Instructions for Photo I A25 on Friday 10 17 14
Setting Up The Darkroom
- Make sure the two large sodium vapor lights are on. The two light switches (one for each light) are located on the wall behind our main paper safe, a bit to the right of the paper safe. To avoid confusion, note that these switches are very close to a pair of electrical outlets. If you walk into the darkoom and it looks as it does when we are normally in the midst of a darkroom work session, that means these lights are already on, so you won’t have to do anything right now. Photo I A25 students: The lights should be all set when you arrive. These instructions are “just in case.”
- Make sure the white fluorescent lights in the darkroom are off, and have been turned off by having the single mechanical switch flipped down into the “off” position. This switch is on the same wall as the safelight switches, but far over to the right (behind a large old enlarger on a wheeled cart: be careful!). It is labeled, as is another switch: please read the labels!! Again, Photo I A25 students: The lights should be all set when you arrive. These instructions are “just in case” – but do check that the mechanical switch for the white overhead lights is down, in the “off” position.
- Remove the plexiglass covers from the stop bath and fixer (second and third) trays, and place those covers edgewise on the floor, leaning up against the plumbing pipes at the short end of the darkroom sink. (They should be mainly vertical, just leaning a bit against these pipes, so that they’re out of your way but are stable.)
- Pour the entire contents of the brown “accordion” bottle (so-called because of its bellows-like pleated construction) into the developer tray. (This bottle is, in fact, sitting in the bottom of the developer tray.
- Find the beakers with tongs in them and take out one each of the tongs for:
1. developer; 2. stop bath; 3. fixer; 4. water — and place the appropriate tong carefully in each tray: lean each as securely as possible in the corner.
- When you actually begin to print and process prints, turn on the running water by pulling the yellow-handled (I know: you can’t see colors in there!) lever located just alongside and above the developer tray into a partially downward position. Note that it doesn’t have to be pulled all the way down: the rotary wash may work better if the water is NOT on full-force.
That’s it in terms of setting up, but there are a few more reminders and very important tips and information on procedures on the next page:
Getting to Work in The Darkroom
- Take your folder out from the bin next door in A-108.
- Get out any negative you’re planning to use today, along with your notebook, where you record important information relating to your prints: enlarger number, height of enlarger, f-stop used, exposure time(s) used, etc.; you’ve also got important notes on the printing procedure in your notebook to which you should refer (!): bring this notebook (but not the folder) with you, along with your negative(s), into the darkroom.
- In the darkroom, the counter with the paper cutter is a dry area, as are all the enlarger stations. DO NOT put any wet prints (or anything else wet) on these counters.
- When you take photo paper out of the paper safe, make sure you don’t leave any other paper lying around outside of the safe.
- You MAY bring partially-washed test strips and prints out from the darkroom into the workroom, but DO NOT put them down on any surface, and MAKE SURE they drip only on to the floor. The point of all this is to speed up your work process. For instance: You cannot assess a test strip in the darkroom: it’s too dark in there! But if you wash a print at least 15 seconds in the running water, you can take it out with one hand (keeping the other one clean to operate the darkroom door), then exit the darkroom and evaluate the various exposure times as you look at the test strip in the workroom (or classroom). You thus avoid having to wait the full 3 minute wash time. Of course, when you’re done looking at the test strip or print, put it back into the running water wash to complete the 3 minute wash. Then wash your hands before doing anything else. CHEMICAL CONTAMINATION IS A BIG DEAL! You may not be able to see it right away, but it will cause all sorts of problems. DO NOT SQUEEGEE ANY PRINT THAT IS NOT FULLY WASHED; DO NOT PUT ANY PRINT THAT IS NOT FULLY WASHED ON THE DRYING RACK! So . . . if you plan to take any print or test strip out of the darkroom before it is fully washed, note that you will not be squeegee-ing it at this point, and it will be dripping. Again, that’s OK, so long as it’s dripping only on the floor.
- Don’t expose any more photo paper with fewer than 8-10 minutes left in class.
- Make sure that all prints are fully washed, out of the running water, and on a drying rack without any overlapping by the end of class.
- Turn off the running water!!
- Put all dry work, such as your negatives, along with your notebooks, back in your folder, and return your folder to the proper section of the first bin in A-109.
