The Darkroom – Part One

I was thinking about develop and print my own film photos in a darkroom a long time.

Film photography for now feels like climbing a mountain – the first half is shooting, as climbing a mountain from the bottom, actively seeking for the breathtaking sceneries, pressing the shutter or memorise them in your mind, there will be a few beautiful captures like the summit in your roll.

The second half is process the photo that taken along the way. Downhill can be tiring but enjoyable, but it is no doubt an essential part of mountain climbing. I know I am not qualified to say this, but sending the film to a photo lab to develop and scan them is like going downhill in a sedan chair. It’s not an act of laziness, but you are not making the photo by yourself anymore.

Here I am, February of 2022, around a year since I start to shoot with film, first time using a proper darkroom.

I was lucky enough to have Darragh from the Gallery walk me through all the steps of the development. Still, opening the film canister in complete darkness feels unnatural and loading it to the development tank twist by twist was scary. Funny thing, my eyes were opened through the whole process even there’s nothing to see. This made me think, did the action made me feel safer, able to sense my surroundings better?

The actual development part was carried with lights on, the gallery used Kodak developers (HC-110), dilution B took around 7 minutes to develop a normal 400 speed black and white roll, 30 seconds to stop and 4 minutes to fix. We then wash it under running water for around 10 minutes and use the wetting agent to rinse it for a few seconds. So I guess if you are a pro the whole process can be done under 20 minutes.

Once that done and after the water dried out, that’s it, the development is finished and wether scan it or print it is your choice. The result of my first time doing this turned out to be amazing, I got a roll of great looking Ilford Delta 400 negatives and a roll of under-exposed Foma pan 400, which was pushed to ISO1600 and we probably didn’t developed it long enough.

Scan/Printing them is the job for next week, IT IS NOT my procrastination, it’s because the gallery darkroom is fully booked till next weekend. I will see you then.