I'd like to start this thread to capture the accumulated experience and knowledge of contributors. Working in the darkroom can be a fatiguing and tiring experience, especially for beginners and those who have only a temporary darkroom but also for old hands who simply take the darkroom grind for granted.

For me, the big productivity improvements came when I got a Nova slot processor and figured out that I should make a series of test prints simultaneously on a large sheet of paper, masking each part.

There are others, such as rigourously standardizing on the paper and developers you use, standardizing the film type, having a paper safe for the exposed prints to accumulate in so you can batch process them, getting a focusing "wand" and myriad other ideas learned the hard way.

I'm now trying to figure out how to do all work sitting ( perhaps a motorized enlarger?) without moving around, if at all possible, much like a person at an office desk or a digital darkroom.

Your contributions and ideas are solicited...

-- Mani Sitaraman (bindumani@pacific.net.sg), February 15, 2001

Answers

I've had an all-sitting darkroom for 30 years or so, and I'm sure I couldn't have pulled off the long printing sessions I've done without it. There's no particular trick to it - you just use tables the right height for an office chair that you can turn and roll a few feet from here to there. My room has the enlarger at one end, with the wet table on my right and the dry side to the left. The working portion of the dry side consists of a table holding a rotary trimmer and so forth and some shelves with easels, etc. On the wall immediately behind the enlarger is floor-to-ceiling peg board holding scissors, dodging paddles, negative carriers, brushes, etc. Everything I need is in arm's reach from the enlarger. The prints move from the paper safe beside the enlarger on the left down through the trays on the right side to the sink, where I do have to stand to wash at the end of the session. The pitfall with the sitdown darkroom is that I sit for way too long at a time. I try to make a point of standing while a print is in the fix just to keep my aging body from locking in the seated position.

-- Keith Nichols (knichols@iopener.net), February 15, 2001.

Mani - I sure love switching to my 'digital' darkroom, drinking a cup of coffee & enjoying the sun coming in the window, along with freah air and bird songs, while I work.

chris

-- Christian Harkness (chris.harkness@eudoramail.com), February 15, 2001.

Hi Mani, I've always had access to large darkrooms and understand where you are coming from. I am now in the process of setting up in a new location which at first I thought would be too small. The room is 5 feet by 7 feet and is a storage area which also contains a hot water heater. One bonus is the ceiling is 10 feet so it is not too claustrophobic another bonus is it is covered in pegboard. I am trying to do the same as far as wanting to mostly sit but also have the option to stand occasionaly. On the left side upon entering is the dry side which has a countertop with the enlarger and timer, paper safe, paper cutter and dry mount press. Under the counter on the left side is 6 screens for drying the fiber prints and to the right of that is two small double doors which can lock and have the premixed chemicals in storage bottles. On the right side upon entering is the wet side which has two rows of shelving, on the top contains the mixed chemicals, thermometers, funnel etc. The second row sticks slightly further out and contains the trays for processing the prints. Below those on the right is a archival print washer sitting next to a laundry tub (hot & cold water access). Next to the laundry tub is the hot water heater. Like I said I thought this would be just too small but after seeing it almost 90%complete I am really excited. I sit on a padded barstool and all the tables and developing trays and clocks are at the right height. Customization is wonderful. It might just turn out to be the best enviroment yet. We will see after a few hundred prints. Good-luck.

-- Terry Pittman (tp16mm@aol.com), February 15, 2001.

At work, I print for days at a time sometimes, and I think the most enjoyable thing is a great floor mat! One of those squishy ones that are about 3/4 to an inch thick. Of course, automation with alot of the works helps also.

-- Scott Walton (f64sw@hotmail.com), February 15, 2001.

Listening to some good music can also help. It's worth having a small boombox or mini-system in your darkroom, or perhaps a set of speakers from a full-blown component system located outside the darkroom.

If you're as eclectic as me, you'll be listening to everything from bluegrass to classical, and early jazz to classic rock... Whatever, as long as it inspires you and provides either pleasing calm or rockin' forward motion to help keep you focused.

A barstool to hop on during long enlarger exposures and tray developments also comes in handy...

