Substitute Graduates

  I'm sure (or i hope) that many of us have been in the situation where we've ordered new chemicals, they've arrived and then we've realised we forgot to order more graduates and bottles etc.  If, like me, you live nowhere near a darkroom supplies shop and you need to mail order everything this causes a problem because let's face it - noone wants to pay postage costs.

  Well fear not for Tesco has come to the rescue!  In some of the larger Tesco's they stock beer fermenting supplies.  Included in this are 100ml graduates such as this one:

  It only cost around £3 but saved me from having to pay postage and wait for my order to arrive.  I may even go back and buy a few more - you know, just in case...

For I Am Man!

  Being a man i am possessed with a regular need to build and fix things.  This mood tends to come in cycles where, after months of laziness, i suddenly decide to make some shelves for a cupboard, hang some mirrors on a wall or (in this case) convert a shed into a darkroom.

  As regular readers will know i recently moved house, downsizing from a 4 bed to a 2 bed house.  Naturally the spare bedroom would have the computer in and all my guitars, instruments, amplifiers and pedals; and my large collection of cd's and dvd's.  This left a minor problem - no darkroom.  Originally the plan was to use the little breakfast bar area at the end of the kitchen but Jess didn't seem to happy with this.  Being the devious, scheming lady that she is she suggested i get a shed - a suggestion i immediately dismissed as foolish.  However, as days went by i began warming to the idea.  Could a shed make an effective darkroom?  I began to investigate online and saw that it could indeed be done - but at great cost.  I found a few articles where people had converted a shed into a darkroom but they had gone the whole hog - electric supply, running water, insulation panels, kitchen units etc.  I needed to do mine at as small a cost as possible but still make it useable.

  First things first - find a shed.  I went to B&Q because i needed to get some gear for decorating the new house.  Special offer on a 4x6 shed - £120.  I considered it for a while but then came to the conclusion that it was too small.  I hit EBay and found a few but they were all too far away for me to collect.  I tried Preloved and Freecycle but to no avail.  Then i found one on Gumtree a mere 10 miles away.  It was an 8x6 and it was listed at £175 or nearest offer.  I offered £150 and got it!  The next problem was how to get it home.  Enter my good friend Steve who has a nice big estate car with roof racks.  We went to the house, dismantled the shed, loaded it onto the roof racks and took it home.  As a side note let me just say that if you ever need to dismantle a shed make sure you have an electric screwdriver.  And make sure the guy you buy it off doesn't keep letting the shed walls drop onto you - it hurts!

  So, after an hour or so the floor was down, the walls were up, the roof was on and the doors were attached:

  The next job was to get it insulated in some way as the weather here in England is very changeable, especially this year.  We've had snow follow by blazing sun followed by snow again followed by rain, it's mental!  If i'm putting electronic gear inside i want to make sure the temperature is as stable as possible or damp will get inside and destroy everything.  And fluctuating between hot and cold is definitely not good for photographic paper!  So, what were my options?  Well i could get loft insulation or polystyrene panels, or i could just use foil or bubble wrap.  In the end i went kind of in the middle.  The local B&Q sells this stuff - B&Q insulation which is basically bubble wrap coated in reflective aluminium on each side.  It's about £12 a roll which isn't too bad compared to other types of insulation, and each roll covers about 4.5m2.  There is a cheaper option available but only one side is coated in foil.  I decided that although more costly, the double sided stuff would be best.  So, i bought a few rolls and began stapling it to the inside of the shed.  The idea is that the foil would keep heat inside and reflect the heat coming in form the outside, thus keeping the temperature in the shed a bit more stable.  Make sure you buy a decent staple gun - i got a £5 one from B&Q and it died the next day.  An extra £5 would have got me a good sturdy metal one.  So, once the insulation was stapled in i had what looked like a set from Dr Who:

  Note the hole on the bottom left.  I left that open to use as a vent and to run an extension cable through from the kitchen.  There was no way i was going to be able to get a water and electric supply to the shed as i'm living in a rented house so couldn't do anything permanent.  This hole would be ideal for putting a cable and, potentially, a hosepipe through.  You can't see i

t in this photo but i also stapled insulation to the inside of the doors as there will be a lot of heat loss through there.  I had about half a roll spare so i put an extra strip over each side of the roof as this is where the majority of heat loss will be.

