Howto | Darkroomist

Kayaking and Film Photography

What happens when you want to take film photos in places that are bad for cameras? In my example my wife and I went kayaking in a cove on Drummond Island, Michigan and I wanted to take some film shots. In this scenario there’s a LOT that can go wrong and ruin a camera. Ever try to keep your balance while taking a photo in a kayak? It’s not that easy. Water can get in the kayak, you can flip over, there’s lots of camera-terminal contingencies one can imagine.

My solution, read more

When should you shoot film?

If you’re a film shooter chances are extremely high you’re also a digital shooter. Heck, with a camera in every cell phone it’d be difficult not to be. As one goes clicking about in their normal, everyday, life suddenly film photography can take on an increased value. After all it does cost money to shoot film! This extra consideration if unchecked can lead to a paralysis in film shooting. The FPP calls read more

Developing Your Own Film – KISS

Mark F. O’Brien, Guest Blogger

KISS- Keep It Simple, Stupid. A piece of advice that was often used by engineers. I first learned how to develop my own b&w film in the early 1970s, as I was in an informal photo class in my high school. My first self-developed film was Kodak Plus-X from my Instamatic camera, and yes, i still have those negatives. It would be another 25 years before I was developing my own film again, and that first whiff of fixer brought it all back to me. Enthused read more

When NOT to fill the frame (for film photographers).

When I first wanted to take good pictures I was researching how to make the most of your travel photography for my upcoming honeymoon in Italy. One of the first pieces of advice I read was to “fill the frame!” This was echoed over several articles and it seemed important enough that it really stuck with me even to this day.

For some photographers the frame is sacred. I know film photographers that only print the full frame. That’s cool and I like (and admittedly at times read more

Darkroom DIY Panoramic Negative Carrier

I first ran into this problem when I was shooting with the 35mm pano back on my Bronica SQa. I figured it’s the same length as a 6×6 fame, just a different height. I found extremely difficult to print 35mm panoramic (24mmx55mm) negatives in a 6×6 negative carrier. The reason why is coming up in a second. The solution was to get a panoramic negative carrier for my Beseler 23C.

Fast forward a few years and I make the exact same assumption and mistake when I got a Holga 120Pan Which read more

How to use a print scale.

A print scale, sometimes also called a step wedge, is a darkroom tool that can make your workflow more consistent and efficient. A step wedge is functionally similar to a print scale but has a slightly different purpose.

Normally to determine the proper exposure of a print you make a test print. This is done after you frame, focus, stop down the enlarger lens, and turn off the not-safe lights. You’d then get a piece of light sensitive paper and a board. You’d set the timer for 1 read more

How to keep your negatives organized.

I was talking with a fellow film photographer one time and the subject of maintaining a growing base of work in terms of negatives came up. I told him what I do and he said “Wow, you’re really organized! I should do that.” I thought this was a little odd because most people wouldn’t describe me as organized. I decided years ago, sifting through boxes of prints from labs for that one frame I wanted to print that there had to be a better way. I developed a system of archiving read more