Things You'll Need:
- Dark room
- Bottles
- Developing Chemicals
- Film Squeegee
- Film Development Tank with Spool and Reel
- Measuring Cup
- Can Opener
- Black and white negatives
- Photo enlarger
- Photo trays
- Photo chemicals
- Tongs
- Photo paper
- Drying closet
- Clothes pins
- Rubber gloves
- Safety glasses
- Mask
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Step 1
Open the black and white film container inside of a dark room or one of the new dark bags that have been made specifically for amateur photographers without dark room access. After the film has been removed, roll it onto a film processing reel being careful to line up the teeth of the reel with the slits on either side of the film. If this isn't lined up properly, the film will not likely go onto the reel appropriately which could affect how the film processes.
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Step 2
Line up the loaded film reel with the center of the development tank so that it slides into the tank properly. Put the lid onto the tank to prepare for film processing. Once the film is safely inside the tank you can remove the dark bag or move out of the dark room.
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Step 3
Prepare the film processing chemicals. These include film developer, stop bath, clearing liquid, and film fixer. If these are not already pre-mixed, then prepare them to the specifications provided with each individual chemical.
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Step 4
Fill the tank with film developer. .
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Step 5
Agitate the tank. This step is imperative in order to assure that the development chemical makes its way onto every part of the film's surface. Depending upon the type of film being used and the brand of the chemicals used, the time for this step may vary slightly. Use the guidelines provided with the processing chemical. Be cautious not to over develop the film which can be as damaging as not developing it enough. Repeat the same steps with the stop bath, clearing liquid, and film fixer.
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Step 6
Rinse the film thoroughly with water.
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Step 7
Remove the film reel from the processing tank. Unroll the film from the reel and wash it again in clean water to make certain that all chemicals have been washed off of the film.
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Step 8
Hang the film somewhere where it can drip dry. It must be totally dry before using it to develop photographs.
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Step 9
Divide the film into small strips to prepare it for use in developing black and white photographs.
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Step 1
Set up the dark room. If there is no dark room in the house, make one in a closet or small bathroom by using black trash bags to block out any light caused by windows and/or doors. Tape or otherwise secure the bags into place for the duration of photo development. The only source of light should be a photographic light bulb.
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Step 2
Set up the darkroom chemicals in photo trays large enough to hold the intended print size. There should be four trays: One for the developer; one for the stop bath; one for the fixer; and one water tray. A sink can be used for the fourth tray if it is large enough to hold the planned prints and water.
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Step 3
Put the negatives into the negative holder. Line the holder up within the window of the photo enlarger. Adjust the enlarger up and down to line up the photo as desired for print. This is the step where the photo can be cropped to eliminate any parts of the negative that are not desired and/or to blow up a certain piece of the negative. Also adjust the processor to obtain the sharpness of quality.
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Step 4
Decide on the exposure time for the photograph. This will depend upon the quality of the negative, the amount of cropping done on the negative, the type of paper being used, and any special effects that might be made to the negative.
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Step 5
Put the photo paper into the slot provided on the photo enlarger.
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Step 6
Expose the negative for the decided upon exposure time by opening the photo enlarger.
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Step 7
Put the exposed photograph into the developer tray with tongs. Make sure all of the paper is evenly covered by developer. Leave the photo in the developer for the amount of time recommended in the paper's instruction sheet; generally between one and two minutes. Another option is to just watch it and pull it out when the exposure desired has been obtained.
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Step 8
Remove the photo from the developer and immediately transfer it to the stop bath. The photo will continue to develop, in or out of the developing chemical, until it is placed there. Leave the photo in the stop bath for around 20 to 30 seconds before removing it.
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Step 9
Transfer the photo into the fixer. Leave in the fixer for between two and three minutes.
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Step 10
Check to see if the print is as desired. If so, move on to Step 11. Otherwise, back up to Step 3 and begin again using a different exposure time, crop method, or sharpening style.
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Step 11
Move the photo from the fixer to the water tray or to a sink. Let it sit there until all of the planned photos have been developed or up to 90 minutes.
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Step 12
Hang the photos up to dry. This can be done simply by stringing up a clothes line and placing the photos there with a clothes pin. A word of caution, however, be certain the water dripping from the photos will not damage any items underneath the line.
