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Thread: Contact prints without a darkroom?

  1. #11

    Contact prints without a darkroom?

    This thread is SO cool! I had no idea!! Somebody hide my credit card quick!!! (How do you make a contact printing frame?) Can I follow you around, Jane, you're an awfully talented girl!

    I love what I learn on this forum!

  2. #12

    Join Date
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    Tamworth, Staffordshire. U.K.
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    Contact prints without a darkroom?

    I would go along with Dan, Polaroid 56 would make life so much easier.

  3. #13

    Contact prints without a darkroom?

    I think Nick is right about the printing boxes being designed for slow contact paper. A sheet of some sort of neutral density material or white plexi under the glass might solve this. A rheostat with a low wattage bulb might work, but I think it might give uneven light if dimmed down too much. I'm trying to remember if I have one of these printers in my attic (AKA - the elephant's graveyard of photo gear). I'm not sure I've ever actually used one of these. I guess it is a life experience I should have.

  4. #14

    Contact prints without a darkroom?

    Calamity Jane,



    If you have AC available I'd suggest using a motorized drum like the Jobo. With the jobo and a large drum you could develope multiple prints at once. Additionally the jobo can be used to process the negs. If it's ease of use you're looking for give the Jobo a try. A word of caution. I had bought a one of the smaller Jobos on ebay cause I'm really cheap and lived to regret it. What I really needed was the CPP2 and I mention this because if you want to use the expert drums you'll need the bigger CPA2 or even better the CPP2. The Jobos were upgraded over time to torqueier motors and differnt RPM rates to spin the big drums. So find out the serial number http://www.jobo-usa.com/bulletins/b019.htm before bidding. http://www.jobo-usa.com/faq/faqfrontpage.htm A lift kit is worth it's weight in gold!

    Good luck,

    Bob

  5. #15
    Founder QT Luong's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 1997
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    San Jose, CA
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    Contact prints without a darkroom?

    How about using Polaroid P/N ? You hand over immediatly the print to the subject,
    and you keep the negative. Drawbacks would be cost and the fact that the optimal
    exposure for the print and the neg are different.

  6. #16

    Contact prints without a darkroom?

    Sounds like a fun adventure.

    I was never happy with changing my film holders in a changing bag. So I made a large dark-box which makes it easy to change film or load it into processing drums. I made it using a black plastic storage bin, which made it easy since the lip of the lid made an effective light seal. I cut holes in it, then glued arms from an old changing bag into the holes. Also I store all my processing equipment in it!

    Now you sound pretty handy, so you could build a dark-box large enough to hold a paper safe, a contact frame, and 2 or 3 trays of chemicals. Remove the print from the box for the final wash. Expanding on the idea, you could build 2 light sockets into the lid. One for the printing lamp and one for a safelight. Why a safelight? Because you could make a window in it an install a red glass filter used for safelights. That might allow you to develop by inspection.

    However, if you really want to stay in period, you should build a dark-tent. Wet-plate photographers used to travel with large tents that were light-tight. They had to develop the plates immediately after exposure.

  7. #17

    Contact prints without a darkroom?

    Thanks for all the great ideas folks - KEEP 'EM COMIN!

    What I have in mind is offering "studio sessions" to the public in the morning, probably against the background of the pioneer village and having 1:1 prints available for pickup late in the afternoon (I can drop them at the General Store for people to claim). The more "old timey" the prints, the more people will want them. The more of the process that people can watch, the more attention it will attract.

    I think if I shoot from 9 to 11 and develop between 11 a.m. and 12 and dry film in a warm cabinet, the film would be ready to print after lunch and the prints could be delivered to the store between 2 and 3 p.m. That would leave me time to take "general interest shots" in the afternoon to sell the next day.

    I'll have to experiment to work out the timing. The Combi (or maybe 2 of them) would allow me to get thru the developing fairly quickly but a long exposure time for the prints would require a number of contact frames (not necessarily a problem). A UV light is also no problem! I'm sure I could get the bus dark enough for that (though it'll get toasty in the summer sun!).

    I think I'll buy some of that POP paper and play with it.

    Ralph: I'd LOVE to have a "darkwagon" but I am not prepared to invest THAT much money in a charity event ;-) I will take enough of the proceeds to cover my cost and the museum can keep the balance.

    Ellen: How would you feel about being "the photographer's assistant"? Are you busy the last week of July? BAW HAW HA HA!

    P.S. In the bus, I'd have AC and non-potable running water - good water has to be brought in by the 5 gallon pail. "On the set" I will have neither electricity nor water.

    Maybe I'll make a fake flash pan just for "effect" and to startle the subjects (snicker!)

  8. #18

    Join Date
    Jul 2001
    Location
    Minden, Nevada
    Posts
    79

    Contact prints without a darkroom?

    I think you could contact print on AZO in low light or in the evenings, with the windows in your bus open. It is slow enough that it will not fog on you if you keep the direct light off. You could expose it with a bulb hanging down from the ceiling, a piece of plate glass and a flat surface. If you don't want to mess with amidol out there you could use dektol, it's a little blue is all. I agree with the polaroid idea as the simplest solution, but AZO is easy to work with, so long as you can figure out how to fix it and wash it. Good luck.

  9. #19

    Contact prints without a darkroom?

    Where in the grand ole' USofA is this shindig taking place? I'll do just about anything for the learning experience!

    Uuummmm... that didn't come out right *see Ellen blush* What I mean is that I'd be thrilled to assist even if it means I just get to watch :-D

  10. #20

    Contact prints without a darkroom?

    Hi there,

    If you check ebay, Kodak used to make contact printing machines up to 8X10. It was just a metal box, a contact frame in reverse, with the lights and opal glass inside. You could change it to use 12 volt bulbs or just build one up from wood, not much heat.

    For developing, a sheet of dark red plexi over the trays would work like a safe light.

    Just a thought.

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