Any ideas for simple darkroom setup in a basement? Hints or Tips?

Answer 1

I would have a couple of long Tables that are waist high like a kitchen counter, maybe 2-3 feet apart. Long enough to place your Chemical Trays in an organized fashion and store Chemicals safely under the Table so they readily available.. May have a small Sink there too. Then you can turn around and work off both tables without walking too much. At the end I may have another small Cutting Table where I can sit and work and have my Enlarger. If, you not have an Automatic Drier, then have a good Hanging Wire that easy to reach and not too high. Remember your light requirement and maybe rig something on the door so people know when you working. You could go one more step and have a small room, like a simple 4x4 to remove your Film and place it into your Developer Canister. It a simple setup. Some go all out, but, it not necessary.

Answer 2

I'm going to assume you are doing black and white printing. Your biggest challenge is water. I used to have a little darkroom in a half bathroom. I placed a piece of plywood on the toilet seat to make it wide enough for the enlarger and used a stair step developer tray holder. (It held three 8x10 trays...the top for the developer, middle stop bath and bottom for fix. I don't know if it's even made anymore but it really reduced the space I needed to perform developing of the paper prints. ) Heavy black plastic and duct tape took care of light leaks around the windows and doors. You could even create walls with the stuff to section off a portion of the basement. I also had a vent fan in the ceiling that made life a little nicer in the small space. I would suggest trying to rig something to allow air flow. I would also buy a tray siphon that allows for the washing of the prints in a single tray. It hooks over the edge of a slightly elevated tray and circulates fresh water of the prints. Or you could buy a vertical print washer that does a better job but costs quite a bit more. Also leave yourself some space for a clothesline and some clothes pins to hang the prints to dry.

Hope this helps.

Answer 3

I had a darkroom set up in the basement of my last house. I used a large closet as my darkroom. I light-proofed it, installed a long board to hold my trays, and set up my enlarger on a different wall. I covered the board that held the trays with thick plastic in case of chemical spills. I used a tray with a little water in it to carry the processed prints to my sink in the laundry room for washing. To light proof the bottom of the door, I used an old pair of black tights, easy to move and quite effective.

Answer 4

Well, listen, incandescent lights give off heat and in achieving total darkness you sometimes cut off the airflow, right? Well, whatever you do, do NOT install fluorescent lights... do NOT! They will emit UV rays 15-20 minutes after they're turned off and will ruin photographic paper like crazy! I ain't kidding you!

Also, make sure that you label EVERYTHING and that you always return things where they belong... you don't want to start searching around when you're in the middle of developing or printing, believe me.

Lock everything away and keep things as orderly as humanly possible. It will save you a lot of time and grief! Good luck and enjoy the dark room!