BLACK AND WHITE PHOTOGRAPHY:

Introduction to the Darkroom Development

Home	Setup	Placing the Negative	Composing and Focusing	The Test Strip	Developing	The Final Print	Final Thoughts	Links

THE SETUP

Darkroom Components	Materials
Developed black and white 35mm film, cut into strips of 5 or 6* Multigrade RC Glossy black and white 8" x 10" paper (I recommend Ilford)* cardboard/black card at least 5" x 7" grain focuser scissors/paper cutter	Enlarger/lens safe lights enlarger timer/light switch clock/timer 35mm negative carrier
(* represents materials not normally supplied in the darkroom)

Chemicals

DO NOT INGEST THE CHEMICALS, THEY ARE TOXIC.
Some people like to wear a smock or gloves, but they are not necessary. Remember to wash your hands often and DO NOT TOUCH your mouth or eyes.

The chemicals are arranged in a large sink in consecutive order:

Developer: Changes the chemical structure of the emulsion on the paper to create the dark areas on a photo.

Stop Bath: Stops the developer from working so the image doesn't get any darker.

Fixer: "Fixes" the image on the paper, making the photo light safe after 30 seconds.

Wash: A continuous flowing bath of room temperature water to rinse off excess chemicals.