1/ SAFETY

Photography chemicals are all toxic, but if you use the safety & cautionary measures then it is relatively safe.� Photography chemicals are toxic if ingested and potentially harmful if they come in contact with your skin – you should not be dipping your hands into your print trays or in any way touching the solutions – some of these will be absorbed into your skin and may cause skin allergies or health problems later in life. If you do get chemicals on your hands or on your clothes, it�s not a big deal, but avoid doing it all the time. Also, be careful when walking around in the darkroom and clean up spills as they happen.

Use tongs to transfer prints from one tray to another

Turn on the ventilator because you don� t want to be in a room full of toxic air

Wear a mask when mixing chemicals

Wear latex gloves especially when processing film

No Food allowed having toxic chemicals and food near each other is not a good idea, plus you probably don�t want food spilling on your negatives or prints.

2/ CLEANUP

When you�re done working in the darkroom for the day, always thoroughly rinse your print trays, tongs, beakers, etc, with clean running water. Scrub the trays with a sponge. If the chemicals are not cleaned off, they will bond with the trays and make pretty gross trays over time.

All the chemicals need to be poured back into their containers � they will not last very long if left in their trays. Developer has a life of only 24 hours if left out, because it interacts with the oxygen in the air and becomes useless.

If there are chemicals on the floor, they need to be mopped up. The chemicals leave stains and white streaks if left to dry on the floor, counters, (or your clothes).

3/ HOW PHOTOGRAPHY CHEMICALS WORK

Photography uses three basic chemicals in the processing of light sensitive materials. The first chemical is called developer. The developer detects changes in the silver salt in the emulsion of the film or paper and turns those that have been struck by light into metallic silver.

The second chemical is stop bath and I is used to stop the developer from working any longer. This acid usually has a colored indicator dye placed in it that is yellow when the acid is strong and useful, and purple when exhausted and no good.� Many labs also use just plain water for this step, instead of stop bath.

The final chemical is fixer. It fixes the film or paper so that it is no longer sensitive to light.� It will dissolve the unexposed silver salt from the light sensitive emulsion while leaving the metallic silver in tact.� Fixer will, however, bleach the metalic silver if left in contact for a long enough period of time.

To check if the fixer has been used up, squeeze three drops of the Hypo Check into the fixer. It if turns cloudy, it is no longer good and a new batch needs to be mixed.

Finally, the wash removes the dissolved unexposed silver salt as well as all the fixer residue.

NEVER put a tong or hand that has been in fixer back into the developer because the fixer will neutralize the developer.

4/PROCESSING FILM

For processing Times � refer to the chart in the bathroom

Supplies needed: tank, reels, scissors, bottle opener, containers to hold the chemicals, film developer, stop, fixer, thermometer, clock or timer, and dark bag,

1 – Gather together your rolls of film, an equal amount of reels (either 1, 2, or 3 at a time), a bottle opener, a small pair of scissors, and the developing tank (either the 2-roll or 3-roll). Put all these things inside a dark bag and seal it.

2 – Put your hands inside the dark bag and use a bottler opener to pop the top off a roll of film. You should now be able to peel the plastic covering off. Cut the slanted edge off the film so the edge is square, and roll it onto the reel. Once you reach the end, you�ll have to use the scissors again to cut it off from the film cartridge. Repeat with all your film, put your reels into the tank, and secure the top. The tank is now light-tight.

3 – In a graduate, pour the required amount of developer. Stabilize the developer at 68� F (20� C) by placing the graduate in a tray of warm or cool water until the temperature has stabilized. The water level in the tray should be at least equal to the level of solution in the graduate. Pour the required amount into the developing tank.

4 – Tap the tank against a counter to remove any air bubbles. After 30 seconds, agitate the tank by repeatedly turning it upside down and right side up. Do this for about 5 seconds at 30-second intervals. At the end of the recommended developer time, pour the solution back into the developer jar.

