Information About The Dark Room

The first thing I learned about the dark room is that I have to prepare before going straight into the dark room. I had to learn about the ins and outs of different parts on the 35mm film camera.

1. The next part I had to learn was about the shutter speed dial set. The shutter speed means the time of which the film is exposed to the light, more modern day cameras from the 1960s and forwards cameras show this regular increments like 1/500 and 1/250.

  
2. Another part I had to learn about the camera was the aperture ring, which is a small opening near the front of the camera lens. These are normally marked in the standard increments and nearly any lens will have settings of f/8 and or f/11. Aperture size is usually calibrated in f-numbers or f-stops i.e. those little numbers engraved on the lens barrel like f22 (f/22), 16 (f/16), f/11, f/8.0, f/5.6, f/4.0, f/2.8, f/2.0, f/1.8 etc. This means, f/16 will let in 1X the amount of light than a diaphragm opening of f/22 and so forth. The Smaller number, as the size of the aperture is expressed as a ratio against the focal length. A smaller aperture will let less light onto the film, and give more depth of field. For example, with a 50mm focused to 8 feet (2.4 m), at an aperture of f/5.6, the portion of your scene from about 6.5 to 11 feet (2.0 to 3.4 m) would be in focus for this camera.

   3. The IOS dial is another major part when learning the camera. The IOS dial which is always marked as ASA, this tells the camera the speed of your film. This is essential for cameras that have automatic exposure. ISO 50 film will require an exposure twice as long as an ISO 100 film, for example   

 4. The rewind release allows you to rewind the film. This is normally while shooting the film is locked so that it can only move forwards and not backwards, this is for obvious reasons. This is usually found on the base of the camera, slightly into the body but some cameras are different and have it somewhere else.

5. The manual focus single lens reflex cameras are more tricky that others. Turn the focusing ring until the image in the viewfinder is sharp. The manual focus has two focusing aids to make it easier to tell when you’re in perfect focus. On the screen on the camera you will see in the right in the centre lines that splits the images into two pieces. Which are aligned when the image is in focus

What You Will Need?

1. 1-2 rolls of exposed T-MAX film
2. Scissors
3. Developing tank
4. Beaker or measuring cup
5. Thermometer
6. Timer
7. Containers (for mixed chemicals)
8. Negative carrier
9. 3 Containers for mixing chemicals
10. Tongs 
11. Negative carrier
12. 4 trays for chemicals
13. Running water

Chemicals:

1. Kodak T-MAX Developer
2. Photo Flo
3. Rapid fixer with hardening agent
4. Stop Bath
5. Hypo Clearing Agent (HCA)

Developer

Developer activates the light sensitive crystals that make up the emulsion on your paper. When the crystals come into contact with developer, any parts of the paper exposed to light will become some shade of black.

Hypo Clear

Hypo is not always used, but it helps insure uniform drying, so that you won't have any drying marks later on.

I used the tongs when placing my image in the chemicals.

The Timer

Timers can be different, but their purpose is always the same: to accurately control the exposure time of an enlarger. 

Fixer

Fixer removes the unexposed crystals on the emulsion, making the paper light safe. Paper that has been through fixer can then be taken into open light without worries of turning black. Insufficient fixing will turn a picture yellow over time.

Stop Bath

The Stop Bath is an acid that deactivates the developer. As you put a print into the stop bath, it stops turning black.

A is where the film is placed on the hanger. The film is placed in a series of tanks

B is the containing developer, rinse, and fixer and wash station. Note the separation of drying and wet portions of the darkroom. Safelights are mounted on the wall

C is the view box

D is the drip sink is available for wet film viewing