Does it matter what colour I paint my darkroom?

Seriously. Any thoughts on this. So far it's different shades of gray. I
know Ctein drapes his in black plastic claiming it sucks up the dust. Thx.

In article wDw3c.9670$Up2.7652@pd7tw1no, "SofaKing"
wrote:

Seriously. Any thoughts on this. So far it's different shades of gray. I
know Ctein drapes his in black plastic claiming it sucks up the dust. Thx.

So drape your darkroom with white plastic in the wet area, and black in the dry.

.....Ebony and Ivory....together in perfect harmony...side by side by my
piano keyboard...zzzzzzzz.


"jjs" wrote in message
...
In article wDw3c.9670$Up2.7652@pd7tw1no, "SofaKing"
wrote:

Seriously. Any thoughts on this. So far it's different shades of gray. I
know Ctein drapes his in black plastic claiming it sucks up the dust.
Thx.

So drape your darkroom with white plastic in the wet area, and black in
the dry.

I'm building my first darkroom now and this is what I've gathered off the
'net. At least this makes the most sense to me.

If your darkroom is "light tight" then it doesn't matter what color it is
since it can't reflect light if there is none. However it might be safer to
keep the area within about four feet of your enlarger black to avoid
reflections off the wall from your enlarger onto the paper.

Yes, this makes sense. But the rest probably not too dark...the reflected
safelight will help in navigating the semi-darkness.


If your darkroom is "light tight" then it doesn't matter what color it is
since it can't reflect light if there is none. However it might be safer to
keep the area within about four feet of your enlarger black to avoid
reflections off the wall from your enlarger onto the paper

Flat black on the wall and ceiling near the enlarger -- white
everywhere else.

Chris Ellinger
Ann Arbor, MI

My darkroom, situated in my garage away from all walls, measures 5 x 6 feet
and the walls are particle board sheets with 2 x 4 wood framing. Since I
love the smell of wood, I did not paint any of the wood and I've not
experienced any adverse affect while printing with my enlarger. Thus, I do
not see any reason to paint a darkroom black unless there is a distinct
circumstance that someone else might have a problem with in their own
environment.




"SofaKing" wrote in message
news:wDw3c.9670$Up2.7652@pd7tw1no...
Seriously. Any thoughts on this. So far it's different shades of gray. I
know Ctein drapes his in black plastic claiming it sucks up the dust. Thx.

"tm" wrote:

I did not paint any of the wood and I've not
experienced any adverse affect while printing
with my enlarger. Thus, I do not see any reason
to paint a darkroom black ...

There are several sources of 'stray light' (light you don't
want) when enlarging:

1) Light leaking from the enlarger

a) negative carrier
b) lamp housing
c) lens board or lens turret

2) Light leaking (not quite the right word) from the lens

a) internal lens reflections (not a big deal w/ coating)
b) Imaging of inside of the lit (by the negative) portions
of the lens bellows/cone and negative carrier. If possible
twist your head and take a look up the lens - scary.

3) Light reflected from the paper, illuminating the room,
especially the ceiling and hence the paper. If you have
a white ceiling take a look up when enlarging.

The result is that the whole area around the enlarger is well
illuminated with white light - if your darkroom was this light
you _know_ your paper would fog.

The effect is variable:

The effect from (1) is proportional to the exposure time and
negative density - the amount of fogging light is constant and
the longer the exposure time the more fog.

The effects of (2) may change with head height as more of the
light falls on the enlarger column or room walls.

But generally the fog from (2) and (3) are constant for all
negatives and magnifications: they are proportional to the
amount of light-seconds to expose the paper which, if
paper sensitivity is fixed, is generally constant.

In sum, just about all the fogging light hitting the paper
first bounces off the ceiling and walls. Painting them
black will reduce the amount of fog. (3) light from the
enlarging paper, and often the greatest contributor, can
only be mitigated by painting walls and ceilings black.
Reducing (2b) requires a bit of flocking/painting inside the
enlarger.

Now, how much does this matter?

If you are making murals you will find it is almost
impossible to get clear highlight. The light leaking
from the enlarger, that has no effect in a 20 second
exposure, fogs mightily in a 10 minute exposure. Also
the entire darkroom becomes the enlarger's cubicle and
would need to be painted black to keep fog down.

