The Smell of a Well-Equipped Darkroom - alluring, or no?
Mar 1, 2019 03:07:46 #
Aaaaah … yes - I remember it well … Dektol, Acetic Acid, Fixer … it was all so alluring, wasn't it? … When you went in, and your schnozzle picked up all these aromas - you were suddenly absorbed into a world of creation - in which YOU were the master. From that moment - all bets were off. You were there to get something done. And, there were no time-clocks - only the ones you used to time the solutions. It was a gas gas gas - wasn't it? … Do you miss it? … Do you still do it? … Or, are you thankful it's all in the past?
Mar 1, 2019 05:21:53 #
I do not do it anymore...
But you have brought back the very first scents of creativity to me.
Thanks
But you have brought back the very first scents of creativity to me.
Thanks
Mar 1, 2019 05:58:33 #
I remember dipping my hands in all those chemicals while smoking cigarettes in the darkroom. Thank you digital for taking me away from that toxic environment. No I don’t miss it at all!
Mar 1, 2019 06:00:47 #
Mar 1, 2019 06:13:02 #
Chris T wrote:
Aaaaah … yes - I remember it well … Dektol, Acetic... (show quote)
Me too. I clearly remember all those nice smells back in the 1960s when photography was done by wet chemistry. Love those smells. I still have all my dark room equipment here in the attic. I thot this was a lost art but I suspect that there are a limited number of folks out there still doing this - the "old fashioned way" - the way we did this back in the 1960s and earlier (think of Ansell Adams).
Mar 1, 2019 06:14:59 #
Tomfl101 wrote:
I remember dipping my hands in all those chemicals while smoking cigarettes in the darkroom. Thank you digital for taking me away from that toxic environment. No I don’t miss it at all!
Yes indeed - smoking a non-filter Pall Mall or Camel cigarette while moving prints around in the fixer tray. I remember it well !!
Mar 1, 2019 06:15:55 #
Been there....done that! Yes, it was exhilarating at the time. But then, that was the state-of-the-art.
My digital cameras have so many improvements over my film cameras....I won't even begin to elaborate.
My digital Memory card, is way smaller, doesn't have an expiration date, is not light or heat sensitive, and can hold way more images than any roll of film.
I can move my images from camera to computer in virtually no time. I generally sit, rather than stand, in my new digital darkroom
I have and use a variety of post-processing software which does not need replenishing/replacing, is not temperature or time dependent, has no odor or hazardous chemical nature, and provides a gazillion percent more image control than any wet darkroom ever did!
I can instantly print with archival inks on archival paper in selectable sizes, without test strips, or chemicals.
My new "digital darkroom" smells like whichever wax scent I put in my fragrance warmer....typically cinnamon stick, or something country.
My digital cameras have so many improvements over my film cameras....I won't even begin to elaborate.
My digital Memory card, is way smaller, doesn't have an expiration date, is not light or heat sensitive, and can hold way more images than any roll of film.
I can move my images from camera to computer in virtually no time. I generally sit, rather than stand, in my new digital darkroom
I have and use a variety of post-processing software which does not need replenishing/replacing, is not temperature or time dependent, has no odor or hazardous chemical nature, and provides a gazillion percent more image control than any wet darkroom ever did!
I can instantly print with archival inks on archival paper in selectable sizes, without test strips, or chemicals.
My new "digital darkroom" smells like whichever wax scent I put in my fragrance warmer....typically cinnamon stick, or something country.
Mar 1, 2019 06:38:28 #
Mar 1, 2019 06:50:09 #
Brings back memories of being in the dark room with my Dad in the early 50's. The developer, the hypo, the red light. Damn I miss those days
Mar 1, 2019 07:04:42 #
tommy2
Loc: Fort Worth, Texas
In the beginning of my hobby my mother hated the smell because I used our one bathroom to develop my images. I don't really remember that smell from the '40s & '50s but thinking about a comparable terrible smell connected to a hobby is during the time I spent as a rancher raising cattle and the forage to feed them. The worst and best smells! There is nothing much worse than the feed pen smell in wet weather or a better smell than new mowed hay. My fond memories about these smells is that they both smelled like money!
Mar 1, 2019 07:06:59 #
Mar 1, 2019 07:17:47 #
Mar 1, 2019 07:23:56 #
Breathing potentially poisonous chemical fumes? Nope, I don’t miss it at all.
Mar 1, 2019 07:57:07 #
Pablo8
Loc: Nottingham UK.
Don't miss it, cos I still have the darkroom, as well as my modern digital set-up. Best of both worlds.
Mar 1, 2019 09:01:05 #
rcolmansr60 wrote:
Brings back memories of being in the dark room with my Dad in the early 50's. The developer, the hypo, the red light. Damn I miss those days
AND I miss my Dad....
Yes, as children, one of us (taking turns) was allowed to sit on a stool beside Dad, watching him project the negative from the enlarger, first on white paper, then on thin white card, both in the negative. Then he put the white card into this tray of "water" and we were fascinated by the image appearing on that white card as a "real picture".
I'm glad to have these memories, as well as many others with my parents and siblings...
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