Night Photography
(And Black and White Photography)
By Ellie Race
Darkroom Photography
What is a darkroom?
A darkroom is a specialized light free environment designed for artists who work in the medium of photography. In order to develop film and prints, artists need to work in darkness to avoid exposing the light sensitive emulsions which cover photographic paper and film before they are developed. A darkroom can vary widely in size and design, depending on the type of materials being worked with in the darkroom and the number of artists sharing it. Often, artists work together in the same darkroom to share the costs of photography. Typically, a darkroom is reached through a series of doors and curtains to prevent any kind of light pollution. This is very important in a shared darkroom, where different people may be performing different tasks with varying levels of light sensitivity. Switches to operate overhead lights in a darkroom are usually made difficult to access, so that someone does not accidentally turn them on.
A very basic darkroom usually has an enlarger for making prints, along with an assortment ofdeveloping chemicals in separate tubs. To develop prints, the artist exposes photo-sensitiveenlarging paper to light through an enlarger, and then dunks the photograph in a series of developing chemicals to bring out the latent image, stop the action of the developing bath, fix the photograph, and rinse the developing chemicals off. Once this process is completed in the darkroom, the paper is safe to expose to light, and it can be dried and used.
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The Three Different Baths
Fixer
Stop Bath
Developer
How to use a darkroom?
(Proof Sheet)
Making a proof sheet -- If you've processed your own film, you have already prepared the stop bath and fixer. Mix the developer according to the instructions. Be sure to label jars as DEKTOL Developer, Stop Bath (or Stop), and Fixer. Make up a working solution by diluting your prepared developer with water as recommended on the package. Pour it into a jar labeled DEKTOL Developer and start with step 2.
Step 2 -- Stabilize the developer at 68° F (20° C) by pouring about 32 oz (946 mL) into your graduate and placing it into a tray of cool or warm water. Next pour it into a tray labeled Developer to a depth of about 1/2 inch.
Step 3 -- Stabilize the stop bath at 65° to 75° F (18° to 24° C) and pour about 1/2 inch into a tray labeled Stop Bath or Stop.
Step 4 -- Stabilize the fixer at 65° to 75° F (18° to 24° C) and pour about 1/2 inch into a tray labeled Fixer. Note: It's a good idea to rinse your graduate after steps 2, 3 and 4.
Step 5 -- Arrange your trays in front of you so that, from left to right, you have developer, stop bath, and fixer. Then rinse your hands well and dry them thoroughly. Turn off all lights except for the safelight. The safelight should be placed at least 4 feet from your working area.
Step 6 -- Open the package of paper, remove one sheet, and close the package again so that light can't get in. Place your negatives so that their dull side faces the emulsion (usually shiny) side of the paper. The negatives should be near the light source. Cover with glass.
Step 7 -- If you're using a printing frame and a 7-watt bulb to make your proof sheet, hang the bare bulb 2 feet above the frame and turn it on for about 10 seconds. You may have to experiment a bit (see step 12) to get the correct exposure time for your negatives.
Step 8 -- If you're using an enlarger, place the empty negative carrier in the enlarger, and set the lens at f/11. Adjust the enlarger so that the light covers an area just a bit larger than your paper. Expose for about 8 seconds. Again, you may have to experiment to get the correct exposure time.
Step 9 -- Remove the paper from your printing device with your left hand (don't get the right one wet with developer) and slide the paper, emulsion side up, into the developer (left-hand tray). Rock the tray gently for 1 minute by tipping up first one end, then the other.
Step 10 -- Take the paper out of the developer with your left hand, and after letting it drain for a second or two, slide it into the stop bath solution (center tray). Agitate the tray for 5 seconds in the same manner you did in step 9.
Step 11 -- With your right hand, withdraw the paper from the stop bath and slip it into the fixer. Agitate frequently for 2 minutes, and keep it separated from any other prints in the tray. After the print has been in the fixer for 25-30 seconds, you can turn on the room lights.
Step 12 -- Examine your proof sheet and if most of the pictures seem too light, try again with double the exposure time you used at first. If most of the pictures seem too dark, use half the exposure time. It's a good idea to keep notes on your exposure times and the results. You'll soon be able to come up with a good average exposure time to use.
Step 13 -- Using your fourth tray, wash the print for only 4 minutes at 64° to 75° F (18° to 24° C). The KODAK Automatic Tray Siphon provides continuous agitation.
Step 14 -- Sponge or squeegee the surface water from both sides of the print and place it onto a flat surface to dry at room temperature.
Where did it come from?
Before photography was created, people already knew the principles of how it eventually got to work. They could process the image on the wall or piece of paper, however no printing was possible at the time as preserving light turned out to be a lot harder task than projecting it. The instrument that people used for processing pictures was called the Camera Obscura (which is Latin for the Dark Room) and it was around for a few centuries before photography came along.
It is believed that Camera Obscura was invented around 13-14th centuries, however there is a manuscript by an Arabian scholar Hassan ibn Hassan dated 10th century that describes the principles on which camera obscura works and on which analogue photography is based today.
To the left is a picture of camera obscura in action the way it was used back then.
Even though only few of the Renaissance artists admitted they used camera obscura as an aid in drawing, it is believed most of them did. The reason for not openly admitting it was the fear of being charged of association with occultism or simply not wanting to admit something many artists called cheating.
Today we can state that camera obscura was a prototype of the modern photo camera. Even though it seems useless today, many people still find it amusing and use it for artistic reasons or simply for fun. Installing film and permanently capturing an image was a logical progression.
Some Famous Darkroom Photographers
Ansel Adams
Ansel Adams was born Feuary 20th 1902 and died April 22 1984. One of the things that he was most famous for in regards to his photography was his work in dark rooms. The effect of the black and white in his photographs where amazing. Ansel Adams is well known for being an environmentalist and it often showed through his work. Ansel Adams has mainly taken photographs of landscapes and it inspired me to goon to create my photographs in black and white form. He once said that the reason he enjoyed photographing in black and white form was that because of the lack of colour no distraction was taken away from the overall and true quality of the photo. A lot of Ansel Adams work is still life and he offers a fresh perspective on simple yet utterly beautiful pieces of nature that others see take granted. The lack of colour only builds on the quality and creates a unique and stunning image.
Alfred Stieglitz
Even though the invention of the photography led to new scientific achievements and development of the industrial world, photography also became a part of day-to-day life and an art movement. One of the people behind photography as art was Alfred Stieglitz, an American photographer and a promoter for modern art. Many believe it is Stieglitz who made photography as art what it is today.Stieglitz outside photography is widely known for his passion for avant-garde. Alfred owned several New York art galleries and introduced many of the European avant-garde artists to the U.S. public. His work with the photography was revolutionary for how he portrayed still life and what he brought into photo portraits.
But most importantly was that Stieglizt pointed out that photographers are artists themselves. He, along with F. Holland Day, led the Photo-Secession, the first photography art movement whose primary task was to show that photography was not only about the subject of the picture but also the manipulation by the photographer that led to the subject being portrayed.
