Rental/Private Darkrooms in Kauai, Hawaii?

[bmikiten]

I'm headed to Kauai for about a week in the early part of May and bringing my 4x5. I'd like to process the (B/W) film while I'm there. Does anyone here either have a darkroom they'd rent or know of one available? I'm working on chemical shipments and other logistics now.

Brian

[HMG]

I'm headed to Kauai for about a week in the early part of May and bringing my 4x5. I'd like to process the (B/W) film while I'm there. Does anyone here either have a darkroom they'd rent or know of one available? I'm working on chemical shipments and other logistics now.

Brian

www.localdarkroom.com

[bmikiten]

Thanks. I had already checked that and there are none on the island of Kauai.

Brian

[HMG]

Thanks. I had already checked that and there are none on the island of Kauai.

Brian

I should have paid more attention to your post title. My bad.

[domaz]

That's probably going to be a difficult ask, Kauai is a pretty small sleepy island compared to the other Hawaiian islands. If you just need to develop that can probably be done pretty easily in just about any bathroom though if you do tank development. One thing that might help is weighing out and mixing your own powdered developer (D-72 maybe) in a small quantity and shipping it to yourself. Same for fixer- just use Thiosulfate crystals and make a basic fixer. Use vinegar or water for stop bath.

[bmikiten]

I'm hoping to order developer and fixer and ship it to our friend in advance. I can use BTZS tubes to develop but was hoping to have a true darkroom. The house we are renting has (of course) a ton of windows.

Brian

[domaz]

I'm hoping to order developer and fixer and ship it to our friend in advance. I can use BTZS tubes to develop but was hoping to have a true darkroom. The house we are renting has (of course) a ton of windows.

Brian

If you are in a rural area Hawaiian nights are very dark. I stayed on a remote AirBnb on the big island and the amount of stars you can see there is nothing short of staggering.

[mike rosenlof]

yes nights can be dark, but the moon or neighbors can be bright. I think the OP needs to have an option for processing in daylight (at least not total darkness) to be successful. BTZS tubes can probably do the job, but open trays probably not if there's no windowless room.

I took 4x5 to Hawaii Island last month. No problems with TSA inspections, 2 factory sealed film boxes on the way there, 3 unsealed boxes of unexp, normal, and -1 dev film on the way home. They swabbed the boxes and I was done. This was the pre-check line. Your experience may vary, but it went fine for me.

[bmikiten]

I would agree about the TSA. I took about 20 rolls of 120 to Yosemite (shooting 617) two weeks ago and had no issues at all. I'm thinking that I'll just bring boxes of 4x5, a changing tent and load on-site. I just would prefer to process there if at all possible.

Brian

[Two23]

If all you're wanting to do is process film my strategy has been to use a stearman SP445. I load it at night in either a windowless bathroom with lights off in adjoining room, or in a closet with lights off in adjoining room. I once loaded the SP-445 in the walk-in freezer at a local restaurant! Totally dark in there. Once you have the SP-445 loaded you're good. It's very compact and a great travel solution.


Kent in SD