Darkroom portraits

[John McCallum]

Ahhhhh .... a real Black and White darkroom .... always wanted one of those (mine's still in colour).
Where do you keep the marshmellows for the fire?

All right. Here you go then.

Please! Everybody try to stay with the group. I wouldn't want anyone wandering off and getting lost.
If you would like to visit the wet side of my darkroom, please knock first and be kind enough to light a match when you are finished.

[Flotsam]

John, I thought that you would surely comment on the Brooke Burke calendar that I keep on the wall because of the... um...... Photography! Yes, that's it, the fine photographs that were taken by that uh.. erm... guy, who, um ...takes pictures 'n stuff.

No marshmallows but the stove is going full blast. It is colder than a landlord's heart here today. It sure ain't Summertime in this hemisphere!

[gareth harper]

Can't find that picture that shows the whole of my darkroom. Now where did I put that.
But if you go to http://www.photo.net/shared/communit...user_id=470820 you'll see me sitting in my darkroom.

There's not much more to it than you see in that picture anyway.
All your darkrooms are massive and very beautiful, I'm going green with envy!

My darkroom measures about 5 by 6 feet. I have a Durst M670 that just fits on my bench, as you can see a short distance away is a Nova 12x16 inch fibre. If it wasn't for the Nova I'd probably give up on printing in such a small space. The fourth slot of the Nova is used as a quick water rinse, before I run out the door, through my bedroom (the darkroom used to be a small walk in wardrobe) out onto the landing and into the bathroom where prints are washed in the sink or in the bath. Prints are hung or placed on my fibre dryer in the tiny spare bedroom. The tiny kitchen is used for processing film. The living room for assesing negs etc. Negs, prints etc are stored in the spare bedroom and the loft.
Past the Nova there is just enougth space to get two 12x16 inch trays side by side before you hit the door frame. I have a big shelf running right round under the main bench, so if I'm split toning I can swap the toner trays between the bench and the shelfs as required.
Not opened my presents yet today, so maybe there will be a wee card from Santa there, that will tell me I have just been given a house that I can swing a cat in with a decent sized darkroom!

[Adrian Twiss]

Hi Adrian,

I really like your wet table. Was it custom made?

The sink is a Deville sink manufactured by Devere. It is just over 7ft long. Howver it will not accomodate a 20 x 16 inch tray vertically. This means I can only fit 3 20 x 16 inch trays. The under sink storage cabinets are cheap kitchen base units from B&Q minus the doors and work tops. The central 'island' is another cheap kitchen base unit with wheels attached so I can move it around depending on which enlarger I am using. The big durst L1200 is on a 20 inch hight coffee table otherwise It would go through the ceiling. I have to use a Japanese kneeling stool to operate it. It is surprisingly comfortable.

[BWGirl]

Well, I finally got my little Advantix film developed (don't laugh! ) Here's my darkroom! My husband built both benches and they are so sturdy you could have a dance party on them! haha

[BWGirl]

Oh! one more thing...here is a layout drawing I did of my darkroom. It's not to scale, but it kinda gives you a sense of "what's where"!

Ok...two more things! The other picture is the shelf behind the door. I have a lighted magnifier there so I can look at test prints.

[Konical]

Good Evening, Jeanette,

Looks like a very workable set-up. I would seriously consider putting a coat of flat black paint on the wall near the enlarger.

Konical

[Bob F.]

Took some shots of the darkroom with my recently acquired SQ-A but discovered in developing them that I didn't understand how the time exposure setting worked (must remember to read the manual FIRST in future....) so used a P&S digicam instead for these pics... And to think, I tidied up the darkroom just for a digicam - huh!

Base units are kitchen units from the local DIY store, pulled out about 9" from the wall with a batten along the wall to hold the back edge of the counter top to give the extra depth the enlarger etc needs - once the top is screwed to the units and the wall it's solid as a rock. I'm not a fan of open shelves - too much dust to be spread around... Hot water is via a 3kW instant water heater just visible in the far corner next to the lower fan under the shelf at the end of the 6' sink.

Need more sockets!

Cheers, Bob.

[Flotsam]

(must remember to read the manual FIRST in future....) .

Blasphemy!

[Eric Rose]

First my dark cubby hole then the rest of the facility. This is where Les did the darkroom course a year ago last November.