[Leica] Darkroom depression

[Brougham <brougham3@yahoo.com>]

"Dan Honemann" <ddh@home.com> wrote:

> As someone who is just getting started in photography and planning on
> doing my own (B&W) processing, I'm now facing a difficult choice. Do
I
> invest my money/time in building a darkroom and learning chemicals,
or
> in buying a scanner and printer and learning PhotoShop?

Don't buy either.  Save your money.  Take a local college class that
involves B&W darkroom work.  Play around.  Decide if you like it or
not.  Then, you'll know what you want to do.

I'm thinking that I'm going to do both.  I'm looking into some co-op
darkrooms around here, and will probably buy a scanner as well.  There
is something really fun about printing your own.  Then again, printing
your own can be a real pain sometimes, too.  Especially color.  I find
color printing to be more rewarding.  But also more painful.  Then
again, I'm not nearly as good at B&W, and that's probably why.  I'd
like to improve that.

> The biggest surprise was when the guy at the lab told me that the
shot
> that would print best was one that on the contact sheet was pretty
> severely over-exposed.

If you have the information on the negative, you can print it.  It
might not be easy, but it can be done.  If you have severely
underexposed a frame, there's no info on the negative.  It doesn't
matter how long you spend printing.  :)

Have you read Ansel Adam's _The Negative_ and _The Print_?  Both
*excellent* books.


__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Send instant messages & get email alerts with Yahoo! Messenger.
http://im.yahoo.com/