It is highly likely that we'll be moving from the current Schnozz
Palace to someplace else in 2016. New digs may be in Iowa, Nebraska or
Colorado. Unknown destination as of yet. Once DD#2 completes high
school this spring, we'll have no reason to stay here and my wife is
already a free agent and looking for new opportunities.
While you've ridden with me through the last time we did this and I
shut down the darkroom and lived to regret it, I may be less likely to
bark about it this time because of sufficient advancements in digital
technology AND technique since then. By eliminating the need for a
full-blown darkroom, that would give us freedom to rent or buy an
apartment, condo or house that would otherwise be suitable without
grief. While I love the darkroom, I'm less inclined to invest in
building a new one all over again.
It's a little bit like fishing. At what point do you not buy a new
fishing boat, tackle, depth finders, GPS, License, tow vehicle, etc.,
and just go to the store and buy fish instead?
Of course, if the new house was set up for it, it's a total non-issue.
But at some point I have to decide whether its worth the effort. At
absolute minimum, I would keep and maintain the ability to process
film. That won't stop and requires no dedicated space. I'm just
talking about doing away with the ability to make silver-gelatin
prints.
Why the change of heart?
1. Physical plant costs. Even if the new place has a space for the
darkroom, the minimum build-out costs are a couple thousand dollars.
Our experience is that a house suitable for a darkroom space usually
runs about $20,000 higher than one without. Apartments would be
completely out of the question.
2. Improvements in technique. While I'm not totally satisfied with the
film scanning technology that I've been dealing with, I'm concluding
that I've been able to get it close enough to sufficiency to not worry
about it and just do it. There are some negatives that I've never been
able to scan, but I'm learning ways to work around the issues.
3. Improvements in technology. Honestly, Adobe has so improved the
printing module in both Photoshop and Lightroom that it has
significantly changed the equation.
This weekend I've been working on digital contact negatives. Very
promising and an exciting way to get silver-gelatin prints from
digital files and edited scans. I am really liking the results.
However, in doing so, I also did comparative test prints in positives.
For the first time, ever, I've finally gotten digital B&W prints that
satisfy me.
Let that sink in for a minute...
--
Ken Norton
ken@xxxxxxxxxxx
http://www.zone-10.com
--
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