Can you see it? Do you care? Only one way to find out:

1) put a clear negative in the carrier, place
two overlapping coins/opaque things in the
center of the paper.

2) make a middle grey exposure

3) place a coin on the center of the clear film in
the carrier. The coin should not cover more
than 1/3 the negative area.

4) Remove one of the coins in (1)

5) Make another exposure equal to (2)

6) Develop

7) Any difference between the overlapping coins is the
highlight effect. Any difference in the shadow of
the removed coin is the mid-tone effect.

--
Nicholas O. Lindan, Cleveland, Ohio
Consulting Engineer: Electronics; Informatics; Photonics.
psst.. want to buy an f-stop timer? nolindan.com/da/fstop/

For a black and white darkroom I would suggest yellow rather than white (the
yellow of the Saunders easels) it reflects almost as much light as a white
wall but less of the (bad) blue part of the spectrum. And black of course,
but just around the enlarger.

--
darkroommike

----------
"SofaKing" wrote in message
news:wDw3c.9670$Up2.7652@pd7tw1no...
Seriously. Any thoughts on this. So far it's different shades of gray. I
know Ctein drapes his in black plastic claiming it sucks up the dust. Thx.

During the last eight months, I have made 5 x 7 and 8 x 10 prints of my
father's approximately 500 b&w negatives of me and my siblings from
childhood to adult years in my garage darkroom with the aforementioned
unpainted wood walls and have obtained perfect images with absolutely no
discernible problems from any source anywhere within that enclosed
environment.


"Nicholas O. Lindan" wrote in message
. net...
"tm" wrote:

I did not paint any of the wood and I've not
experienced any adverse affect while printing
with my enlarger. Thus, I do not see any reason
to paint a darkroom black ...

There are several sources of 'stray light' (light you don't
want) when enlarging:

1) Light leaking from the enlarger

a) negative carrier
b) lamp housing
c) lens board or lens turret

2) Light leaking (not quite the right word) from the lens

a) internal lens reflections (not a big deal w/ coating)
b) Imaging of inside of the lit (by the negative) portions
of the lens bellows/cone and negative carrier. If possible
twist your head and take a look up the lens - scary.

3) Light reflected from the paper, illuminating the room,
especially the ceiling and hence the paper. If you have
a white ceiling take a look up when enlarging.

The result is that the whole area around the enlarger is well
illuminated with white light - if your darkroom was this light
you _know_ your paper would fog.

The effect is variable:

The effect from (1) is proportional to the exposure time and
negative density - the amount of fogging light is constant and
the longer the exposure time the more fog.

The effects of (2) may change with head height as more of the
light falls on the enlarger column or room walls.

But generally the fog from (2) and (3) are constant for all
negatives and magnifications: they are proportional to the
amount of light-seconds to expose the paper which, if
paper sensitivity is fixed, is generally constant.

In sum, just about all the fogging light hitting the paper
first bounces off the ceiling and walls. Painting them
black will reduce the amount of fog. (3) light from the
enlarging paper, and often the greatest contributor, can
only be mitigated by painting walls and ceilings black.
Reducing (2b) requires a bit of flocking/painting inside the
enlarger.

Now, how much does this matter?

If you are making murals you will find it is almost
impossible to get clear highlight. The light leaking
from the enlarger, that has no effect in a 20 second
exposure, fogs mightily in a 10 minute exposure. Also
the entire darkroom becomes the enlarger's cubicle and
would need to be painted black to keep fog down.

Can you see it? Do you care? Only one way to find out:

1) put a clear negative in the carrier, place
two overlapping coins/opaque things in the
center of the paper.

2) make a middle grey exposure

3) place a coin on the center of the clear film in
the carrier. The coin should not cover more
than 1/3 the negative area.

4) Remove one of the coins in (1)

5) Make another exposure equal to (2)

6) Develop

7) Any difference between the overlapping coins is the
highlight effect. Any difference in the shadow of
the removed coin is the mid-tone effect.

--
Nicholas O. Lindan, Cleveland, Ohio
Consulting Engineer: Electronics; Informatics; Photonics.
psst.. want to buy an f-stop timer? nolindan.com/da/fstop/