Mounting Pinhole Negatives/Prints on Mat Board
I suggest that everyone continue with printing, rather than with mounting prints, UNLESS you are completely done with all the printing of the pinhole images that you are using. IF that printing is complete, proceed:
- If you feel fully confident in your understanding of the rubber cementing instructions last class, you may proceed with that process, noting the following:
- Several items that you will need are in bins that you’ll find in the vertical cabinet located towards the back of the classroom, very close to the workroom door. The bins are labeled, and most of the bins you’ll be looking for are towards the right-hand side of the cabinet. These items include:
metal rulers
pencils
rubber cement
X-Acto knives for trimming prints: note that I gave some important safety instructions in class, and that these are reviewed and illustrated in the film (posted on the Photo I website near the top) that goes over this whole process in great detail): If you aren’t confident of how to proceed, please watch the film!
Cutting mats are located on a small grey metal two-drawer file cabinet that you’ll find on the counter near the window – a bit to the right of the big vertical cabinet with all the bins.
Black mat board cut to the size we’re using —8 x 14 inches —along with newsprint paper to be used as slipsheets for the matting process —is located on the front table that has the paper cutter on it. (Don’t trim your prints with the paper cutter: ignore it!)
An overview of the matting process, using the dry-to-dry method of rubber cementing, is on the next page:
Overview of the dry-to-dry rubber cementing process
- Make sure both negative and print are squared-off, meaning that you’ve carefully done whatever trimming is required to ensure that all four corners are true right angles.
- Decide which print will go on the left, which on the right.
- Take a piece of the 8 x 14 mat board. Place your positive and negative as a single unit (with no space between the two pieces of paper) into the top left corner of the mat board. Measure the remaining space below the images, and divide this distance in two: this tells you how large the top and bottom borders should be. Now measure the remaining space to the right of the images, and divide this distance by two: this tells you how large the left and right borders will be. Write down these two numbers (e.g., in your notebook, or on a piece of scrap paper: whatever works!)
- Place your two prints (with no space between them) in as centered a fashion as you can on the matboard. First concentrate on one direction (e.g., centering side-to-side), then on the other (e.g., centering top-to-bottom). Then, double check your placement with reference to the distances you calculated in the previous step: use the ruler! Make any necessary adjustments.
- With a pencil, lightly trace around the two prints to make a rectangular outline on the mat board of the shape you’ll need to rubber cement (the area where your pinhole positive and negative will go). You may find it helpful to put something small but relatively heavy on the images as you do this, to hold them in place.
- Take the prints off the board. Double check that the rectangle you’ve lightly drawn looks well-centered and truly rectangular!
- Spread a thin but complete coat of rubber cement in this rectangular area. Make sure that the rubber cement comes completely up to all the edges of your drawn rectangle.
- Spread similarly thin but complete coats of rubber cement on the back of your two images (positive and negative), while they lie face down on a table. You should end up with just a bit of rubber cement on the table on all four edges of each print/negative: otherwise, you probably will not have cemented right up to all the edges.
- Wait just a little while until all the rubber cemented are pretty dry. They’ll look less shiny when they are dry. Note that they’ll still be a bit sticky: that’s OK.
- Take a piece of newsprint paper from the pile near the paper cutter. You’ll use this as a slip sheet as follows: Place this paper on the your mat board, covering most but not all of the rubber-cemented area. Leave just a small strip of rubber cement uncovered. Now, hover your print or negative above this paper. Try to stand directly above your work, so that your judgment about lining up the print or negative with the top edge and a side edge of the rectangle you’ve drawn is accurate. You can rest the part of the print or negative closest to you on the slip sheet, while you check the placement of the image as carefully as possible. The point of using the slip sheet is to allow for this resting of the print or negative safely, without having the rubber-cemented back of the print come into contact with the rubber cement on the mat board. If such contact is made before the print is placed properly (e.g., when it is crooked), you then may end up destroying your print when you try to remove it with the intention of repositioning it!
- When you think your print or negative is in the right position, allow the top edge of the print to touch down on the rubber-cemented area on the mat board. Press down this top edge a bit, and then hold as you pull out the newsprint paper (aka the slipsheet).
- Use the heel of your hand to burnish (press/rub) the print completely (from top to bottom, side to side) down on the board to ensure good smooth adhesion.
- Repeat these last couple of steps with whichever remains, your print or your negative. At this point, the main concern is to make sure the two inner edges of your positive and negative line up nicely, touching but NOT overlapping!
- When both positive and negative are fully attached, use a finger to rub off any excess rubber cement on the mat board, and/or on the print and negative, and/or on the table.
- Put the names of all group members, along with your class designation (e.g., Photo I A25) and the particular concepts you’re addressing with this image (e.g., “Ghost image”) on the back of the mat board. Try to do so keeping the orientation of the imagery in mind. (That way, you’ll help ensure that I look at, and display, your work the right way.