Photoshopping from the Darkroom

[hevans]

An interesting video about how post processing was done in the darkroom.

I remember clearly how magical it was watching the image appear in the developer...but I don't miss trying to keep the dust down.

http://youtu.be/_2mQsUIc97E

I'm sure Abers can provide some interesting comments on the techniques.

H.

(of course there's something to be said for getting it as right as possible in camera, rather than post processing).

[jinky]

Very little compares to that first shot you print yourself. I remember it being magical to see the image gradually appear in the dish and that first stint in the dark room developing images from my first 35 mm camera , a plastic Zenith from Boots, that really got me into photography. Used to love printing up contact sheets.

[spikeyjen]

and I can remember the smell, being cooped up for frustrating hours, the failures, the cost... give me a digital any day. Yes there is a magic moment when you see the images appear, I agree, but I guess it's like any other fine art. I was just interested in too many other things to dedicate that many hours in a dark room.

[ABERS]

I'm sure Abers can provide some interesting comments on the techniques.

The old chap seems to have got the hang of it.   

I don't know if I missed it but he didn't seem to make a step exposure before beginning. One tip I would pass on to him, use a blob of Blutac instead of a piece of card for dodging, you can quickly add or subtract to firstly the size of the dodger and quite easily alter the shape of it to suit.

A silver print has a quality that no digital print can match, there's a lustre and depth of tone that no paper manufacturer has yet been able to match.

[hssutton]

I'm sure Abers can provide some interesting comments on the techniques.

The old chap seems to have got the hang of it.   

I don't know if I missed it but he didn't seem to make a step exposure before beginning. One tip I would pass on to him, use a blob of Blutac instead of a piece of card for dodging, you can quickly add or subtract to firstly the size of the dodger and quite easily alter the shape of it to suit.

A silver print has a quality that no digital print can match, there's a lustre and depth of tone that no paper manufacturer has yet been able to match.

Much the same as what I did in the darkroom, for dodging I made up several different size 'dodgers'.
I'm not sure bluetack was available back in the 1960s-80s so what I used was pieces of wire with different sized loops at the end and these were covered with pieces of nylon stocking. I do like the idea though of his card mask for the sky. I also agree regarding the magical appearence of the first ever print, overshadowed only once on my first ever clour print using the Pavelle Color process. I mentioned this in a previous post. A relative had passed on colour photos and negatives of our wedding. A first colour print is even more magical to see. I shouted to my new wife, who is now my old wife, to come into the darkroom to see this colour print which was in the wash basin with the tap running, as she arrived in my darkroom (bathroom) the image slipped of the paper and she just in time to see the emulsion sliding off the paper and down the drain.

Harry

[Graham]

 Yep. Been there, done that etc.
I did enjoy my time in the darkroom but I don't miss the frustration and cost.

[ABERS]

I'm not sure bluetack was available back in the 1960s-80s..

Before Blutack came along plasticene was the order of the day!

My colour processing attempts were based around Cibachrome. I was fascinated by the crispness and colour saturation one could get. I got some second hand equipment, I think it was made by Paterson, comprising a thermostatically controlled water bath which kept a semi-submerged rolling drum at a constant temperature. After many attempts I just gave up, never producing a colour print of any quality. That's when I decided that monochrome was the only true way, for me anyway!

[Graham]

I'm not sure bluetack was available back in the 1960s-80s..

Before Blutack came along plasticene was the order of the day!

My colour processing attempts were based around Cibachrome. I was fascinated by the crispness and colour saturation one could get. I got some second hand equipment, I think it was made by Paterson, comprising a thermostatically controlled water bath which kept a semi-submerged rolling drum at a constant temperature. After many attempts I just gave up, never producing a colour print of any quality. That's when I decided that monochrome was the only true way, for me anyway!

  Yes, colour printing never appealed.I couldn't see the point.