RE: "Photographers Notebook"....

[Richard Boulware]

My thanks to all you encouraged me to proceed with my "Photographers Notebook" postings. I intend to do this and am working on the first piece. I will call it "Photographers Notebook. Prologue - My Journey". I'll leave it to the good judgement of "QT" to decide where to place it.

As I begin to work on my writing, I took a break and went down to my new darkroom/gallery and was testing for light leaks on a new door seal system. Since it takes 30-60 minutes for the eyes to become dark aclimated (Navy pilot training). I took a short nap. The GraLab awaked me and I promptly proceed to get up off of the carped floor and my head struck the underside of the film loading counter. *@#*^$&@#...dammmmmm.

Then, to compound my pain, I remembered that I hade forgotten something something really important. MY GLOW-IN-THE-DARK...DOTS....that I have used for twenty years.

I developed this many years ago, and this technique has served me well.

I used the green, 'glow-in-the-dark' stickey tape to place little dots all over the darkroom. My old roll is 20 years old, and still works just fine. (I think Porters Camera Store sells it.) It is about an inch wide and must be ten feet long.

Get a single hole paper punch from your local office supply store, and some of this tape. Punch a ton of little 1/4" dots out of the ribbon of glow tape. Place these little dots at 12" intervals all over your darkroom on the VERTICAL edges of counters, sinks, tables, shelves, etc. It takes patience to use an X-Acto #11 knife blade to separate the paper backing from the glow side, but well worth your time and effort. Then, just stick these tiny dots around your darkroom, at 12" intervals.

When I first started using this technique, twenty years ago, I ran tests with the fastest black and white film available, and found no fog problem with any of the films. I will re-run these tests in the coming week, but I expect no problem. It's like 'fireflies' on an Iowa evening, at 50' away.

It is comforting to go 'total black' while loading holders, or Nikor reels, and know where counters, sinks, and other thinks "lurk"... waiting to hurt your body. No more..#@$&^+)*@.....Dammmmm, that hurt!

Try it....I think you'll like it.

Richard Boulware

[J. P. Mose]

Once again Richard, you have my interest and support. I am looking forward to reading and learning from your wisdom! JP Mose

[David A. Goldfarb]

I've used phosphorescent paint in the same way. I think I found it at a hobby shop that sold modeling supplies.

[Brian C. Miller]

I have both, but there is only one place where I use the tape. I only use it on the door knob. Its too bright to have it anywhere else. It lights up the surrounding area too much.

(Blog software, Richard, blog software! Then you can just post a link to the blog.)

[John Berry ( Roadkill )]

I like what I have read already. Little green dots? Doh!

[Brian Ellis]

I'm sure the navy knows more than I do but 30-60 minutes for the eyes to adjust? John Sexton says 10 minutes which has always worked for me. I'm sure the navy knows more than John about lots of things but maybe he knows more than they do when it comes to darkrooms. Just a thought, of course ten minutes would cut into your nap time. : - )

[John Kasaian]

Brian,

Ten minutes are fine for in a darkroom, but dark rooms don't travel at mach .8---when flying always stack the deck in your favor! ;-)

[Hans Berkhout]

Sometimes when I interrupt a printing session and leave the darkroom, I put on my sunglasses. Accomodation to the low lightlevel on return is quicker that way. Learned this from a radiologist friend, it works.

[Brian C. Miller]

"I'm sure the navy knows more than I do but 30-60 minutes for the eyes to adjust?"

Yes, same info in the Army. When your eyes are adjusted like that, somebody lighting a match and smoking a cigarette at 100yds looks like a signal flare.

When testing for light leaks, at least 15 minutes, and at 30 minutes your eyes will pick out everything.

[Alex Hawley]

Good stuff Richard. Please keep it coming. I fully support what you want to do with your memoirs.

I was just thinking of that glow tape the other day, wishing I had some.

Ol' Uncle Sam does know what he's talking about sometimes. It takes me a good 30 minutes to get fully night adapted. There's a big difference in being night adapted and just darkroom adapted.

[QT Luong]

Richard, whenever you'd like to post a notebook entry, you just post like a normal message on the forum, but as a category, you choose "Photographers Notebook. Richard Boulware" (which is to be found alphabetically on the list of categories). Only you will be able to initiate messages in that category. Of course, once an entry is posted, anybody can comment, just like on any other thread or article. As soon as you post the first entry, I will link the
category from the home page. If you need to make corrections, just email the moderators.

