Discovering a digital darkroom
This is the last black and white photo that I remember processing and developing in a darkroom.
Actually, the darkroom was one that I had built from scratch in our basement in 1994. It took about 6 months to construct and outfit so that I could process and develop black and white prints.
Ironically, I enjoyed the process of constructing the darkroom almost as much as using it. Then something else came along that caused me to abandon it altogether.
Digital Dodging and Burning
When I was introduced to Adobe Photoshop it was a geeky revelation. Everything that I did in the darkroom could be done using this revolutionary photo software program. It was an end to mixing chemicals and ensuring they were at the right temperature.
No more dodging and burning the photo with a piece of wire and a cut-out circle. Photoshop achieved the same effect digitally with greater precision.
A year after building my darkroom it transformed into a storage area.
Interestingly, there are numerous articles suggesting that film and darkroom photography is poised to return as art form. For those of us who learned the old-school way it's an intriguing idea to go back into the dark.
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