Darkroom Basics

Book excerpt: Make your own darkroom prints, even without access to a darkroom. Makeshift or dual-purpose spaces will work, if you follow these basics of black-and-white developing techniques. Diagrams and specially-commissioned photos simplify the use of developers, fixers, graduates, timers, and thermometers. Guidance on using developing equipment covers enlargers, lenses, trays, tanks, drums, and safelights. See how to process a negative and turn out work prints, test strips, contacts, and proofs. The techniques for making a final print include cropping, dodging, burning, preflashing, soft focus, borders, vignetting, spotting, and retouching. Troubleshooting sections point out all the potential pitfalls and how to avoid them, and suggest rescue techniques for those times when things don't quite go according to plan. Soon you will be able to create portraits and landscapes that feature sepia toning, archival toning, and hand coloring, as well as giant prints and posters.