First time in the newly remodeled dark room!

[John Kasaian]

I needed to load some film holders tonight so ready or not my daughter's newly reconstructed bathroom/dark room was pressed into service. The piece of cardboard I'd normally wedge against the window for a light trap was so loaded with dust I opted for a bit of aluminium foil scotched taped to the window instead.

The seal around the door is better than before so I didn't feel the need to put a towel down to keep the darkness from leaking out from underneath the door.

While I didnt need it for loading film, the fan worked exceptionally well---its quiet and overkill for the footage. Its a Nutone commercial model.

The ceramic tile floor is a real nice touch---cleaner looking anyway than the old pink linoleum.

The bulbs in the light fixtures are those low wattage neon coil thingys. They glow for quite some time after I turned them off and I wouldn't have noticed except I was scouring the room for light leaks anyway---and there they were, dimly glowing in the ceiling.

Outside of that and my rusty loading technique (I've been shooting film I'd loaded before the w/c was torn up) the new darkroom functioned pretty well. I haven't tried printing in there yet. maybe later next week I'll road test some Ansco 130. I still have a lot of work left to do but it is such a nice feeling having a dark room again!

[Ralph Barker]

Great, John. Are you sure your work won't suffer from the lack of pink lino, though?

[Brian Ellis]

Of course your daughter can no longer see herself in the mirror when brushing her hair or applying makeup because the new low wattage lights are too dim. So she may look a little strange but that's o.k., the important thing is the darkroom. : - )

[John Kasaian]

Brian,
Don't worry, there's plenty of light coming from four recessed cans. Of course theres no mirror up, nor is there a toilet... hot water....faucets....yet!

Ralph,
I do feel that my photography is becoming more "manly" since that pink linoleum went to the dump!

[ronald moravec]

Never use fluorescent bulbs in a darkroom. That afterglow will fog.