The Caretaker (Banff Castle, Scotland)
One of my favourite portraits is from around 1990, taken on a 35mm film camera with a 135mm lens. The original image was printed in my home darkroom on Agfa paper, either Portriga Rapid or Record Rapid; I cannot remember which and finished in a bath of selenium toner.
MY JOURNEY TO THE HOME DARKROOM.
One Saturday in 1979, I visited Cecil Hughson's photo hardware shop in Lerwick, the main town in the Shetland Islands, where I was working at the time; I emerged with a complete Paterson 'home' darkroom kit (chemicals and paper excluded) comprising:
- Paterson Universal 35mm Enlarger with 50mm lens
- Paterson Adjustable Printing Easel
- Universal Developing Tank and Spiral
- Set of three 8 x 10 trays
- Paterson safe light
- 3 measuring cylinders
- Chemical Mixer
- Thermometer
- Print tongues
- Pair of film clips
- Paterson Film Squeegee
- Paterson Micro Focus Finder
In those days, my 'darkroom' was the kitchen I shared with my flatmate Fraser on Thorfinn Street. What follows here is a journey down memory lane into a world largely (but not entirely) gone from view, where the terms used will resonate with a few and mean nothing to the many.
I had entered into the mysterious world of the darkroom - I had developed my first black & white film - I had experienced the wonder of seeing (by the dim red glow of the safe light) my first image magically appear from a blank sheet of printing paper submerged in developing fluid. The learning curve had begun, and through time and much trial and error, I gradually honed my skills in printing from B&W negatives. In succeeding years, I upgraded to a Durst enlarger, which allowed for medium-format and 35mm negative carriers. Also, a Gene Nocon f-stop timer linked to the enlarger facilitated a more advanced timing method for burning and dodging techniques than simply counting one elephant, two elephants, three elephants, etc. Other names entered my darkroom vocabulary:
FILM such as - Ilford FP4, Ilford HP5 and Ilford Pan and equivalent rated Agfapan films.
PAPER such as - Ilford Multigrade Resin Coated; also evocatively named Fibre-Based papers from Agfa like Portriga Rapid and Record Rapid.
CHEMISTRY, such as film developers - Agfa Rodinal and Ilford ID-11; Agfa paper developers Neutol NE / WA and Ilford Multigrade; followed sequentially by Ilford Ilfostop and Ilford Hypam Fixer.
TONERS such as Sepia and Selenium, the latter being my favourite.
My bible in those days was a book called 'CREATIVE ELEMENTS: Landscape Photography—Darkroom Techniques' by Eddie Ephraums; I still have his signed copy. My darkroom supplies came from a firm called 'Silverprint'. ***
Sadly, after 25 years, my association with 'the B&W darkroom' ended abruptly with selling my film cameras in 2004 and purchasing my first digital camera, a Kodak DCS-14n. Digital appeared to be the future, so I gave away my darkroom paraphernalia to a local school, but out of sentiment, I kept the original developing trays from 1979. The link was broken, but even today, I can recall the distinctive smell of those darkroom chemicals and, perhaps more importantly, the sense of fulfilment I felt upon creating the finished print.
Today, my journey continues via a different route, namely, Lightroom, Photoshop, and an Epson printer.
*** Regretfully, Silverprint are no longer in business; as I understand they went into Administration in 2023.
The Caretaker (Banff Castle, Scotland)
One of my favourite portraits is from around 1990, taken on a 35mm film camera with a 135mm lens. The original image was printed in my home darkroom on Agfa paper, either Portriga Rapid or Record Rapid; I cannot remember which and finished in a bath of selenium toner.
MY JOURNEY TO THE HOME DARKROOM.
One Saturday in 1979, I visited Cecil Hughson's photo hardware shop in Lerwick, the main town in the Shetland Islands, where I was working at the time; I emerged with a complete Paterson 'home' darkroom kit (chemicals and paper excluded) comprising:
- Paterson Universal 35mm Enlarger with 50mm lens
- Paterson Adjustable Printing Easel
- Universal Developing Tank and Spiral
- Set of three 8 x 10 trays
- Paterson safe light
- 3 measuring cylinders
- Chemical Mixer
- Thermometer
- Print tongues
- Pair of film clips
- Paterson Film Squeegee
- Paterson Micro Focus Finder
In those days, my 'darkroom' was the kitchen I shared with my flatmate Fraser on Thorfinn Street. What follows here is a journey down memory lane into a world largely (but not entirely) gone from view, where the terms used will resonate with a few and mean nothing to the many.
I had entered into the mysterious world of the darkroom - I had developed my first black & white film - I had experienced the wonder of seeing (by the dim red glow of the safe light) my first image magically appear from a blank sheet of printing paper submerged in developing fluid. The learning curve had begun, and through time and much trial and error, I gradually honed my skills in printing from B&W negatives. In succeeding years, I upgraded to a Durst enlarger, which allowed for medium-format and 35mm negative carriers. Also, a Gene Nocon f-stop timer linked to the enlarger facilitated a more advanced timing method for burning and dodging techniques than simply counting one elephant, two elephants, three elephants, etc. Other names entered my darkroom vocabulary:
FILM such as - Ilford FP4, Ilford HP5 and Ilford Pan and equivalent rated Agfapan films.
PAPER such as - Ilford Multigrade Resin Coated; also evocatively named Fibre-Based papers from Agfa like Portriga Rapid and Record Rapid.
CHEMISTRY, such as film developers - Agfa Rodinal and Ilford ID-11; Agfa paper developers Neutol NE / WA and Ilford Multigrade; followed sequentially by Ilford Ilfostop and Ilford Hypam Fixer.
TONERS such as Sepia and Selenium, the latter being my favourite.
My bible in those days was a book called 'CREATIVE ELEMENTS: Landscape Photography—Darkroom Techniques' by Eddie Ephraums; I still have his signed copy. My darkroom supplies came from a firm called 'Silverprint'. ***
Sadly, after 25 years, my association with 'the B&W darkroom' ended abruptly with selling my film cameras in 2004 and purchasing my first digital camera, a Kodak DCS-14n. Digital appeared to be the future, so I gave away my darkroom paraphernalia to a local school, but out of sentiment, I kept the original developing trays from 1979. The link was broken, but even today, I can recall the distinctive smell of those darkroom chemicals and, perhaps more importantly, the sense of fulfilment I felt upon creating the finished print.
Today, my journey continues via a different route, namely, Lightroom, Photoshop, and an Epson printer.
*** Regretfully, Silverprint are no longer in business; as I understand they went into Administration in 2023.