The most challenging and controversial question...

One thing I forgot to mention was that I consider that experience in the darkroom is invaluable when using Photoshop. I'm not sure if this applies in reverse. Has anyone found it so?

Many colleges and Universities have re-instated their darkrooms after a realisation that a grounding in traditional analog work flow is a good basis for any type of work flow, missing analog out is now seen as a mistake.

I know (young) people who've only known digital grasp film and darkroom printing enthusiastically as if it's new process, in fact 2 will be using my darkroom :D a third is scared but has the camera equipment but needs a kick up the backside :) When you ask why it's they don't like the falsenss and fakery of digital work, by that they really mean there's too much over manipulation, false exaggeration.

We've had this discussion before, I like the simple purity of darkroom work but have like David used Digital in my case CorelDraw instead of Illustrator for about 25 years, and programs that were surprisingly way ahead of Photoshop back then. In recent weeks I've updated to the latest version of CorelDraw which includes PhotoPaint but probably my best acquisition is BenVista PhotoZoom Pro for resizing images which works with all my imaging software.

I've not made a serious digital print for a few years, however I'll be setting up my Epson printer again (I flushed out the printer heads) as someone wants some digital prints to sell. Plus I need to keep my skill level up :D

Ian
 
A few years ago I had a conversation with a well-know dealer who told me how one college would rip out its old fashioned fuddy-duddy darkrooms and sell the equipment off to him. Then another college, having already modernised, would have to submit to student pressure and build new darkrooms, which he was happy to supply.
 
A few years ago I had a conversation with a well-know dealer who told me how one college would rip out its old fashioned fuddy-duddy darkrooms and sell the equipment off to him. Then another college, having already modernised, would have to submit to student pressure and build new darkrooms, which he was happy to supply.

I believe I have mentioned that I went to the local university after my 'retirement' to earn my BFA degree.. finished at the ripe old age of 74, the 'challenge' was not to 'get/earn' a degree but as a means of remaining physically active and mentally creative rather than facing retirement 'stagnation' The department had closed all but one of their darkrooms (partially to reduce the use of chemicals). I had used my own MAC SE at my previous work for 'creating poster sessions for the scientists rather than try and learn to use the in-house VAX mainframe.

As of today, I still refuse to 'retire' any of my film cameras and invest in any of the current digital hardware other than my recent purchase of an Epson 850 film scanner that 'allows' me to 'scan and enlarge' my 4x5 inch film negatives to 8x10 for printing onto Pictorico 'film' for the 'archaic' print processes exposed under my home-built UV light source.

Yes... I do have an old and much experienced 8x10 B&J 'woodie' that still gets used now and again but the original negative 'capture' on 4x5 allows me to print the resultant 8xl0 digital image using the 'archaic print processes'.

Ken
 
Removing chemical photography from photographic courses is rather like removing the Bronze Age from history.
Not all history students will go on to study it in detail, but they have to know about it. Otherwise, they might suppose that the Pyramids were built by JCBs.
We still use bronze today. Do bronze-founders have long debates about carbon fibre?

(What do history graduates do when they graduate?)
 
http://www.film-and-darkroom-user.org.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=146

That was quick. The final "6" seems to have fallen off the previous post. My apologies. Does this work for you?


I saw this sometime ago, long before I built my current darkroom. One comment is most garden sheds don't really have enough height and in this darkroom the enlarger base-board is lower than the surrounding benches. This isn't good with longer printing sessions, I know from experience when I drop the baseboard on my De Vere 508 and in my previous darkrooms, the constant bending over isn't good :D So that needs some thought.

Ian
 
Removing chemical photography from photographic courses is rather like removing the Bronze Age from history.
Not all history students will go on to study it in detail, but they have to know about it. Otherwise, they might suppose that the Pyramids were built by JCBs.
We still use bronze today. Do bronze-founders have long debates about carbon fibre?

(What do history graduates do when they graduate?)

Either sit in front of their computers or walk around town "Histing"? :cool:

Ken
 
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