jonsommer wrote:
Aren't memories like yours absolutely precious and priceless? And if you ever developed your own color shots maintaining the proper chemical temperatures was an added chore. And then, as you placed the photo in the chemicals, your heart pounding with anticipation, your image slowly began to appear. I still remember my fathers Leica, and my untold hours being his chemical grunt. I more clearly remember the amazing quality photos he produced, most of which were photos of post WWII Norway after Hitler's troops pillaged and plundered the country and it's inhabitants at will.
When I got old enough to afford my own gear, I warmly remember my first Minolta SRT 101, then moving 'up' to an SRT 102. And finally moving up to a Canon A1 before going digital and becoming a Nikonian (d800e among others) and learning the joys of pp using Photoshop, Lightroom and others.
The passion for good photography still burns strongly in my heart, and the magic remains when I see a quality image developing on the computer screen. My Leica owning father would have been amazed at what can be produced today sitting in a lit and oderless, chemical free office. He probably would have thought that today's digital manipulations were simply 'wrong' and that 'good' photos had to be shot with film and processed in a darkroom.
I wonder what the photographers in 60 years will think of our current equipment and workflows, and will hopefully reflect fondly on their memories of 'camera raw' and learning the multiple complexities of Photoshop and Lightroom. I hope so, and they will find boxes of old DSLR's and heavy lenses and will wonder in amazement how Gramps ever produced anything of quality using such primitive gear.
Thanks for taking me down memory lane, just think, a little Leica camera had a huge impact on my life and my decades old passion for quality photography.
Aren't memories like yours absolutely precious and... (
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Thanks for your comment Jon.
Tho there wasn't a lot of heart pounding in the Darkroom, fortunately.
It was a job (and sometimes got very boring, especially printing 'proofs').
Our developer/wash/fixer trays etc were fairly large, about 3 foot square x 4-5 inches deep
and we had immersion heaters to warm them up and as the room was kept very warm
(not a lot of ventilation either in those days), temps werent really a problem, but we did check
probably every 10 mins or so as part of the routine.
Negative processing was a bit stressful for me. Very fiddly.
We developed about 10 rolls at a time in a big round cannister and it could take
ages to load them around the drum.
I nearly ended my career at an early stage by trying to develop a batch in pure water.
We had a lot of large plastic jugs on the wet bench that we would mix the chemicals in.
One morning I got mixed up and loaded the drum full with the 35mm rolls from the
Fireman's Ball the night before. About 400 negs at 40ish per roll.
In haste, I then poured from the wrong jug.
After a Ball, we had to have the proofs out in Reception by 9am the next morning to
catch the hungover 'punters' on their way to work. They would view the Proof sheets and order
4 x 6 prints. This was bread and butter work for the Business.
Pleased it brought back a memory or two for you.
Cheers