  Next job is to board up the walls.  I considered just using card but thought if i'm going to all this effort to make a darkroom i may as well fork out and do it properly.  So, i scoped around for prices for sheets of chipboard.  When it comes to sheets of timber it's best not to use B&Q or Homebase etc as you can get it cheaper from a local timber merchant.  In this case i was quoted £7 a sheet from Preston Plywood which was a great price.  If you can get oriented strand board (OSB) instead of chipboard that would be better as when chipboard gets wet it just crumbles whereas OSB is a lot more solid.  But i thought i would be ok with chipboard so went ahead and placed my order.  For a small extra fee they could cut the wood to size and deliver it to my house so i gave them the sizes i needed and my address.  When you're measuring out your sizes remember to deduct the thickness of the board from the adjacent piece e.g. the board at the back would need to be 24mm (2x12mm) narrower than the width of the shed so that the board for the two side walls could fit alongside it.  Once the wood arrived i started boarding up the walls:

  Next i had to board the roof.  Now, at such an angle 12mm chipboard was going to be a pain.  I just needed something to go over the insulation to add that little bit extra.  Preston Plywood came through again with some 3mm MDF/Hardwood.  I got two sheets delivered and cut them down to size myself.  It was easier not to saw them, i just used a sharp blade and scored down the sheet so i could just bend the wood and snap it in the right place.  I commandeered Jess to help me hold the sheets while i screwed them to the roof.  It was awkward but we got it done eventually.

  So, that was the whole inside of the shed boarded out now.  Although it was only cheap and thin insulation you could feel the difference in temperature compared to how it was with nothing on.  obviously, more expensive and thicker insulation would have a greater effect.  Insulation has a thermal resistance rating - the higher the rating the more insulation you get.  This stuff only has a rating of 1.5 but it is certainly enough to make a difference, especially with board covering it.

  At this point i turned my attention away from the shed and began to think about workbenches.  I'd need somewhere to put my enlarger and a surface to put my developing trays etc.  I thought about using computer desks, kitchen units and even considered buying a workbench.  it's shocking how much workbenches cost!  So, i decided to build my own.  For about £35 i got the materials required to build my own 2 shelf workbench that would measure 1.2 x 0.80 x 0.60m.  It was a squeeze to fit it all in the car but i managed it.  I spent the afternoon sawing, screwing and assembling all the pieces until i had my bench.  Solid as a rock and the perfect size.  I was so impressed with it that i went ahead and built another one but made it slightly shorter so that my enlarger would fit on it.

   I put them in the shed and then put in the shelving units i had from my previous house.  Then i started shifting in all my gear.  A few hours later and it was all done...

...well, almost.  I still need to figure out how to lightproof the vent but still pass an extension cable through it. and i still need to lightproof the doors.  Ill probably velcro some lightproof plastic over the inside when i'm in and hang a curtain there too to keep out some of the cold when the shed is locked up.

  So there you have it - a darkroom shed on a budget.  Hopefully this weekend ill be able to get in and start making some prints.  If there are any improvements i need to make i can do it as i go along.  It's nice and roomy though and i think i'll be happy printing in there.  The main thing is that, should we ever move house (which i have no plans to do), i can dismantle it and take it with me.  I really have to thank Jess for coming up with the suggestion and managing to cook me a delicious tea everyday despite the kitchen being full of darkroom gear!

  I don't know what my next bit of DIY will be (probably making some shelves for our towel cupboard), and i'm sure the mood won't strike again for many a month; but i know that when it does i'll be unstoppable - for i am man!

Tapestry

  As usual at the weekend i had a bit of time to myself as Jess was working the morning shift (got to love that morning shift)!  What better way to spend this time than by dabbling in the ancient art of printy?!  I was in a very lith mood so i chose a negative from my latest roll of film and picked a paper.  As mentioned previously i recently won a bulk load of paper on EBay, mostly old Agfa Brovira and Portriga, but i also got a small pack of 8 x 10 Fotospeed Tapestry.  Is it lithable?  Internet says yes as does the good old Facebook lith printing group.  A bit of reading in Lord Rudman's lith and toning books revealed this to be a very special paper.  It liths very well and when toned in selenium a wide range of colours are available.  I got set up and gave it a try... and what a paper!  A lovely textured base with a nice matt finish, it liths fantastically and (as we will go on to see) is phenomenal in Selenium.  This is the print i finally got at the end of the process:

  As you can see it has a very different look to my usual lith prints.  It looks (to me at least) like a watercolour painting.  The colours you can get from this paper in selenium are fantastic, but instead of me talking about it - i have pictures!

