Photography Online does darkroom printing

[Peter B]

If you've ever wondered what it's like, check it out from minute 25.

 

[Asha]

Question: What do you use to keep dust and crud to a minimum when making prints in the darkroom?

Personally I use a rocket blower which is reasonably effective though there are times when I wish for something better.

I’m now wondering if an antistatic brush might be worth consideration.

I have one of those tiny brush blowers for cleaning lenses but if they are anti static, I’m unsure.

 

[Peter B]

Question: What do you use to keep dust and crud to a minimum when making prints in the darkroom?

Personally I use a rocket blower which is reasonably effective though there are times when I wish for something better.

I’m now wondering if an antistatic brush might be worth consideration.

I have one of those tiny brush blowers for cleaning lenses but if they are anti static, I’m unsure.

I used to use a negative ioniser, but I'm not really sure how much difference it actually made. There are a variety of views in old threads on Photrio and other sites, and there seems to be a modern version of it on here.

 

[StephenM]

In my case, anti static cloth and blowing.

It might help that the darkroom has a lino rather than carpet floor covering, and the door is closed except for entering and leaving, which keeps household dust down.

 

[Asha]

When I was working on a darkroom at University, they had a ventilation / extractor system that pulled air up and out, so dust was rarely an issue.

I can see the way in which an extractor system may be helpful although it’s a little difficult to understand how the air that enters the darkroom to replace that which has been extracted would contain dust particles unless it was filtered.

 

[Asha]

In my case, anti static cloth and blowing.

It might help that the darkroom has a lino rather than carpet floor covering, and the door is closed except for entering and leaving, which keeps household dust down.

The floor is parquet so is more practical than carpet, however the apartment basically runs in a line with the darkroom being situated between lounge and bedroom and the WC / shower room being located pff the darkroom .
Perfect for the wet side of processing film and prints but of course it means that the route remains open pretty much all the time.

 

[Asha]

I used to use a negative ioniser, but I'm not really sure how much difference it actually made. There are a variety of views in old threads on Photrio and other sites, and there seems to be a modern verion of it on here.

Perhaps an idea… I’ll have to see if it would really be efficient though given how the darkroom is open to through traffic most of the time.

 

[AgPhotographic]

Just wanted to chip in here - the Inverness darkroom is a fantastic set up, spearheaded by Matt Sillars - he's a superb tutor as can be seen in the video. We have supported the darkroom financially since it was set up.

If anyone is ever in Inverness and need to use a darkroom, or wish to attend one of the workshops, please enquire. There are many good value daily flights to Inverness from Luton, Garwick, Heathrow, Bristol, Birmingham, Manchester - if you wanted to make a short break of it!