A Backwards Camera in a Dark Room - Photographic Printing

Can't say you're gonna put a link in a pinned comment and then not do it so here's the link! If you're interested in analog photography, particularly darkroom-related shenanigans and experiments, The Naked Photographer is a neat watch. youtube.com/c/TheNakedPhotographer

This man really knows how to transition from “No Effort November” to “Detailed December” in style.

You were correct, mind blown on burning and dodging, after using Photoshop for 15+ years those little lollipop and closed hand icons finally make sense. I love learning about the analog origins of digital tools and terminology and having them suddenly gain a tangible meaning. A technology connection, if you will

"Open only in photographic darkroom." I worked at a commercial photolab, years ago. On my first day, the guy training me said two points are non-negotiable. Everything else was flexible: "First, you'll never get paid early. If payday falls on a holiday, you'll have to come in to pick up your check or wait until the next workday. Second, never let Lou see you with food or drink in your work area." (Lou, she was the owner.) As the process became more digitized, my job became a hybrid between the computer lab and my darkroom. I took a box of photographic paper and cut a hole in the end. This hole allowed me to set it on my desk, up on its end, with cup of coffee or a can of soda, stashed inside. I could lift the box, take a sip and place the box back into place. Since the box was marked as being light sensitive, nobody messed with it.

As someone who took B&W film photography in high school back in 2004, I've gotta say you've make an amazing crash course on what I had to go through and learn. Bravo on putting all of this together and not making it feel like it drags despite its long run time. Fantastic video my man.

One weird use of those sodium lamps I've seen: In high school I was in a production of "City of Angels" where certain parts of the show are meant to be in black and white. To accomplish, the production designer bought two massive sodium lamps that were placed at the front of the stage and during the "black and white" portions these lamps would turn the entire set and actors sepia toned. Genuinely one of the more interesting applications of these I've ever seen!

Fun fact: I used to have a pair of sunglasses with a "absorption gap" where the wavelength of sodium lamps is. It was meant for safe driving because it would protect your eyes from sunlight, but allow you to drive through tunnels safely because tunnels would be lighted by sodium laps, and the absorption gap would let you see in the tunnel.

I used to operate a darkroom in my basement, and I still watched this whole series. You're making me a bit nostalgic here... but not enough to start buying fresh chemicals. Digital is just so dang easy.

This video should be a required showing to students at any school that still offer teaching for analog photography.

That "safeLight" interlude was way more jarring than I would have expected XD

I'm pretty sure at this point half your writing process is research and development. The other half is pun integration!

I honestly don't think I could have cared less about photography and darkroom processing before this series, but I could literally watch a three-part series about paint drying if it was narrated by you. You have a way of making almost any topic deeply fascinating, just by the way you describe it and talk about it.

AHHHHHHHH YES, The late night/s, stained finger nails fom the Developer , the sore eyes from the safe light , trying to keep the deloper,stop and fixer baths at an even temperature , the wet 8x10 prints hanging and the wait for them to dry , Iremember it all too well.

The "uno dos trays" made me snort water out my nose. Thanks for that.

This sheds some light on a really dark subject. I appreciate the exposure.

RE: test prints - Back when we had the darkroom, Dad, whose interests also included building simple electronic gadgets from kits and parts that one could get at Radio Shack, found plans for building a do-it-yourself enlarger light meter. (I'm sure enlarger light meters were available in well-stocked camera stores, but such things were relatively expensive at the time, and Dad had the time and inclination to build his own.) It took some doing to calibrate it, but once we had some basic exposure times figured out and written onto its dial, it became a simple matter to get a perfect exposure on the first try almost every time. All we had to do was frame the image, put the light meter in a fairly neutral spot, turn the dial until the LED went off, and then set the exposure to the time indicated on the dial. We weren't doing any dodging, burning, masking or other tricks, and we weren't experimenting with changing the enlarger lens opening, so it worked pretty well. I have to say we got spoiled by the thing, because it enabled us to churn out dozens of prints in a single afternoon. (Aw, heck, we were spoiled just having a darkroom in the house! Most of our friends had to do all their printing in the high school darkroom, which was a small room off the library and had over a dozen students competing for time slots.)

The enlargement was the most mystifying part of the whole film developing process. I always wondered how a little tiny piece of film became a much larger photo but never imagined it's just like a camera in reverse lmao. Thanks for explaining it finally!!

Pro tip: if you need a mask, you can cut one out of a sacrificial test print, rather than making one out of construction paper. Then tape it to a stiff piece of wire as a handle. Great video!

I humbly request a video on how different types of paint dry. You're so good at explaining things and making them interesting that I'm sure you could pull it off. I don't even have a dishwasher and I loved both of your dishwasher videos.

Since we're in the midst of a photography series I would love to hear about Polaroid and the history of it and how that type of development works