  The first print i made of this messed up because i ended up putting finger prints all over the paper.  I decided to use this print to see how far the colour change in selenium would go.  What follows is a series of pictures (taken on my camera phone - sorry for the poor quality of some of them) from 0 to 23 minutes taken every 60 seconds to demonstrate the colour changes.

  Firstly here is the original, untoned print:

Untoned, wet print (note the golden yellow colour - when dry this turned a strong pinkish colour)

30s - note the shadows immediately turning a cool purplish colour

1:30 shadows cooling off further and working up to the lower midtones

2:00

3:00 midtones starting to be affected.  Hints of purple can be seen around the boats cabin

4:00 nice separation in the cabin area and increased separation in the sky

5:00

6:00 purple tones taking over the midtones now and moving up towards the highlights.  The sandy foreground taking on a cooler steely grey tone.

7:00

8:00

9:00 cloud separation reducing slightly as the cooler grey moves towards the purple areas

10:00

11:00

12:00

13:00

14:00 the cool grey now slowly turning into a soft creamy buff colour

15:00 as the creamy colour is taking over cloud separation has reduced significantly

16:00

17:00 shadows have a slight olivey brown tone

18:00

19:00

20:00

21:00

22:00

23:00 the cream has settled into a pale creamy grey colour across the print

  As you can see the print goes through many different colour changes before settling down at around 20 minutes or so.  My plan now was to give an overall toning in selenium to get things going then wash the print and, using a paintbrush, place selenium onto the areas i wanted extra toning on.  I started with the sky so as to increase separation between the purple and yellow areas, then i toned the foreground to change it from the cool grey to a sandy yellow colour.  Then i did a little extra on the cabin and prow of the boat to help it stand out from the frame a little more.  I think the final print looks much better with these multiple pastel colours than it would with just one overall tone.  But maybe that's just me.  One thing that i should mention if you should be lucky enough to come into ownership of this paper is that it dries a different colour.  For exmaple - here is my final print when wet:

And here it is dried out prior to toning:

  As you can see we've gone from yellow to pink.  Not quite what i fancied for this print but maybe one to kkero in mind for another subject.

  I'm sure this "toner painting" could be just as easily applied to any other paper.  You probably won't get as much of an extreme colour shifting but you may get something.  It's certainly something i'll be keeping in mind to try out in the future.

Sometimes a Joy, Sometimes a Trial

  I printed this at the weekend and it was a huge pain in the bum to do!

  I went through at least 20 sheets of paper trying to get the contrast and exposure right.  I had to keep swapping frames on my negative due to dust and hair that were in the emulsion - the whole printing process was just a pain.  Sometimes printing is a joy, sometimes a trial.

  Even the toning didn't go as planned.  I wanted to try something i read in the Tim Rudman toning book that i recently acquired.  You blue tone the print to completion, rinse then put it into selenium toner.  The selenium replaces the blue in the highlights which turn a putty colour.  If you rinse again and put the print back into blue toner then the blue will shift to a bright azure blue.  Guess what...it didn't work.  The selenium stripped all the blue back off the print (apart from a slight hint of purple in the shadows).  It seems only some blue toners work well for this.

  In the end i split toned in sepia and blue to get the above final image.  I really don't know if i like it or not.  But i guess each session in the darkroom is a lesson, sometimes a hard one.

How To: f-stop Print

  Some can find f-stop printing to be confusing but it really needn't be.  In fact, once you have got your head around the principles behind it it really makes sense.  I mean, we operate our cameras in terms of f-stops, so why don't we do the same when enlarging?  For many doing tests strips in seconds works for them and they are happy with that so fair enough.  I'm just going to present f-stop printing to you and let you make your own choice.

