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| Colour print on Fuji Crystal Archive Lustre - Pauline Woolley 2015 |
I never thought I would ever have the chance to print up a colour negative in a darkroom. I assumed that my boat had passed and the process would always stay a mystery in my mind or I would see it become a hard to follow demonstration on youtube. But this is where Dan Wheeler's vision and enthusiasm has given the likes of me the chance to be involved in a workshop where all is revealed.
Thank you The Photo Parlour.
Firstly we looked at some colour photographs that Dan had printed for his project based on the Normanton area of Derby. He explained the difficulty in shooting colour film in settings where day light and artificial light clashed. He talked about how these colour casts were balanced in the darkroom and how you start to train your eyes to see these on the prints.
Before heading in the darkroom, the Kreonite RA4 colour print processor was shown to us. I work daily with a first generation Ilford 2150RC black and white processor so I understand what work horses this type of equipment is. If you give them all the respect and love you can warrant they repay you kindly.
In the darkroom, Dan demonstrated the whole print process. From a 5 x 4 negative he produced a test strip to work out the exposure time. From here we moved on to looking at the colour cast on the confirmation strip. Each time a confirmation strip came out we all studied it and discussed what we thought in relation to the previous strip and what filters would need changing and by how much. Dan has a lot of knowledge and experience but he always manages to make you feel you that you are on the same level which makes these workshops enjoyable.
Then it was my turn. To work completely in the dark. My 35mm negative was popped into the enlarger. The paper easel was checked, focusing, timer, filters and before I knew it I was heading to the Kreonite to place my test strip in for processing. A very nice leisurely 4 minutes later and I saw my test strip appear. I would have been happy to have gone home with that in my bag. But no, from there it was confirmation strips and looking for those colour casts and addressing them before moving onto a working print to take home. I found the whole introductory process a thrilling experience.
For 10 years I have seen black and white images in the darkroom emerge and I still find great joy and magic in that.
To see a colour print come out was something else entirely. Brilliant.
