Dark Light

I am loving my photography class. More to the point, it's the darkroom that I am loving the most!

I've always loved black & white photos, but none more so than I am now. After developing my own rolls, then taking those negatives and developing a print from the frames... I have such a new found love for black & white. It doesn't even compare to digital. AT ALL!

I mean digital is fine for that 'gotta have it right then and there' photo, but I never really feet like "That is a great fucking shot!" as I am with actual negative film.


You're there in the darkroom.

You've got your negative in the negative carrier.

You turn on the enlarger, positioning the easel.

Raising and lowering the enlarger head until you get your image centered.

You put your test paper in the easel.

Now here is where you really get to see where your picture is in focus. You pull out the grain focuser, looking through the eyepiece as you watch all those grains come into foucus as you adjust the enlarger.

It's all those little grains that I am in love with!

You can actually see them! And feel them. Well, not in the physical sense of the word. But I can feel them.

All those hundreds of thousands little silver emulsions.

The Dark Light.

Then after to done your test strip, determining your correct exposure, and you've exposed your print, the visual results begin to appear as you place your paper in the developer.

Watching as an image slowly appears on the paper.

There is nothing quite like it. You won't get that with a digital black & white. All you get are pixels.

They don't even compare to grain on a negative.

I have fallen in love.

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Tursday I developed an old roll of film I shot back in March of this year. I wasn't even sure what was on the roll. I wasn't surprised to see that the roll was one of many that I shot at Cypress Cemetery in Colma, CA. I was surprised that I didn't fuck up the development! I was also surprised to see that I actually took some really great shots that day with my SLR.

So, these are the very first prints I have ever developed on my own in the darkroom.

The first picture seen here is the very first one developed. This was the one frame on the contact sheet that jumped out at me. I decided to call it Keys to Heaven.

The second one is one that I wanted to see how it would look printed. It's not quite as sharp in focus as the first one, but it came out decent enough. That one I am calling Lion of Judas.

So these are my first try and developing prints. They didn't turn out half bad for my first try. I'm sure there are a lot of critical eyes out there that can point out probably a half a dozen things wrong with them.

But you know what?

I don't care.

I'm pretty proud of these prints.

They are my first.

You never forget your first...

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Better in FULL view.
[Click on pix for full view.]

Keys to Heaven

Lion of Judas

I've always wanted a darkroom. After this, now I really, really want one!