Getting tired in the darkroom

[cyrus]

Have you noticed that by the time you work your way to the "perfect" print, you're too worn out and exhausted to keep going on? It is very annoying. I'd like to take an hour or two off and then come back to the print but somehow I can never get back to that exact contrast/density etc as I left and then have to start all over again

[Tony Lakin]

Hi Cyrus
Most of the time I feel too tired to go into the darkroom for any length of time I am over 60 now and have suffered from sleep apnea for the last 15 years and although I am having Cpap treatment I still feel knackered most of the time, in my younger days no problem I could easily spend all day and most of the night in the darkroom doing my own prints or other peoples commercially.

[Brian C. Miller]

Perhaps the contrast/density problem is a factor of your chemicals. You've been printing a while, and then you take a break. What's the condition of the developer? Let's say that you've been using the same tray, unchanged, for your entire session. Then you stop and take a break. What happens to the chemicals? Do you let the tray sit, or put the developer into a jug, or mix up a fresh batch?

If you use fresh chems for each print (i.e., Jobo or similar) then you have exactly repeatable contrast. You can go away for a day or two and get exactly the same results.
If you have a tray that you've been using for X number of prints and you are constantly adjusting your prints, then the condition of the chemicals becomes a part of the printing process. That's just life. So when you take a break, the chemicals will change. If you mix up a fresh batch or just leave the tray open, you have a different chemical reaction than the old chemicals. So of course that throws off your contrast and density.

[Kirk Gittings]

Odd-in my case I get super energized when the print gets close to being finished, but tired when the drudgery of final washing, toning, HC etc. becomes the next task. Try switching to some upbeat more energetic music when you get tired.

[Richard Wasserman]

+1

I also find that doing some simple exercises like squats and/or stretching helps. It gets the blood flowing and perks up my brain.

Odd-in my case I get super energized when the print gets close to being finished, but tired when the drudgery of final washing, toning, HC etc. becomes the next task. Try switching to some upbeat more energetic music when you get tired.

[ac12]

What is the color of your darkroom?
I found it easier working in a light colored darkroom than a BLACK one. The black darkroom put a strain on my eyes, which got me tired.

Good air circulation is another factor, when the air is stale, I sometimes feel tired.

Also air temperature. Too warm sometimes makes me tired, although too cold (in some commercial/group darkrooms) makes me shiver. So I need to have it within a comfortable temp range.

About music, in high school, my friends used to complain that my "elevator music" made them sleepy. For me it was just background music, exactly what elevator music was meant to be.

If you stand, put a sheet of fatigue mat foam or rubber under where you stand. My feet get more tired now than when I was younger. And if you can, put a stool for working on the enlarger.

I'm also inclined to think chemical exhaustion. But that depends on how much chemicals you used, how many prints you processed.

1-2 hrs is a long break, and is long enough that you could/will forget the details of what you had done. I would try shorter breaks, 15-30 min.

[ROL]

Sort of like when you stop looking for something once you've found it (if you're sane)...

I can commiserate with the first part of your statement. For me, I'm fairly certain it has to do with the post-coital like adrenaline rush of "getting it" (some?). That's a huge part of why I use the darkroom. And certainly advancing age has something to do with the increasingly taxing nature of physical printing – but then that's one reason why I run five miles a day and workout with weights. Indeed, the darkroom can be a harsh mistress. (Analogy gone too far? )

I cannot subscribe to the second tenant of your posting, as all of my negatives always seem to go to the same place fine art print wise, no matter whether the interim time is a few hours or a few years. Your difficulties suggest that you may benefit from a printing tune-up course or even learning other (alternative) techniques, to freshen your approach and objectivity. Or maybe, just go for a five mile run.

[Robert Hall]

I find that when I get to the perfect print I go looking for the next negative. It continues until I find that it's 3 in the morning and have to fight the urge to refresh the fix and keep going.

Maybe I should switch to a developer that doesn't last so long.

[Jody_S]

I used to be able to pull darkroom all-nighters a couple times a week, now it's a half-night session once a month. I'm not getting much done.

[ROL]

Maybe I should switch to a developer that doesn't last so long.

That's not so silly as your smiley suggests. Dektol limits my printing sessions to 4 or 5 hours maximum, whereupon after cleanup, the rest of the day is spent in in the fresh air and light. I've always considered that an advantage. The somewhat storied, vaunted, all day and night marathon printing sessions to arrive at a perfect print seem to me to be mostly a symptom of a poorly executed negative, as you have indeed alluded.