-- Michael Goldfarb (mgoldfar@mobius-inc.com), February 15, 2001.

Mani, I don't know what type of enlarger you have, but if you get everything set up to where you can work sitting down, you may want to look into finding some "extensions" (I guess), for your enlarger. Like Beseler makes focusing extensions, etc. so if the head is up real high, you don't have to stretch so much to reach the knob. Durst has some stuff like this too. Mostly these are used for making large prints, but it'd work for you as well. Or an autofocus enlarger. I'm a bit like Scott, in that I do this for a living, so I don't exactly see it as a grind. Our darkroom is rather large and we are automated to a certain degree as well, but we have concrete floors, so a good anti-fatigue mat really helps. Along with a radio! At home, in my "dream" darkroom, I really hit my stride for productivity when I bought a small used table top processor. Even though I have to wash & dry outside the machine, I've become quite addicted to it for quick prints and contacts. I've got a little stereo there, along with a b&w TV (with a red filter), now if I can just get cable...I've got an enlarger set up with a closed loop type timer/enlarging meter system that helps as well. All of you all's comments remind me of when the defunct "Camera & Darkroom" magazine ran their "Show us your darkroom" contest a few years ago. I don't know if any of you remember that, but there were some pretty resourceful/cool darkrooms there. Anyways, good luck, and probably the best productivity help there is, is just routine experience, no matter how boring it may be.

-- DK Thompson (kthompson@moh.dcr.state.nc.us), February 15, 2001.

Most of the suggestions above are good. I like to have the option of sitting or standing. A good floor mat helps and a stereo is a must. I have had darkrooms in the past where I sat during paper processing but now I find that sitting interferes with dancing while paper processing. One of the things that has helped my efficiency in the darkroom is to slow down. When I used to try to take short cuts it always ended up being more work. For me the darkroom is not fatiguing, I am usually so excited about what I am doing that I run on adrenaline. When I am done I might be exhausted. I think the most important thing is to have fun while in the darkroom.

-- Jeff White (jeff@jeffsphotos.com), February 15, 2001.

I'm just so jazzed to finally have a real live space to call my darkroom - I'm about 90% finished but at least the sink works - that I get an rush just being there.

The other 10% being anti-fatigue mats which will be a big help.

Since I'm a 'family man' I usually can't start working in there until the kid is asleep and my wife doesn't need me - normally around 9:30PM. Some nights I work until 3-4 in the morning before I even realize what time it is.

-- David Parmet (david@parmet.net), February 15, 2001.

I built a darkroom as part of a new house. Every thing is set up as a darkroom, outlets at cabinet level and over the wet area. The contractor did it all. Every thing is set up for working in a office chair. Standing for a long period of time causes my lower back to go into spasm. I will stand up periodically.

Now I can work for 4 or more hours in my darkroom with little fatique. A boom box (either classic rock or classic music), wireless phone and properly sized heating/cooling ducts make the darkroom a great place to spend time and try to create. I wouldn't have a TV in there as I go in there to get away from the TV.

This darkroom is a dream come true for me after working for many years in makeshift surroundings. Now on to digital!

-- Gene Crumpler (nikonguy@worldnet.att.net), February 16, 2001.

The best thing I've ever done is to put a couple of bar stools in the darkroom. I can sit on them and completely take the weight off my legs while I rock the trays, or I can just rest my touche on it and take partial weight off for short periods such as 30 seconds while the enlarger is on. Also, working with a Thomas safelight takes a darkroom out of the dungeon.

-- Bill Mitchell (bmitch@home.com), February 16, 2001.

One thing to watch when setting up to try to do everything sitting is that if you are not careful you can cause more back problems that way than standing. You have to watch to make sure you are not twisting and reaching, this puts a tremendous strain on the back.

The rolling chair to move around works much better at preventing problems.

-- Terry Carraway (TCarraway@compuserve.com), February 17, 2001.

This isn't really a productivity suggestion, but since this has moved into the area of environment, I thought I'd add this. I'm no expert, but for comfort in your darkroom, over the long haul, you might also want to look into having good ventilation. It can make a big difference, but in ways that most people tend to overlook when designing a darkroom. After using a slot hood where I work, I am seriously considering building one in my home darkroom. Have any of you done this?