  So what is it?  Basically, instead of exposing test strips and dodging and burning in terms of seconds we do it in terms of f-stops.  This means that should we need to make a larger print at some point in the future we can just adjust the base exposure and maintain the f-stop values instead of having to recalculate each dodge/burn.  It's easier to explain with an f-stop printing chart:

(There is a downloadable spreadsheet version here).

  At first glance this may seem confusing but it is relatively simple to suss out.  Times are given in terms of 1 stop (dark grey), 1/3 of a stop (not quite as dark grey), 1/6 of a stop (light grey) and 1/12 of a stop (mid grey).

  So let's start at the beginning and say you're doing a test strip.  Instead of going from 1-30 seconds for example, using the f-stop chart you could go in steps of 1/3 of a stop so you would go 8.0, 10.1, 12.7, 16.0, 20.2, 25.4, and 32.0 seconds.  What are the advantages of this?  Well, each strip on your test strip will have exactly the same amount of light added to it at each strip (in this case 1/3 of a stop).  If you were to do a strip merely in seconds then you would not get this uniformity.  The f-stop method makes it much easier to pick out your base exposure.

  There are dedicated f-stop timers out there that automate the process for you but they are pricey.  My current timer allows me to input increments of time in 0.1 of a second from 0-9 seconds and the 1.0 seconds thereafter.  This means i have to do a bit of fiddling about to do a test strip but i find it's worth it.

  When it comes to dodging and burning the f-stop printing method is a life saver.  Let's say your base exposure is 18.0 seconds and you want to burn a sky in for 1 full stop extra.  Just look up 18.0 under the B (base exposure) column and move right to the +1 column which says 18.0.  That means to add an extra stop you need to expose for another 18.0 seconds.  +1/2 a stop would be +7.4 seconds and so on.

  This comes in handy when resizing a print.  To make a bigger print the enlarger head needs to be higher.  As the enlarger head is higher exposures will be longer.  So say were taking the same print and were going from 8 x 10 to 9.5 x 12 and our base exposure has gone from 18.0 seconds to 22.6 seconds.  instead of using formulae to try and figure out what our new dodging and burning times would be as we recorded them in terms of seconds, we know that our dodges and burns will stay the same in terms of f-stop.  So if we have a +1/3 of a stop burn at 18.0 seconds base exposure (+4.7 seconds) at our new base exposure of 22.6 seconds this becomes +5.9 seconds.  Follow all your recorded dodging and burning times and voila - the same print but bigger!

  It sounds complicated but re-read this article a few times and you'll get the hang of it.  It really is worthwhile to try out and it may well revolutionise your printing!

A Bank Holiday with Eddie

  Finally at last i got a decent session in my darkroom.  As many of you will know today is bank holiday Monday here in the UK.  Basically that means that everywhere is shut and everyone is out mowing their lawns and washing their cars.  Well they would be if it wasn't raining for a change.

  As Jess works at a hotel she doesn't have the day off so i dropped her off at 7 this morning and then headed straight into the shed to start printing.  Now, i recently shot a friends wedding on film and had a few frames left over which i went on to use on the coast at Lytham.  I decided to print one of the shots from that roll which i  really thought would let me get creative.  You see, i've been very inspired lately to give my printing skills a boost.  The book 'Creative Elements' by Eddie Ephraums is to blame entirely.  I saw it sitting on a shelf in a used bookstore and had a thumb through.  It looked interesting enough so i bought it and ever since i've been dying to have a good go at some negatives.  If you're into darkroom work i highly recommend you get this book.  In it Ephraums basically goes over ten or so of his shots and explains in detail how he got from camera setup to final print.  You know those shots you take and when you print them they just look dull and uninteresting?  Prepare to be inspired to dig them out again!  That's all i'm saying for now - if you want to know more then get the book!

  So, i decided to try and apply some of the things i had learnt from Ephraums' book to the negative i was planning on printing.  A straight print from the negative is just a bit...well...meh.  it's nothing special, very grey and flat.  Considerable dodging and burning was going to be required to get on paper what i saw in my head at the time of exposure.

