[Noisebridge-discuss] Dark Room/Photography

[Mark Cohen]

Hi John, 

My name is Mark.. I've not used that darkroom yet.. But I do have some suggestions..

1. If you don't know the contents of the bottle and it's not labeled properly, you shouldn't use it. You are always better off getting your own chemicals and mixing them yourself (then label the bottle :) )
2. Depending on what your negs looked like, it is fairly easy to discern what happened. For example, was the edge of the film clear or black, could you see the text on the edge? This often indicates over exposure due to light leaks.
3. If you have clearly defined frames, i.e. clear neg around black boxes, that would indicate severe overexposure, if your edges are bleeding, or if your film is very grainy, that would indicate over development.

I've been meaning to take the 35mm camera out and do some shooting this week or weekend.. If you ping me off list, I wouldn't mind going out and doing a little "class" with you on the process. 

You just need to supply the camera/film/chemicals (dev/stop/fix)

I don't have any practice film, but you can get PX or Tri-X fairly cheaply these days.

Mark

On Jan 27, 2011, at 5:11 PM, John Capogna wrote:

> Hello, All,
> 
> My name is John. I tried developing some photos in the darkroom today. Too bad they didn't come out. It looks like they were "overcooked". I think it's because as I was developing, I noticed that the bottle contained the developer in concentrate form. Whoops. I just dumped that stuff in there pure. I'm not sure if I was supposed to dilute it (the little paper on the wall to the right of the sink says to use in stock form for 9 minutes). Also, I kept the safe lights on through much of the process, figuring the tank was light proof once closed (without the small cap on). The only time I left the lights completely off was when I was loading the film onto the reel. Also, its possible that the camera didn't take the pictures properly.
> 
> There are just so many variables, I don't know which it was that was wrong. I'd like to try again, but I'm out of "practice film". Anyone got any practice film and/or suggestions on what do do better next time?
> 
> Thanks.
> 
> - John
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