STUDIO TOUR
My darkroom looking in from the door. Here it is set up with 20"x24" trays for developing 8"x20" film. The sink is a 10'x30" Calumet. The Leica Focomat V35 is used primarily for duping from 35mm Kodachrome to FP4 sheet film for platinum printing. Also in view is the Vent Axia ventilator at the top right of the far wall, a 5 gallon tank of Kodak Hypo Clear at the center bottom of the far wall, and 2 ltr. of Ammonium Citrate developer in a beaker on a hot plate at the top right.
The darkroom from the opposite direction. The door is just out of view to the right. Note the 8"x20" film in the wash tray at the far end of the sink, and the 11"x14" film drying just above it. The indiscernable objects just in front of the film are outside filter units for aquariums, which I use to agitate the clearing trays for platinum prints. The black box at the top center is one of two stereo speakers, which are connected to a system upstairs and remotely controlled. At the top left you can see a 2 ltr. beaker of Ammonium Citrate developer on a hot plate, used for platinum developing.
The coating room as see from its entry. Clockwise you can see the dry mountig press, the coating glass with accoutriments, a Metrolux timer, and a home-built UV exposure unit. Note the counterweights which hold the exposure unit in the open position. Print drying screens are located under the exposure unit. Under the coating glass is the yet-to-be installed humidity cabinet. The 12"x20" platinum print is "Buoys", by Stan Klimek.
Coating room looking towards the door which is just out of view to the left. All this space, and the rotatrims have to stand on end under the counter! BTW, all the cabinets are from Home Depot, and the countertops also. The countertops I had custom installed because the rooms are square and the walls are not flat.
Here are views of the UV exposure unit. The Metrolux timer has a sensor which is mounted above the tubes. It controls the quantity of light rather than the time. No problem when new tubes are installed, as it compensates. The cloth shielding is darkroom cloth available from Samy's Camera. The tubes are 8 48" super actinic very high output (110watts) tubes powered by 2 electronic power supplies. The contact frame is off a very large horizontal graphic arts camera. It weighs 70 lbs. on its own!
©John Richardson 2000 john-richardson@sbcglobal.net created July 2000