  To start with i did a test strip (i should note that i have started using the f-stop printing method and i find it so much easier than dodging and burning by time - i'll be using this method from now on i think) and chose 18 seconds as the correct overall exposure time.  This gave me the tonality i wanted in the wood, which is the most important part of the picture.  The highlights were spot on where i wanted them but the shadows were weak, even though they had good detail.  I decided to step up from grade 2 to grade 3 to give the shadows a kick, even though it would mean a little loss of detail in the shadows.  I kept the exposure time the same and after processing the paper i was happy with the final result.

  Now came the fun of trying to realise the print i wanted.  I ended up using a lot of trial and error (and paper!) trying to get the sky how i wanted and getting the foreground nicely burned in etc.  You can see what i finally decided upon in my notes below:

  I spent ages working on the sky and couldn't get white clouds on darker sky until i realised that the sky was getting a hefty bit of exposure at grade 3 in the base exposure (sometimes it's just the obvious things that elude you for ages).  So, during the base exposure i dodged the sky for 1 stop (9 seconds) to ensure the clouds would be quite white ready for burning in later.  Next i focused on the foreground as i wanted it to be a lot darker, leading the eye towards the centre of the picture.  The right hand side got +1/3 of a stop (+4.7s) and the left hand side got +2/3 (2 exposures of 4.7s).  The very top of the sky then got +1/2 a stop (still at grade 3) to darken it slightly ready for building on later.  All edges were then given a +1/3 of a stop burn to darken them slightly and gently push the eye towards the centre of the frame.  I then switched to grade 0 to burn in the long white grass along the horizon and part of the foreground.  Had i merely extended the base exposure this would have affected the tonality of the wood which i wanted to maintain as it was.  Grade 0 would burn in a little highlight detail without affecting the shadows.  I decided that +1/3 of a stop would suffice to bring those highlights down.  Next i switched to grade 4 1/2 to burn in the sky and clouds.  I did several small passes up and down the sky with a piece of card during the +1/2 stop exposure.  This gave a gradational burn to the sky and enhanced cloud separation which is exactly what i wanted.  Finally i used a little bleach from a toning kit to paint over the sky just above the horizon.  It was very grey and kind of melted into the clouds above.  Lightly bleaching (with diluted bleach) separated this sky from the clouds above and the horizon line below.  It's easy to get carried away bleaching as i found out on a previous print - i had to go back and reprint it all.  Keep water nearby to wash the bleach off!

  After a good washing i bleached the whole print back in potassium ferricyanide/bromide 1:7 for 5:30 whereupon much of the highlight detail in the long grass had disappeared and some of the cloud highlights were starting to go.  I washed again and then sepia toned to completion.  After another wash i toned in selenium for 1:30 which gave the print a little kick.

  Finally after all that work i got this:

  And i'm really really happy with it.  It was so nice to focus in on one print and really work it.  Figuring out the dodges and burns required to get the print in your mind onto the paper beneath the enlarger.  Ephraum's book was invaluable in giving me the kick i needed to get creative.  I'm really looking forward to the prints to come.   have a few projects in mind and i am hoping to apply the new skills i've learnt to those too.

In Loving Memory Of...

  I very recently lost my Grandma.  Over the past few years she had been falling a lot (she still lived at home without help) and was in and out of hospital.  She went in again shortly before the Christmas holidays and things kept going wrong and unfortunately we lost her.  It's always a difficult time when you lose a loved one and i was especially close to my Grandma.  At 94 years of age she had many a story to tell!  She swore by a diet of cream cakes and whiskey and could pack away a carvery platter in ten minutes flat.

  We had the funeral on Monday and each family member decided to take a flower from the bouquets we had brought to remember her by.  I decided to set up a simple tabletop studio to photograph the flower so i could have something permanent to remember her by.

  I used close up filters on my Bronica SQ-A and shot on Kodak Tri-X 400 film.  The film got developed in Rodinal 1:50 for 16.5 minutes (most data says to develop for 13 minutes but i've always find my negatives come out a little to thin).  I decided to lith print them for a grainier/older look.  I used Fotospeed LD20 mixed 15ml A, 15ml B, 30ml old brown, 640ml water and printed onto some old Orwo BN118 paper.

  I printed the teacup one first and it took 26 minutes before i pulled the print, the second print (the flower in the pot) took almost an hour!  Good job i had my Ipod plugged into my dock in my darkroom!  From this we learn that the more low values there are in a print the quicker your developer will exhaust!  I think i may try these prints in second pass lith at some point too, i think the greys and pinks you get with this paper could work well.  For now though i'm really happy that i took these photos; it's a nice reminder of all the good times i've had with my Grandma and everything she meant to all of the family.

