Friday, December 9, 2016

How Darkroom Equipment And Film Photography Works

By Amy Davis


Photography is an art that has been around for so many years. For top quality results the artist, in this case the photographer needs to have the right equipment. Anyone who has embarked on an artistic effort would know that it equipment are expensive. But these people could not care less, after all it is an investment for the betterment of their craft.

The most manual way of producing photos using film needs a specially constructed room. The darkroom is where negatives get developed and come out as beautiful images. Now you may think that there is little need for darkroom equipment these days since everything has gone digital. But there would always be the novelty of being able to process your photos the old fashion way.

So many technicalities are involved with this. As in all fine art, being delicate and meticulous can pave the way to greatness. A good number of iconic images were produced this way, especially by publications like LIFE magazine. Knowing the whole development process, makes digital photographer appreciate the difficulty, technique and skill required in film photography.

Being able to make pictures come out beautifully with out digital help is quite the feat. The act alone takes study, practice and discipline. If you can get to experience this more organic way of processing film, then for sure, there will be better appreciation for the the convenience that image software solutions can offer.

Making your own darkroom can be quite the investment. But think about it, the room can be rented out for other enthusiasts too. Being able to successfully develop film negatives in such conditions should bear that satisfaction only artists who have made their Obra Maestra can have. If you are considering making one, be prepared to shell out some cash.

The dynamic involved in this are basically the right concoction of light, ventilation and overall temperature. The circumstances where the photo is developed can greatly affect its outcome. Lots of water is needed to soak the prints, like how you would see it in the movies, but never really understood. Even the water in this process needs to be a specific temperature. Too hot or too cold and your image is well done for.

The basic principle of such a place is that no light should come in. Now, if you shut all possible light sources, it also means that ventilation would also be a bit tricky. What usually happens is that, a chimney like structure is placed on the side of the wall. So while no brightness can go inside, air can still flow through.

While it may be called a darkroom, you would still need ordinary white florescent lighting because who can clean up any mess when you can't see anything, right. This is needed for choosing which negatives you would want to develop, inspecting finished print and basically seeing what is going on around you once you are done with staying in perpetual darkness.

Safe and enlarger lights are used when working with photographic paper since this needs to be handled with certain colored lights. The enlarger light is a specialized projector that can emphasize the transparency of the photo. Apart from the lighting, as mentioned earlier, temperature needs to be at a certain level. This is preferably at 65 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit.




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