beginner photographer looking to make darkroom?

Question

I am an beginner photographer and would like to transfer the back room in my basement into a darkroom. Any suggestion on where to start with this project? Any good sites/ stores to get supplies?

Answer 1

use a digital SLR camera instead

Answer 2

I applaud you that you are taking the time to start a darkroom. I am not quite certain where you are living but if you are living in a major metropolotain area with a sizeable art community such as the San Francisco bay area or New York City, some of the best places to find darkroom equiptment is on the used market through craigslist.org. However, if you do not live around any of these areas then try KEH.com or bhphotovideo.com.
As for which equiptment to buy, that depends really on what kind of camera you are using(there are lots of different negative sizes which will determine which lens and negative carrier to purchase , and what type of printing you will be doing, almost certainly though you will be doing black and white printing. As a suggestion though get an enlarger with a cold head. You can probably learn more about this if you do a google search on it.
Regarding the part on where to start the project, first thing I would do to make this whole process a lot easier is to get a good darkroom book such as the ones listed here http://www.open.org/~hughesa/books/index.htm There are so many things you need, but the good thing is that all of it can be had for a bargain these days and is easy to find.
As for this whole get a digital camera response, you know the limiting factor of any digital camera whether you are talking about a $500 Nikon D-40 or a $35,000 Hasselblad H3d is your output source. Unlike a gelatin silverprint, the images that inkjet printers produce are not continuous tone, and with most inks, in terms of their archivalness, the inks have not been proven in real life environments the same as gelatin silver prints over the last 100+ years. With regards to the aesthetic qualities, even with your best Epson k3 inkjet prints(which I must add if you are going to print digital black and white get a K3 system) you aren't going to rival the quality that you can get with a well printed silver gelatin print. I would argue too that if you are a true connosieur who takes the time to calibrate your monitor and make color profiles for your printer then making a good digital print can be just as time consuming, strenuous and expensive as making a good digital print. In fact in terms of mural printing I find it a bit cheaper to go the silverprint route instead of running through the process of using a wide format Epson printer which can get quite expensive to operate.
Anyhow I wish you luck with your project, I personally wish I could have my own darkroom but space is my limiting factor.

Answer 3

I did this many years ago, before computers and Internet. The first thing i did was hit the library, simple research went a long way to building a darkroom. being a plumber was a big plus. It is really a very simple proses, as far as supplies goes, as you know photo supplies can be very expensive. I went to the local colleges and schools in my area and picked up most of my supplies for next to nothing. Good luck in this endeavor, My darkroom brought me many years of fun and relaxation.