DIY Photography

Your one stop shop for everything photo-video

Search

Submit A Story

Darkroom

How I turned my bedroom closet into a darkroom for $20

by Leave a Comment

A few years ago I had a great darkroom setup in my basement that I converted from a (mostly) unused bathroom. It had a wet side and a dry side, built-in exhaust, and plenty of space.

That came to an end when I sold that house and moved into an old Victorian-style home where bathrooms are a sparse thing and any plumbing in the home was an afterthought.

Not long after relocating, I started to ponder how I could possibly create a darkroom space at the new house. Of course, I had grandiose dreams of a new build that was even better than my previous space.

[Read More…]

The Dunkbot: An automated film processing machine

by Leave a Comment

If you have ever tried developing film at home, you know the joy this magical process brings. You probably also know that while processing one, two, or even five rolls is relatively easy, going large volume is not trivial.  This is where the Dunkbot comes in.

The appropriately named Dunkbot is a Kickstarter project that, well… dunks! Dunks rolls of film.

[Read More…]

How I used this crazy vintage 140mm f/1.0 lens with an ultra-large format camera

In short words “this lens is something else”. It’s extremely fast, huge and has a strange focus distance. It was used in Sony CRT Projectors from 1997. I bought it some years ago from a very interesting guy. He had so many more great stuff in his shop and I regret that I did not buy more. It took me some time to find the right opportunity to use that lens. But I think it was worth the waiting. I am glad my friend and former workshop participant Alois Stingl came over with his wonderful ultra-large format camera.

[Read More…]

I saved $250 by making my own DIY contrast filter holder for the Omega B66 enlarger

by Leave a Comment

Have you ever had a repeated inconvenience that finally makes you say to yourself “okay, I’m done with this garbage”? Well, that’s the exact feeling I had with using contrast filters on my enlarger. Anytime I wanted to use a contrast filter, I needed to use tape to hold it in place while I was printing.

The design of some Omega enlargers requires a removable “cradle” that holds the filters underneath the lens. After a bit of searching online, I found that B&H Photo sells a replacement filter holder for B series enlargers for the low low price of $269. Even used, these things are expensive. eBay had a few listed that were selling for about $79. Unwilling to part with my hard-earned cash for such a frivolous purchase I was left with the only other option- to build one myself.

[Read More…]

This pin-hole camera is its own darkroom and lets you develop film on the go

by Leave a Comment

The Pinsta Instant Camera is an interesting new pinhole camera that lets you develop and even enlarge prints using the camera as its own darkroom.

The project is currently on Kickstarter and was created by Oliver New, who believes that analogue photography is for everyone. He grew up watching his dad developing his photographs in their darkroom and wanted to share that magic with others in this digital age.

[Read More…]

If you want to learn the original art of negative retouching, this book from 1908 will teach you how

by 1 Comment

We all assume that Photoshop and the art of retouching is a fairly new phenomenon. When you think of image retouching you automatically think of celebrities made to look taller and slimmer, of blemish removal to the point of obliterating skin texture, and head swapping those pesky people that always blink in group portraits. But did you know that image retouching has been around nearly as long as photography, it was just done in a different way. This fascinating book (now in the public domain), tells you exactly how to get started if you want to retouch your images directly onto the negative.

[Read More…]

Stuck for space and want to develop film? Ilford has announced new pop-up darkroom tent

by 1 Comment

Have you ever wanted to try your hand at traditional film developing but lacked a space to set up a darkroom? Well, your problems are now over as Ilford Photo has just announced three interesting new products, including a portable pop-up darkroom tent.

[Read More…]

Ilford’s Darkroom Guide teaches you all you need to know about developing your own film

Getting started with something completely new can be overwhelming, and film developing is no exception. Film and paper manufacturer Ilford has published a series of videos that will help you to get started. From loading film to producing your very first print, this series will teach you all the basic darkroom techniques that you need to know.

[Read More…]

How to modify an Ikea clock to turn it into a red light darkroom timer

by 3 Comments

Although the darkroom isn’t quite as common as it once was, it seems to be gaining a resurgence of late. Every day I see people buying and selling darkroom equipment in Facebook groups and various online classifies. But a lot of the older electronics kit just doesn’t work anymore, and repairing it isn’t always easy, or even possible.

But, now we have plenty of other options to replace some of those electronic items, even if they need to be modified. Ikea’s Klockis, for example, is potentially an ideal little darkroom timer, but it needs modifications in order to make it safe. In this video, photographer Markus Hofstätter shows us how he modified his Klockis for use in the darkroom.

[Read More…]

This photographer put a portable wet plate darkroom on a tricycle

In the digital era, I always find it impressive when I see photographers who still use wet plate collodion process. And it’s especially impressive to see all the fun projects and DIY stuff they make. Photographer Michaël Tirat has built his own DIY portable wet plate darkroom and he put it on a tricycle. It contains everything he needs so he can cycle around Bordeaux, France with it, take photos and develop them on the spot. We’ve chatted with Michaël a bit about his interesting project. He kindly shared some details about his build, the challenges he faced, as well as some photos.

[Read More…]

Free Resources

Advanced lighting book

Recent Posts