How To: Make a Black & White Print Part I - Getting the Gear

  Black and white printing is the logical next step from developing your own film.  Nothing (and i mean nothing) will ever compare to the feeling you get when an image starts to appear on the paper in your developer.  

  You actually need surprisingly little to get a basic darkroom setup.  I’m not going to deal with actually setting up your darkroom because there isn't much to say.  I did a post here about blacking out a room on a budget so let's assume you've done that in a spare room/bathroom/basement and you're ready to go.  What equipment do you need?

Enlarger

  Your main piece of equipment in your darkroom is going to be your enlarger.  Basically it is a column attached to a base board with a light source on top.  The light travels through the negative which is held in a negative carrier and is then projected onto the base where your paper will go.  You can get both black and white and colour enlargers so it is up to you which one you go for.  Obviously if you get a black and white enlarger you won’t be able to do colour prints in the future which you may be fine with.  Be aware though that you can use a colour enlarger to print black and white (which is what i personally use).  There are also two different light transmission methods in enlargers – condenser and diffusion.  There are positives and negatives to each and are much debated topics in the photographic world; but personally as long as light is transmitted evenly over my negative i don’t mind which i use.

  Colour enlargers tend to cost a little more but personally i feel its worth the investment.  EBay and Gumtree are the best sites to look for enlargers on as so many are switching to digital - you can pick up entire darkroom kits second hand for a ridiculously low price.  For example i got my enlarger (an LPL C7700), boxes of printing paper, a bag full of 35mm film and loads of trays/chemicals and processing tanks for a mere £75.  The paper alone was worth that!  Shop around and you’ll be able to find yourself a bargain.

  Some used enlargers will come with a timer which plugs into it and allows you so merely input a time to expose, press a button and the enlarger will turn on and shut off automatically when the time required has elapsed.  These are very handy and i strongly suggest getting one.

  You need to think about what size negatives you will be printing.  If you only use 35mm negatives and have no plans to go any bigger then a 35mm enlarger will do the trick.  I shoot medium format film and so i use an enlarger that will take up to 6 x 7 negatives.  When you buy an enlarger make sure it comes with a negative carrier – this is a little tray that sandwiches your negative in it and keeps it flat so that light transmits through it evenly.  

 
Of course once you have got your enlarger you will need an...

Enlarger Lens

  The lens you use in your enlarger will affect your final print.  Cheap lenses look cheap and just aren’t worth it.  It’s best to fork out a little extra and buy a good quality lens so that you can get a sharp print.  It is generally agreed that companies like Rodenstock and Schneider make the best quality enlarging lenses.  The general rule is that the more lens elements the lens has the better quality it is.  The focal length of lens you require will be affected by the size of negative you are printing.  The general rule of thumb is as follow:

Negative Size                    Focal Length

                                                        35mm                               50mm

                                                        6 x6                                  80mm

                                                        6 x 9                                 105mm

                                                        4 x 5                                 135/150mm

                                                                               

  When looking to buy your lens make sure that the thread will actually fit the lens board on your enlarger.  The last thing you want is to get your shiny new lens delivered and then discover that it won’t actually screw into your enlarger.  Of course, when buying a lens you will need to check that the glass isn’t scratched, mouldy or fogged and that the aperture ring steps down smoothly.  I got my Schneider 80mm lens for a mere £30 on EBay and it's been worth every penny.

Paper

  If you’re wanting to make prints then you’ll need some paper to print on.  There are many different companies making many different papers and it can get confusing trying to choose what to use.  Basically it boils down to two types – Resin Coated (RC) or Fibre Based (FB).  RC papers are like the photos you get back from Boots or those photo kiosks in chemists, quite plasticky and stiff.  FB papers are more like papyrus or watercolour paper.  There are advantages and disadvantages to both; RC papers are cheaper and quicker to process but (generally speaking) less receptive to toning.  FB papers tend to cost more, take longer to process but are easier to tone and (to my eye anyway) tend to give richer and deeper tones throughout the print.  Some may disagree with that statement but that’s just what i have found with my personal workflow.  There is much debate in the photographic world as to which is best between the two types.  Personally i keep a supply of both types in and then choose which one to use depending on what the negative i am printing is like and what the final result i am after is.