[GPS]

Richard,
twenty years ago the fastest films were not what they are today. To rerun the test and make the announcement after seems to me to be more honest. By the way, fireflies at 50' away can be cought by todays fast films without any problem. Astronomers know it all too well.

[Richard Boulware]

Answers, and od's 'n ends.

Twenty years ago I was doing a graphic arts photo project for the local phone company and was experimenting with Eastman #2475 high speed recording film (35mm). A few years earlier, I had received a call from an old college classmate, Larry Dale Gordon who was a staffer at Playboy in Chicago. He sent me some #2475 and suggested processing in a diluted solution of Dektol. At that time it only had a Kodak 'SO' number on it. I had a blast with this technique and ASA's were in the range of 8000. I still use this combination for graphic and design stuff but accept the fact that your Gama increases to the 'off the chart' number and prints will look like Navajo sand paintings. Does make for interesting graphics and does have its uses...although limited.

Night vision. In the first Navy training session on night vision a dozen of us were ushered into a tiny theater, which was totally dark. Or at least we thought it was. After about 30 minutes someone in the darkness said he thought he saw something. At about 45 minutes we did begin to make out some images. At about seventy minutes we could see tiny buildings and the instructor came in and started his lecture about night vision. By the end of the lecture an hour later, we could see an entire city in miniature before us, and the lecturer was talking about the WWII terminology of 'bombers moon'. The light from a single tiny bulb was calibrated to equal the light of a full moon over the target. After the lecture and the lights went on I saw the tiny bulb which was shielded from direct view of the audience. It was a tiny 12V bulb about the size of a grain of wheat...like hobbyist use. ..and the model of the city scape was about ten by twelve feet and the tiny bulb was hung and shielded about eight feet above the tiny city. You can speed up your night vision senses by wearing cherry red goggles before...and cut the time about in half. I have seen them at military surplus stores. I don't really care what anybody says about "Ten minutes" to full acclimation. It just isn't true. Ever see a color shot of the pilot ready room? During night operations, it is completely lit with only red light...as is your cockpit instrument cluster when flying at night.

QT...thanks for the posting information. I appreciate your assistance very much.

Generally, I truly appreciate the support and encouragement many have expressed on this board for my writing. I am not a professional writer, so you might have to cut me a little slack, but I will do my best to honestly address issues and answer sincere questions with sincere answers. If you don't like my viewpoint...fine. If some would like just pick a fight for the sake of picking a fight...go ahead. That is why God put a 'delete' key on my computer. I will not waste my time with anybody who takes this approach.

I feel a great sense of responsibility in starting this project, and I have an obligation to be a frank and factual as I know how. This is my promise. Wish me luck.

[GPS]

Have you tried the test with the Eastman film blasted at 8000ASA?

[GPS]

Let me tell you it in this way - film is much, much more sensitive to the light than a human eye. That's why you can take astronomical pictures with colors that the eye can never see. If you give a film enough time it can pick light that your eye doesn't see at all. Therefore if you have these lights, visible to your eyes in a darkroom, whatever (literally whatever!) film will get fogged if you give him enough time. Sorry for the laws of physics...

[Michael Jones]

Richard:

Please keep writing. Just recall that as on a summer night, gnats fly about. The best plan is to ignore them since they are small and inconsequential. Thanks.

Mike

[Erik Eks]

What Mike said! Keep writing, Richard, and ignore that BS fart-ist trawling for attention. There's at least one on every forum. Don't dignify It with a response. It ain't worth it.

[Brian C. Miller]

"Wish me luck."

LUCK!!

[Mark Sawyer]

The glow-in-the-dark paint is wonderful stuff. I put several small dots in my film-loading room, and found it eliminated the slight vertigo I got in total darkness. I would let it "calm down" a bit between turning off the lights and loading/developing the film, having a healthy paranoia about stray light and film...

Actually, I liked the effect so much that I put little dots all over my bedroom ceiling, and would charge them up with a 250 watt bulb before going to bed at night, (covering my eyes while it was on, of course). Nothing like sleeping under the stars.

Good practical advice, Richard!

[tim atherton]

"Brian, Ten minutes are fine for in a darkroom, but dark rooms don't travel at
mach .8---when flying always stack the deck in your favor! ;-) "

Infantrymen don't travel at mach .8 - even these days - 20 mintues was always the standard time to acheive basic night visi0on in the British Army... - wow - that brought flashbacks of slightly surreal Service Kinema Corporation late 60's early 70's training films about rods and cones... and how to spot Soviet troops at dawn and dusk