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Re: [OM] What do SUVs and Darkrooms have in common

Subject: Re: [OM] What do SUVs and Darkrooms have in common
From: "Jim Nichols" <jhnichols@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Mon, 14 Sep 2009 12:26:46 -0500
Ken,

You might try duct-taping the cracks around the garage door. Makes a cheap, 
one-time fix. I can appreciate the temperature problem.  My last DR, many 
years ago, was in a small half-bath located in the corner of my garage. 
Summer work was miserable.

Jim Nichols
Tullahoma, TN USA
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Ken Norton" <ken@xxxxxxxxxxx>
To: "Olympus Camera Discussion" <olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Monday, September 14, 2009 12:12 PM
Subject: [OM] What do SUVs and Darkrooms have in common


> First of all, this post has SUV content because it is an important element
> to the story--you have been warned.
>
> Saturday was the first time in about two years that I've been in my 
> darkroom
> actually making prints. It was both a joyous time and a very frustrating
> time.  Joyous, because of the beautiful results of silver-gelatin on fiber
> prints that result.  Looking at the prints I was utterly amazed at the 
> glow,
> the sharpness and the overall aesthetic of the images.  Oh, and the
> tonalities.  WOW!
>
> Several observations on film:
> 1. Ilford PanF really does have one of the smoothest tonality sweeps I've
> ever encountered in any film and the tonal separation is simply amazing.
> Unfortunately, no matter how hard I try, it is impossible to get the same
> when scanned.  It's something that can only be seen with a chemical print, 
> I
> think.
>
> 2. Ilford Delta 400 pushed two stops (ISO 1600), works extremely well
> (processed in Ilfotec DD-X) and although not grainless is outstanding for
> event work. I've never liked 1600/3200 films as the grain is not only the
> size of golf-balls, but the films are generally not sharp.  Delta 400, 
> when
> pushed, maintains the sharpness and grainsize of it being shot at ISO 400,
> just that the grain contrast (acutance) is increased.
>
> 3. Fuji Neopan 100ss is a nice film and everything, but definitely does 
> not
> have the PanF tonalities. It seems to be a good general-purpose film for
> people and street photography where you can hide a multitude of sins in 
> the
> shadows, but for landscape work, the film is a bit unrefined.  That said, 
> it
> does scan quite well and isn't a bad film, just not the best film.  It was
> dirt-cheep, though, and served its purpose. I think what really bit me is
> that the color reponse of the film is dramatically different than what i 
> am
> used to and exposure variance when using filters gave me some underexposed
> shots as well as overexposed shots when I was overcompensating.  Would I 
> buy
> it again if I can find it?  Maybe.  We'll see. I won't commit right now.
> But, like I said, for street photography, it's terrific.
>
> So, back to the darkroom...
>
> I had several things really different.  Instead of my normal Ilford
> Multigrade IV developer, I was using Dektol.  Instead of my normal Ilford
> Rapid fixer, I was using Kodak fixer.  I didn't realize till later that my
> Dektol was not diluted properly.  Grrrrr.  But that was the least of my
> worries.  Way too many things different to have any semblance of a system.
> But that's ok, I wasn't expecting to do anything more than proof prints 
> this
> weekend.  Oh, and did I mention that the temperature was almost 80 degrees
> in the darkroom?  Talk about active developer!
>
> I was chasing exposures all over the place.  Absolutely miserable.  My 
> meter
> was worthless for giving me proper exposures. Finally, out of disgust I
> reprogrammed the meter with exposure and contrast calibration data that
> looked closer to what was coming out.  But then the next set of prints 
> were
> all over in another neighborhood!  Finally, I noticed something, so I took 
> a
> little piece of paper, placed something on a corner of it and set it on my
> counter for a minute.  When developed, I saw my problem.  Light pollution.
> I looked at my safelight and discovered that it was causing me problems, 
> so
> i moved it and pointed it up at the ceiling.  Took care of some of the
> problem...  But it didn't address all the light coming in through the 
> door.
> Later, in the evening after the sun went down, everything returned closer
> to, uh, normal...
>
> Which brings me to the SUV...
>
> To use the darkroom, I had to drive my wife's Jeep out of it.
>
> Yup, you guessed it--I'm set up on a workbench in the garage.  Light 
> leakage
> through the gaps between the panels in the garage door made for enough 
> light
> in the "darkroom" that you could almost read a newspaper.  So, to address
> that, I set up the photographic backdrop to create a bit of a "wall" in 
> the
> garage.
>
> Oh, for my own dedicated workspace again....  We moved to the condo to 
> save
> money--which we did and are. Fortunately, we sold our house before the
> meltdown and reduced our mortgage payments by about $700 per month. The 
> one
> sacrifice I had to make was the loss of my darkroom space.  I'm really
> wanting it back somehow...
>
> AG
> -- 
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>
> 


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