanks so much!

[@Distphoto]

Glad it was helpful!

[@JackGatelyBoston]

Thank you, great tutorial!! Exceptional.

[@Distphoto]

You're very welcome!

[@ChristianJohansson-papac]

Great to see you work your way to the final print. Thanks! /c

[@Distphoto]

My pleasure!

[@theblackandwhitefilmproject]

A Masterclass!

[@Distphoto]

Thank you!

[@oudviola]

Beatiful print and very instructive to see how you got there!

[@Distphoto]

Thank you!

[@sonnar_joa]

What a cool print!!

[@Distphoto]

Thank you!

[@erchata]

Genial, chapo, me quito el sombreo un genio me encantas tus videos un saludo desde BARCELONA ESPAÑA.

[@Distphoto]

Thank you so much!

[@jakobbaudrexl3393]

The first time I have seen how it works. This is real art! Thank you for showing

[@Distphoto]

My pleasure 😊

[@billyblaylock2565]

Great explanation of your darkroom technique.

[@Distphoto]

Thank you!

[@MultiBiaaatch]

I love your content! Thank you! Nice print!

[@Distphoto]

Glad you enjoy it!

[@MichaelLloyd]

The image was well worth the wait and time to print. Very nice!

[@Distphoto]

Thank you very much!

[@CD-kc5op]

Beautiful print

[@Distphoto]

Thank you!

[@joaorat7779]

i learn a lot with your videos!! 🙂

[@Distphoto]

Great to hear!

[@Mark-el8sb]

Great stuff, thanks for sharing this.

[@Distphoto]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@lichtmaler]

When you showed the first test print with 15 sec filter 0 and 5 - I thought this looks pretty convincing and I probably would have been already happy with that print. When you then realized you had the wrong print it really cracked me up. Love you work and thanks sharing your darkroom technique and thoughts.

[@Distphoto]

Thank you!

[@carlitodcreative]

Awesome keep it coming man!

[@Distphoto]

Thanks! Trying👍🏻

[@melaninxhalide1165]

This was so cool. 🔥

[@Distphoto]

Thanks!

[@keithfox2995]

great print !! Love that you are still doing darkroom vids. Split grade is a wonderful technique when one takes the time to perfect it..

[@Distphoto]

Thanks, appreciate that!

[@elizastephens]

that was awesome. i learnt so much ... thank you :)

[@Distphoto]

Your welcome!

[@DEEPDIVERever]

Brilliant!!!

[@Distphoto]

Appreciate that!

[@GavinLyonsCreates]

Labour of love.

[@Distphoto]

Indeed! Thanks Gavin!

[@moonsofourmother2815]

There was me thinking I would set up a darkroom! Sometimes I am a little over ambitious!

[@Distphoto]

Go for it. You will not regret it!

[@savethephotons2532]

Really nice walkthrough. Have a somehow similar picture hanging on my wall, but yours is way more dramatic. Now I wan't to redo it and make it better 🤣

[@Distphoto]

Go for it! The actual image when looking at it is a little lighter than on the video... so hard to get an accurate representation in a video... I do have some printed with even more drama (must have been the mood that day :) and much prefer the lighter print for this image as it reminds me more of the day when I was there. The ones with more drama actually look light night scenes (which I also do like) Thanks!

[@calebmarshall8178]

Great video would have been cool to see the comparison between the first print and your final print there at the end, your a great teacher I’m fresh to the darkroom and have learned heaps!!

[@Distphoto]

Thank you, will try to in future vids!

[@thevalleyofdisappointment]

Your resin paper looks like a cool tone. Which variety? Great content btw!

[@Distphoto]

Thank you! It is Arista EDU Ultra Rc pearl through Freestyle Photo ( I believe it is similar or the same as Fomabrom) So is fairly neutral in tone. Cheers!

[@seyyadwahabdeen]

Quick question. I usually shoot HP5 pushed 1 stop, sometimes 2 stops. Would you recommend I shoot box speed and have a flatter negative by shooting box speed so I can add contrast in post (both software and in the darkroom) or just push my film as usual? Thanks so much for your time!

