(Ok, what did you THINK I was going to talk about????)

For them what are considering establishing a darkroom and pondering the options, I thought I would pass on some personal comments.

After almost 40 years of temporary darkrooms ranging from 4x6 foot clothsets, bathrooms, spare bedrooms, etc., I have finally moved into my purpose-built basement darkroom with a HUGE amount of space (I light-proofed the entire basement). It has a baffled entrance, exhaust air handling system, low voltage lighting control with 4 light levels (dark, safelight, low light, and bright lights) with low light and safe light on dimmers so they are adjustable. The working area of the darkroom is about 12x16 with film drying outside of the working area. There are 4 safelights; 3 in the working area (one on each wall) and one near the entrance, so the illumination is very even and I never end up working in a shadow.

Having spent some time in the new darkroom and processed some E-6, some B&W, and a bunch of tintypes, all I can say is

WOW!

Having the space to move about freely without tripping over stuff or bumping into stuff, having space to have a bunch of stuff out at one time (without being stacked up), and having the ability to "nip out" for a second without putting everything away is GREAT!

If you love your photography and enjoy your darkroom time, and if you have the option, GO FOR SPACE! You wont regret it!

This will probably be my last darkroom - I'll go from here to the old fart's home or be found dead in the darkroom - and I LOVE IT! I should have done it years ago.

Just thought I'd share :-)