 

  Papers come in two other categories.  Graded or multigrade.  If you don’t know what paper grades are then allow me to explain.  If you develop your own film then you’ll know that changing exposure, filtration and development affects the contrast of your negative.  Well, contrast can also be altered at the printing stage.  I’ll cover this in more detail later on when we actually get into how to print but for now let me just say that papers come in different grades.  As you go from grade 00 to grade 5 the contrast of the print will increase.  Graded papers are set at one grade only whereas multigrade papers can print at a variety of grades on the one sheet.  Personally i prefer multigrade papers because it saves having every single grade available in your paper supply and it saves money.

  You can get papers in different sizes and obviously the bigger the paper the bigger the cost.  The smallest i print is 5 x7 inches and i go up to 16 x 20 inches (at the moment anyway).  Its good to have a variety of sizes in your supply but it’s your choice of course.

  Ilford make a wide range of photographic papers.  Multigrade IV RC is the standard resin coated paper of choice for many and it is a fine paper.  Kentmere VC Select is also another fine paper which i like to use (a bonus is it is slightly cheaper than Ilford). As for fibre papers i tend to pick up whatever i can find on EBay and the like.  I have some old Orwo paper and some Agfa which are both nice FB papers; but for paper that is still in production i tend to go for Ilford’s Multigrade IV FB.  The best thing to do is look at what is available from your darkroom retailer of choice and then look at reviews online before you buy.

Chemicals

  Obviously once your paper has been exposed to light you will need chemicals to process it.  You will need a developer first and there are loads, just like in film.  It comes down to preference and what you can get in your local area.  At the moment i use Ilford Multigrade developer because it’s quick, easy to use and readily available.  After developer comes the stop bath; again i use Ilford.  Lastly comes the fix; and yes – i use Ilford.  I’ll go into more detail later when we get into the process but for now it’s best to see what’s available to you in your area and use that.

Misc Equipment

  You’ll need a few other things.  Trays to put your chemicals in are necessary; it’s best to get one size bigger than the paper you will use.  So if you are printing on 8 x 10 inch paper then use a 9.5 x 12 inch tray – it’s just easier as you have a little more room to work with.  It’s handy to have tongs as well for lifting prints form tray to tray and keeping your hands chemical free.  If you’re not going to use tongs then i recommend wearing disposable gloves or washing-up gloves when handling chemicals.  

  If you are using a black and white enlarger then you will need a set of multigrade filters.  These are what you will use to change the contrast of your image if you are printing onto multigrade paper.  If you are using a colour head then you will have colour filters built into your enlarger which you can use instead of these.  

  You'll need a safelight if you don't want to work in complete darkness.  Most safelights are red and allow you to see as you go about working in the darkroom.  Make sure that your light is at least 1.5 metres away from any paper. 

  A stopwatch is handy for keeping track of your exposure and chemical processing times.  I just use an old wristwatch that has a stopwatch function on it.  If you use an old watch make sure that it doesn’t light up when you use it or you’ll expose your paper to unwanted light.  The only light you want touching your paper is the light coming through the enlarger.

  A focus finder is an extremely handy tool for getting your print as focused as possible.  It's basically a mirror which allows you to look up the light coming from the reflector and focus on the grain of the negative, thereby ensuring your print is as focused as possible.

  One more thing that is incredibly useful is an easel/mask.  This is a rectangular frame of metal with two or four adjustable blades on each side attached to rulers.  these allow you to mask off your paper and leave a white border on your print.  Most importantly it will keep your paper flat.  You will need to buy one to match the maximum size of paper you will be using.

  The last thing that comes in quite handy is something to dry your prints with.  You can get dedicated racks that you stand your print in to drain or you can buy one of those hangers with clothes pegs attached that you use to dry your washing on - either works just fine!  I'm not really a fan of print dryers that blast the print with hot air, i don't mind waiting an hour or two for a print to dry naturally.

  And that's about everything you will need.  Sometime in the next week or so i will post a tutorial on how to actually go about the process of printing; but until then happy shooting.