Preparing a Darkroom and Developing a Photo

Complete Materials

Safelight
4 Printing Tongs
Graduated Cylinder
4 Processing Trays
2 Storage bottles
Funnel
Chemicals needed
- 1 bottle of Developer
- 1 bottle of Fixer
Photo Paper
Safety Goggles
Disposable gloves

A darkroom is what it sounds like, a room where there is absolutely no light, not even from the cracks in the door. If you do not have a darkroom available, you can transform a room you do have into one fairly easily.

To create a dark room, choose a room where the least amount of light, preferably one without any windows. The room should have enough room for two or three people to move around, should have a countertop big enough to put the cameras, the trays, and the chemicals without being too crowded, and should have a nearby outlet to plug in the safelight. If there is a sink nearby, that would complete it.

To block out the light, use black plastic sheeting to cover the door frame completely and block out the light. Use towels as well to block out the light in the crack under the door. When all of this is in place, there should be no light at all. Once this is achieved, you can turn on the safelight which emits a harmless light that won't hurt the photographs.

To Develop the Photographs

Preparing the chemicals:

Place the four trays side by side on the counter and label them Develop, Stop, Fixer, Wash so you can keep their order and function straight. Place one printing tong in front of each tray.

Mix the developer and fixer with water according to the instructions they have. They will ask for a certain ratio of water to chemical, and be sure that however much of the final solution you use, that ratio is correct.

Place the developer-water solution in the Develop Tray and the fixer-water solution in the Fixer Tray. Both the Stop and Wash trays should have plain water.

Developing the Image

Wear safety goggles and disposable gloves while developing the photo.

Never touch the tongs of one tray to another tray.

Once the room is only lit by the safelight, you can open the camera. Take the printing tong of the Develop tray and carefully take the image from the camera. Place the image face up in the Develop Tray and drop it in. Agitate the solution by gently rocking the tray back and forth to keep new solution flowing over the image. The more you do this, the better the image will come out. Though the light from the safelight, you should start to see the image darken and take form about fifteen seconds in.

After this, take the image with the tongs again and drop it into the next tray, Stop. Don't touch the tongs of the Develop Tray to the water in the Stop tray, and keep the photo submerged with the tongs corresponding the Stop tray. Again, submerge it for about thirty seconds, then take the image and drop it into the next tray; Fixer.

The fixer will stop the image from being affected by sunlight. Using Fixer's tongs, submerge the image for sixty seconds. As you wait, agitate the solution as you did with the developer. Afterwards, drop the image into the next tray, Wash.

This tray is to wash off the remaining chemicals. Using Wash's tongs, keep the image submerged for two minutes, then take it out and hang it to dry.

Clean Up:

The Stop and Wash drains can be poured down the drain. Use the funnel to pour the Developer Solution into a bottle. Label it Developer Solution. The same can be done for the Fixer Solution.

Rinse everything you used and the outside of all the bottles.

If you want to get rid of the solutions, the Developer solution can be poured down the drain ONLY after its been diluted four times with water. The remaining Fixer solution can be disposed of by being taken to a hazardous waste service.