The Darkroom Cookbook Forum

sanchell wrote: ↑Sat Jun 08, 2019 11:53 am Prints should be kept with their backs facing backs and emulsion facing emulsion. Never wash prints with the emulsion facing the back of another print.

I read this everywhere, but I've never seen anyone explain why. What's so bad about having prints back to front?

Bill Troop and I are including several formulas in the 2nd Edition of the Film Developing Cookbook, which is within a few weeks of going to the publisher.

Very glad to hear that little tidbit!

I suppose it makes sense that manufacturers are coating the same emulsion on both RC and FB. I hadn't made the connection myself. I love this forum for the collection of first-hand knowledge in all of your heads. Seems like every other place for chemical photography on the web is a collection of fol...

Ah, so I'm not losing my mind! Why on earth would anyone want to machine process fiber-based paper?! I have a 5-pack of Adox MCC 110, I'll give that a try. I've been curious about Opie's silver mirroring technique, but it's completely invisible in online photos of her work. Maybe one day I'll run in...

I've tried Formulary's polysulfide toner twice now on Fomatone, with no change in image tone. Well, that's not precisely true. The first time I saw, or thought I saw, a nearly impreceptible move toward red compared to the untoned print. The second time, I got an ever-so-slight-but-possibly-imaginary...

I have both an early edition and the most current. It hasn't gotten anything but better. The current edition is more comprehensive, more reviewed for errors, and includes tips and tricks from a more diverse selection of photographers than the earlier one.

A quick update: I am now routinely mixing this with no carbonate or bromide in the stock. I add them directly to the tray when printing. Being able to do a divided D-72 is nifty for messing around with paper negatives. The metol, sulfite and hydroquinone seem to keep pretty well. I had a batch that ...

Asking questions is never stupid. I use grease pencil (a.k.a. china marker.) It comes off with a bit of rubbing if you need to change the label. Sharpie marker works if the bottle is dry, but it's... permanent, you know? Later, you can cover up the marker with a piece of masking tape. Again, the bot...

It turns out this flexible MQ developer things is a way deeper rabbit-hole than I expected. This last batch of MQ without restrainer or accelerator got me to thinking... The Cookbook has a formula for divided D-23 which is pretty simple -- just put the carbonate in a separate tray. Could I do the sa...

I've been through two batches now and it seems to work well. It keeps just as well as Dektol. Just last night I mixed a batch with absolutely no carbonate or bromide in the stock, thinking that way I can get maximum flexibility when adding them later. I'm curious to see if it keeps okay with only th...

What are you folks using for paper negs these days? I'm almost at the end of my stash of old Ilford MGIV and so I'm looking around for a new paper to adopt for paper negs. I've tried the new Ilford MG, Ilford's MG RC paper, and Unibrom's single-weight grade 2. They are all developer-incorporated pap...

If you do try it, perfesserkev, please let me know how it goes. I struggled to find simple directions for mixing tray-strength. And now that I've used it a few times, I'm sorely tempted to do some rounding-off, even though I would deviate from the original formulas. I'm curious to hear how other pri...

That's a great idea. Thanks for the tip! I'll have to keep my eyes open when the students are moving out of the dorms next month.

Happy to help!

I remember seeing pictures of a temporary show where the photographer clipped his big prints to 1" thick cardboard and pretty much covered the interior of the space he took over. It looked pretty cool. Wish I could remember his name...

Have you considered hanging them with bulldog clips?

It can give a sort of, "oh, welcome to my studio, here are some things I've been working on" kind of feel. They don't even need mats. Your prints are certainly big enough to stand on their own.

I've fallen in love with Foma's Fomatone FB paper. The color is lovely and the surface is so lush, but I'm having a terrible time with dry-down. My wet print looks perfect with good detail in the darks and creamy hilights. But once it's dry, the blacks are inky and the hilights are grey, even when I...

Last month I finally mixed up some MQ Flex. I've tried it as D-72 for paper negatives and as Defender 55D for prints on Fomatone. It seems to work just fine. I haven't tried D-52 yet. Happily, it seems to be keeping well, too. Here's my cheat-sheet with mixing and dilution instructions: https://docs...

You wouldn't know it from the coverage, but the amazing Jolene Lupo ( http://jolenelupo.com/ ) was also there assisting Berliner. These were from her Instagram feed: https://www.instagram.com/p/BRUc5XfB3Am/?taken-by=jolenelupo&hl=en https://www.instagram.com/p/BRZZNcNhHCX/?taken-by=jolenelupo&am...

Hi Andy, thanks for your reply. I've gone looking for information on Patrick Gainer's developer base. He's shared a remarkable amount of articles with us. Hopefully I'll find the one you're remembering. In the meantime it's nice to know there's some precedent for my silliness. The vitamin-C develope...

Recently, I did some comparisons between the various MQ developer recipes listed in the Cookbook. I discovered that, when you rework the formulas to express the quantities in grams per gram of metol, D-72 (Dektol), D-52 (Selectol), and Defender 55-D have the exact same proportions of metol to sulfit...

That is great news. I'm looking forward to seeing the 2nd edition.

Right then, 20 years it is. Thank you for replying, Mr. Anchell. I assume you're using an ammonium thiosulfate fix, is that correct? Let me also add a grateful side note... Thank you for writing the cookbook. Knowing what's in my soup gives me increased control over my process and also frees me from...

Hello all, this is my first post to the forum. I am a recent convert to the all-alkaline printing process and am hoping those of you who are more experienced with it can help me verify my process. I have been using TF-2 instead of a rapid alkaline formula because, well, I have a stock of sodium thio...