Evening star., 1951-10-21
Camera Angles

The Time Approaches
By Alexander
Curator of P
The Smithson
It won't be long before incle- |
ment weather will force us to
discontinue outdoor camera ac-
|tivities. However. photographers
who own their own darkrooms
simply consider this period OF en-
forced camera inactivity an ex-
Icellent opportunity to catch up on
developing and printing. which
has probably been neglected dur
ing the summer months.
There are still a few amateurs
who do not have darkrooms and
there are a great many other
photographers who are so pro-
vided, but who seem to have a
great deal of trouble making
good with the negatives they
worked so hard to produce. To-
days article is written largely for
these groups. although others may
benefit from a refresher in dark
room practice and procedure.
II you have no darkroom but
are planning one, we will try
to get you on the right track.
If you have spot to process
your films and make prints but
are having your troubles. check
your darkroom and methods
against our recommendations and
you may discover where the tpou-
BILE lies.
A home laboratory must first
be furnished with good equip
ment, adequate for your needs
Your tools need not necessarily
be expensive, but they should be
of good quality. Don't buy the
cheapest enlarger on the market
| just to save dollar or so on
the initial cost. In the long run
you will find that the machine
will cost you more in wasted ma
terials than the few dollars you
saved on the purchase price.
List Needs First.
First of all decide just how far
Iyou intend to carry your photo
graphic hobby. From there 1t Is
easy to make list Of the equip
ment you will need to carry out
your plans. Then take a good
look around and compare the
goods of the various manufac-
turers before making an invest
iment.
If you own a 35-mm. camera,
but expect to purchase one that
uses a larger-size film, don't waste
your money on a 35-mm. enlarger,
but buy one that will accom-
modate the larger film as well.
This same advice should apply
to all of your purchases-even the
small items. such as developing
tanks and trays. 1t may be that
you are presently content to make
small-size prints for your photo
album, but if you foresee that you
eventually will go in for salon-size
prints for competitions or hang
ing in the home, you might as
well spend a few more now for
| the larger trays.
Another important point-plan
and build your darkroom before
buying the equipment. And build
according to the type and size of
equipment that will be installed.
Otherwise you may find that the
Ienlarger you have bought cannot
be raised to its full extension be-
cause the ceiling of the darkroom
is too low-an embarrassing dis
covery to put it mildly,
Water Supply Essential.
When planning a darkroom
make sure that you take the water
supply into account. Don't build
| it in a far corner of your base
ment and then discover that it
will cost a small fortune to have
a plumber run pipes the length of
your house to do job that would
cost very little if the lab had been
set up near the water supply.
| Also, be sure that the sink is
installed where it can be used to
its best advantage. In a well
planned darkroom, the work
should flow from left to right.
Have a workbench along the left
wall of the room for the contact
printer and enlarger and also
space for loading film, handling
paper, etc. Then have the "wet
area" of the room where the
film and prints are processed.
Beyond this should come the
finishing bench or table. Such an
arrangement will save you many
steps and. at the same time, you
will avoid carrying dripping films
and prints across the room.
Chemicals that drip onto the floor
will dry, turn to dust, then noat
around in the air to spoil other
prints and negatives.
Don't waste space in your
darkroom. Measure the equip
ment that you intend to install
and then fit 1t in so that although
no space is wasted. you will have
ample room to perform all neces-
sary operations. Be sure to have
plenty of drawer space so that
paper and films can be safely
out of the way of harmful light
and chemicals. Make the drawers
Ilight-tight so you will be able toI
work freely at times in full illumi-
nation without the worry that
you will fog sensitive material.
Avoid Disorder and Dirt