[@Distphoto]

Well it comes down to a bit of personal taste. But. Contrast really does not have much to do with exposure more with development. You end up with a higher contrast negative because in an attempt to increase film speed you increase overall contrast with long development times. When I shoot portraits I sometimes push the film and am ok with the loss of shadow detail and like the look. If I am shooting a scene to print and want to maximize shadow detail I usually shoot HP5 at about 250-320 (dev in HP5) If the goal is to print I develop so my negative shadow detail I am after is good and the highlights print easily with a 2 filter giving me flexibility if I want to increase or decrease contrast. If I do not give enough exposure for the shadows they will go black and no way to print them no matter how much development I give the negative. However I am still trying to get about the same contrast for printing So. I would not give more Exposure in an attempt to get a flat negative. But expose for the detail in shadows and develop for the contrast you want. Not a ton of exponent scanning but I have found for myself if it prints easily in the darkroom it usually makes a great scan with little fuss. I have heard of others going for flatter nega for scanning to add contrast in post. Not sure on the advantages to that other than maybe less grain ( which I am a fan of grain so….) But like I said it is all a matter of personal taste. Cheers!

[@seyyadwahabdeen]

@@Distphoto Thank you so very much for reading my question and for taking the time for writing such an elaborate response! Appreciate it Got it! So it’s about getting in the shadow detail! Understood thanks so much

[@TroyGlover]

What exactly is the enlarger you're using? Looks great!

[@Distphoto]

It is a Saunders VCCE (variable contrast constant exposure) XL.. it uses a diffusion light source and is really nice! Thanks!

[@TroyGlover]

@@Distphoto Very cool, thanks man! I'll look into it. I'm working on setting up a darkroom now. Your videos have been very helpful and inspiring! Gorgeous print. I also shoot with the Hasselblad 500 c/m as my primary camera.

[@Distphoto]

@@TroyGlover where are you located… I happen to know where you can get an absolute steal in the same enlarger. Not sure if they ship or not but you could ask… just let me know!

[@Distphoto]

@@TroyGlover such a great camera 👍

[@TroyGlover]

@@Distphoto Yo no way! I am in Ottawa, Canada. Whereabouts is it?

[@mike747436]

Great walkthru. Do you see advantages with the Ilford PQ over the standard Ilford Multigrade dev?

[@Distphoto]

Thanks Mike! I have just started working with it (cause I need more variables in my life :) ) I like the developer.... I have not done a side by side comparison but will say I like the split tone ( light sepia very subtle upper highlights) I get with it quite a bit. The black and shadows on MG Classic seem to stay nice and steely grey which is hard to get on other papers. I am using a Ilford PQ formula I mix not bought from Ilford. Not sure if you have chemicals or mix your own but if you do here is the formula if you want to give it a go: Sodium Sulfite 110 gm Hydroquinone 31 gm Phenidone 1.28 gm Potassium Carbonate anhydrous 100 gm Sodium Hydroxide 2 gm Potassium Bromide 5 gm Water to 1 liter Dilute 1:9 for use I am looking forward to trying it with other papers!

[@Lightleakz]

Very interesting to watch! I'm still struggling with short exposure times, somehow i only get like 3 seconds with 2.5 filter which leaves nearly no room for splitgrade printing. My negatives don't seem very thin, well maybe i just have to get an ND filter... ;-)

[@Distphoto]

Give it a try. My old enlarger had a two stop nd built into the head but now I just use them under the lens. I have a one, two and three stop that I use depending on the size of the print and the density of the Meg 👍

[@milkismurder]

You’ll get longer exposure times if you stop the lens down, get a bulb with lower wattage, or print larger

[@Lightleakz]

@@milkismurder Yes, I know about that. But the lenses are said to be sharpest at 2 stops stopped down from fully open, thats why I choose mostly F8 with my lens. Another bulb doesn't work, as I use the Intrepid enlarger ( But I wrote them an email so they maybe make the output power adjustable ). Printing bigger is also not always an option, so right now, ND filters are pretty much the only option I can think of ;)

[@milkismurder]

You can and should stop your enlarging lens down further than F8. F16 is my go to, sometimes F22 for thinner negatives. Remember that diffraction effects are a function of image size.