The Darkroom Cookbook Forum

Thank you. Keeping my fingers crossed for a smooth path to print!

Steve, Amazon has the 5th edition listed for an October release. Is that correct?

https://www.amazon.com/Darkroom-Cookboo ... 1032404868

Thank you, Steve. I figured it was either to ensure water circulation or to avoid scratches. Thank you for the detailed explanation!

That looks kind of like air bubbles during development to me. Is that top edge parallel to the spiral on your reel? I get something similar on 120 if I'm not giving the tank a good rap to dislodge them. The bubbles displace the developer and make the neg thinner along the reel.

And finally never ever place the face of a print (silver side) against the back of a print. Always stack them in the tray back-to-back (non-silver paper base) and face to face (silver coated side to silver coated side). This is of extreme importance to proper washing. I have seen this recommendatio...

Hello folks. I recently typed up my developer for paper negatives: https://hellothisistim.com/blog/pnd-paper-negative-divided-developer/ The process has two goals: control contrast, and maximize acutance. I'm getting paper negs that print nicely with a grade 2 filter. It was a long path to get here,...

I haven't shot any xray film, but I've shot a lot of paper negatives and litho film. I believe the density problem is similar. I'd look to more dilution on the developer before I'd start trying fiddly stuff like cold or restrainers. For litho film, I'm using a developer (Bill Troop's TDLC-103) that'...

Re: On the subject of bellows Does anyone know where one can get bellows replaced or how make a bellows. I have a Super Chromega D, Dichroic enlarger that needs a new bellows. Thanks for any info, Constantine JB Harlan (I believe this is the same JB Harlan that was posting above, yes?) has these be...

Lots of folks like the Massive Dev Chart for this. But I actually prefer trial and error. Take your best guess, make a print, and see how it goes. If you're struggling with shadows, give the film more exposure next time. If it's too contrasty, develop less. If it's too flat, develop for longer.

Yes, the developer recipes are all to make a stock solution, which is often diluted for use.

Thanks for the recommendation. I do have that book. It's a great resource. I still make terrible gums. Maybe my magic chicken bone needs a recharge.

Thank you very much Mr. Anchell, and please pass my thanks along to Ms. Enfield. I think hers is the only book on alt process that I haven't read yet. By this metric I'm massively overexposing my gums. Am currently struggling with the gum just dissolving off the paper during a 15 minute face-down so...

Hi folks. Can anyone offer an approximation of how their gum exposure times relate to the exposure times for cyanotype with the same UV source? Same? Half? Double?

Richard, I've had good results with Troops TDLC-103 from page 133 of the FDC, 2nd ed. I'm using half a gram of metol and getting good results with Arista litho film. Troop recommends minimal agitation on page 133 and I agree.

Actually, two bleach questions. I'm using the rehalogenating bleach from p332 of the Cookbook 4th ed. with thiocarbamide toner and loving the splits I see using short bleach times. I've been pouring it back in the bottle and keeping it for the next session. It seems to be working fine. Does the blea...

Hi Richard,

I think that you'll find scanning is much more flexible than the photo papers that were available when that book was published. Either of those targets should work. As long as the scanner can get light through the brightest bits, you're good to go.

I won't pretend to be an expert here, but I have used a cold-light adapted Omega D2 for a while. I never owned a stabilizer and didn't see a need for one in my printing. I have used both graded paper and variable-contrast and both work fine. My thermo unit switch doesn't have an indicator light on i...

Thank you so much for sharing this. It takes all the mental gymnastics out of being zone-y!

Todd, it should be option B. He's recommending the total volume of the diluted developer, not the amount of stock.

Thanks Steve. There's so much completely wrong information about film photography in the internet. It makes me wonder how many people who post have actually done any darkroom work. By the way, thank you once more for the Darkroom Cookbook. This week, I rescued a box of lightly fogged paper by adding...

Does anyone here have any data (or can point to any research) about latent image fading? I read somewhere on the internet (APUG, perhaps, can't remember) that latent images on film/paper fade over time if you wait to process them. I convinced myself that I saw latent image fading in my larger format...

Thank you! The Darkroom Cookbook has been an amazing reference. Thanks for all the work you do to make the book happen.

It's not quite the same application, but I'm using a homebrew divided MQ developer with paper negatives and litho film. I started dividing the developer looking for a way to limit the paper neg contrast and get some compensating action. Modern developer-incorporated paper emulsions make that tricky ...

Congratulations to both of you! We're looking forward to reading it.

That makes a lot of sense. Thank you for breaking it down for me!

-t