Darkroom Musings II - Dust & Scratch
All too familiar
After one hour of shooting, my client gave me this wonderful look and I just pressed the shutter in the right moment. Her expression was perfect, and the Kodak TMAX100 negative turned out to display perfect tonality. Her expression was conserved forever.
Into the Darkroom
Of course I would deliver this image to her and after a test print in the darkroom I recognized some dust spots. To save spotting afterwards, I lifted the condenser of my Leitz Focomat Ic a little bit and pulled the negative out. I instantly realized my mistake: the metal frame of the film carrier scratched the negative.
On the one hand this was a moment of frustration, on the one hand it served as an important reminder to myself: Analog photography is real - it is a process that requires attentiveness and precision.
After one hour of shooting, my client gave me this wonderful look and I just pressed the shutter in the right moment. Her expression was perfect, and the Kodak TMAX100 negative turned out to display perfect tonality. Her expression was conserved forever.
A special model on Kodak T-MAX 100
The Darkroom Takes, the Darkroom Gives
Of course I would deliver this image to her and after a test print in the darkroom I recognized some dust spots. To save spotting afterwards, I lifted the condenser of my Leitz Focomat Ic a little bit and pulled the negative out. I instantly realized my mistake: the metal frame of the film carrier scratched the negative.
On the one hand this was a moment of frustration, on the one hand it served as an important reminder to myself: Analog photography is real - it is a process that requires attentiveness and precision.
The scratch
The Darkroom Takes, the Darkroom Gives
Of course I printed the image anyways: with the scratch. Was it ruined? Absolutely not: After some spotting my mistake was barely visible and I handed a happy client some wonderful portraits of her.
Analog photography and darkroom printing is a three dimensional process with room for mistakes. The prints and negatives are always organic - craft pieces for real humans in a real world.
What are you waiting for? Start printing!