-- DK Thompson (kthompson@moh.dcr.state.nc.us), February 17, 2001.

DK,

I did a slot hood for my darkroom. But since I am an industrial hygienist by profession, I would.

I have a slot about 80% of the length of the back of the sink. I don't really know how much volume the setup I am using is doing, but I performance tested the setup with smoke, and it captures all the way to the front of the sink.

When printing, you cannot smell the stop bath unless you get your nose almost into the tray.

Overall the best way to go. I am surporsed that more darkrooms are net setup this way.

-- Terry Carraway (TCarraway@compuserve.com), February 19, 2001.

I use anti fatigue matting and a counter height sufficient not to induce back strain. Only the processing that requres darkness or safelight ilumination plus wash are done in the darkroom. This allows me to have a compact workspace that requires a minimum of walking. I tried the barstool method and found it more of a hindrance (ie climbing on & off, gets in the way etc.) I have a cd & cassette playing boom box on a high shelf and more than adequate ventilation, heating & ac.

-- Robert Orofino (rorofino@iopener.net), February 19, 2001.

Terry, thanks for the response. I've got a large fan (for dilution ventilation, less than 10 changes per hour) in my home darkroom. At work, though, we have a large professionally designed slot hood at the back of our sink. We more or less had to have this for OSHA requirements for the type of toning we do here (sepia, brown, & selenium), even though we use a print processor mostly. I just got done sepia toning for a straight week, 8-10 hrs. each day, and convinced myself that this was the way to go at home. We also have a sort of local ventilation over our deeptank, that's effective as well. How have constructed your slot, and what type of fan(s) did you end up using? I've seen some good engineering books on hood design, but am looking for a more laymen-like approach. Phototechniques had a good article about this a few years ago, too. Thanks.

-- DK Thompson (kthompson@moh.dcr.state.nc.us), February 19, 2001.

Correction: I should have said, more than 10 changes/hour...

-- DK Thompson (kthompson@moh.dcr.state.nc.us), February 19, 2001.

Slightly off topic, I would add, for making efficent use of time and productivity:

1. Nailing the initial exposure. Anything exposed beyond 1/2 stop above/below optimum exposure just causes a lot of wasted paper and time for me. Same goes for very wide or very narrow contrast ranges. I shoot my film with the darkroom in mind. A nailed exposure makes a negative fun to work with. Shoot B&W as careful as you would shoot color slide.

2. Taking Notes / Keeping Records of the standard englager heights, print size, paper types, film type, developer type, etc. Just a couple of paper types, developers, film formats or types, and print sizes creates a huge number of variables. Because I learned (eventually) to write down "standard" printing records I can go in the darkroom and quickly start making prints instead of trash. For instance I know that for a 9x13" print from 35 mm Tmax 400 printed on Ilford MG FB WT in Ilford developer requires 44 secs at f5.6 with 25 magenta at an enlarger height of 16 inches on a nikkor 50 mm lens. Right off the bat I have a real nice work print. No test strips, trash can filler, etc. I can make a print on the first try that is darn close to a finished print, requiring only dodging burning and tweaking. Keep notes on all your "standard" processes. It saves a ton of time and frustration.

-- Peter T (pete1959@pacbell.net), February 20, 2001.

Peter, not off topic at all...

-- Mani Sitaraman (bindumani@pacific.net.sg), February 20, 2001.

One thing that greatly helped for me was spending some time using a rental darkroom that had a strict three-hour time limit.

It's amazing how a forced limitation like that can improve your efficiency, not by making enormous changes to the darkroom's arrangement but instead by making you learn to judge test prints more accurately and arrive at a final print with less experimentation.

Of course all of the suggestions that others have put forth are valuable in helping streamline the process, but there's something to be said for saying to yourself "If I don't achieve the desired quality of result in X amount of time I will simply stop and come back another day." Sooner or later you'll get to the point that you can achieve a high standard of quality in a reasonable time.

-- Mark R. Wilkins (mark_wilkins@yahoo.com), March 03, 2001.