5 – Pour the stop bath solution (stabilized at 65 to 75� F/18 – 24� C) through the opening in the top. Do not open the tank. Agitate gently for about 30 seconds, then pour the liquid back into its original jar. Note: It’s a good idea to rinse your graduate after each of the processing steps, or use different graduates for develop, stop, and fixer, consistently.

6 – Add the fixer solution (stabilized at 65 to 75� F/18 to 24� C) and agitate for about 5 seconds at 30-second intervals. At the end of the fixing time (5 to 10 minutes with KODAK Fixer) pour the solution into its jar.

7 – Remove the tank cover, place the tank under a moderate stream of 65 to 75� F (18 to 24� C) water, and let the film wash for about a half hour. To shorten washing time, rinse the film in KODAK Hypo Clearing Agent. First wash the film for 30 seconds. Next submerge it in a Hypo Clearing Agent solution for 1 to 2 minutes, with moderate agitation. Then you need only wash for 5 minutes.

8 – Hang up the film with a film clip or clothespin at each end (if you don�t put one at the end, the film will curl up as it dries). Dampen a viscose sponge, wring it out, and then gently run it along both sides of the film to remove large droplets of water. Let the film dry. Don’t forget to rinse out all parts of your film tank.

5/PRINTING

Processing Times

Developer�� � � � 1 � 1.5 minutes (more time = more contrast)
Stop bath �� ��� �30 seconds
Fixer�� ��� � � � �� 3 – 5 minutes
Wash�� ��� ������� 5 – 10 minutes in running water
Wetting agent���30 seconds

Test Strips

A test strip will help you find the best exposure time for your photos or contact sheet.� To save paper, it�s better to use half or a quarter sheet of paper for the test. Use a piece of cardboard (or any other hard dense material) to block the light and expose sections of your paper to the light in increments (of 1, 3 or 5 seconds). After you process your test strip, you should end up with an image in graduating shades of grey.

Contact Sheets

A contact sheet is a positive image of your negatives at the same scale. Making a contact sheet will give you a good idea of what your roll of photos look like, so you can select the ones you want to enlarge. Because of this, it�s especially important that you find a good exposure for your contact sheet, otherwise it will be hard to tell which pictures are worth printing and which ones aren�t.

1. Place your negatives (that are still inside your negative sleeve) with the emulsion side down, over a half or quarter sheet of paper (10� in length, emulsion side up).

2. To flatten your negatives against the paper, use a sheet of glass.

3. Expose the paper as a test strip and develop as normal.

4. Repeat with a full sheet of paper using the best exposure time for your contact sheet.

Final Prints

1. Use your contact sheet to figure out which photos you�d like to print.

2. Take the negative you want to print and place it in the negative holder in the enlarger upside-down and face-up.

3. Open up the aperture all the way, and use the focusing and enlarging knobs to find the right focus and size that you want to print at.

4. Move the sliders on the easel so it frames the image (make sure it�s not larger than the paper you want to print on).

5. Close down the aperture halfway and make a test strip.

6. Once you find a good exposure time, try making a full print.

Note down the exposure time and aperture on the back of each print. Trust me, this will be useful in helping you make better prints and keep track of your combination exposure time & aperture.

There are many other things you can do when printing your photos � this is the absolute basic way of printing a photo. You can use filters to increase or decrease the contrast, dodge and burn to highlight or darken parts of your photograph, tone your images sepia or other colours, use spotting to fix dust and scratches on your final print… and so on.

REMEMBER: you always print emulsion-to-emulsion. Meaning, the emulsion from the negative and the paper should be face-to-face. The emulsion side of your photo paper will be glossier than the back side, and a little sticky. The emulsion side of your negative is the back of the negative.

6/ additional SOURCES

The Black and White Darkroom – http://www3.telus.net/drkrm/index.html

Teaching Basic Darkroom Techniques -

http://www.kodak.com/global/en/consumer/education/lessonPlans/darkroom/intro.shtml

Darkroom Source – http://www.darkroomsource.net