How to Make a Black & White Darkroom

In this age of digital photography, the art of darkroom developing and printing is quickly fading. Yet many photographers think that printed photography produces a better-quality image than digital photography, and hold fast to the art.If you have a desire to learn the art of developing, black-and-white film is the easiest to develop and print in your home darkroom. Once you’ve mastered the art of black-and-white developing, you can try branching out into color. Setting up a black-and-white darkroom in your home is not difficult. All you need to get started is the right space and equipment.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Dark room with plumbing and ventilation
• Enlarger
• Darkroom chemicals
• Film-processing reels
• Processing tanks
• Chemical trays
• Tongs
• Thermometer
• Duct tape
• Wood
• Aluminum foil

1. Choose an area to set up your darkroom. A basement or spare bathroom is a good choice. The space will have to be completely light-proof, so it’s best to use a room that has no windows. Darkroom chemicals are quite strong, and you will need to have a ventilation system. This is another reason why using a spare bathroom is wise: Most bathrooms already have an exhaust fan. You’ll also have to have access to a sink.

2. Once you've chosen a room, work on light-proofing it. Use duct tape, weatherproofing tape and wood to block off any cracks around the door and window (if there is one in the room). Taping thick aluminum foil over window panes can help stop light from coming through a window. Once you've completed blocked the light out of the room, close the door, turn out the lights and wait for your eyes to adjust. Check for any light that many be leaking into the room. Patch up these spots. It's extremely important that the room be completely dark. Film and photo paper are very sensitive to light. Even the smallest amount of light leaking into the room could ruin your negatives and prints.

3. You need to create some sort of counter space to put your trays on. You can build a counter that fits into the space you’re using, or you can try to buy one. If you’re using a spare bathroom, you might want to build a counter that goes across the back of the toilet somehow. It’s generally best to put the enlarger on a separate table from the chemicals, but if you have a very small space like a bathroom, you’ll have to make do. Putting the chemical trays and the enlarger on the same surface should be fine. Just make sure the counter is sturdy.

4. Buy the proper darkroom equipment. You’ll need trays for the chemicals, an enlarger, a darkroom safelight (a special brownish light that doesn’t expose paper), a timer, reels and tanks for processing film, thermometer, a paper safe (a completely dark box to put unexposed photography paper in), tongs and chemicals—developer, fixer, stop bath, etc. These items can cost a small fortune, so shop around for the best deals.

5. Put up a line of twine on which you can hang prints to dry. If you’re using a spare bathroom, you can put this drying line over the bathtub so the prints don’t drip on the floor.

6. Learn everything you can about processing and printing film. As you pick up tips from books, websites, DVDs and classes, you can try them out in your very own darkroom.

Resources

• Black and White Darkroom Introduction