The Darkroom Cookbook 5th Edition

Steve Anchell · Aug 27, 2023

Greetings, All. I am working on the 5th edition of The Darkroom Cookbook. As readers of The Cookbook know, the goal is to share darkroom tools, tricks, and techniques so they are not lost or need to be rediscovered by future generations.

For this edition, I would like to invite members of the darkroom community to share anything they feel would be of benefit to future photographers. If you have something to share, please contact me. There is limited space so not everything submitted will be included, but I will try to get as much in as I can.

Thank you.

mshchem · Aug 27, 2023

Is there any room for color processing?

Steve Anchell · Aug 27, 2023

Yes and no, mschem. DCB has been devoted to b/w film and paper. However, there is a great deal of interest today in color processing. A lot of it revolves around using out-of-date film.

I am willing to entertain anything you wish to propose, though there is no budget for color reproductions.

mshchem · Sep 9, 2023

Seems to have been a rather limited response.???

Might be nice to have a chapter, short, on some of the basics of developing color film. Seems like color printing, at home, is less and less. Not so for color film processing. It would be interesting to see if someone like Bellini might have something to share? I think Bellini is growing nicely.

Don_ih · Sep 10, 2023

mshchem said:
Seems like color printing, at home, is less and less. Not so for color film processing.

That seems right. But there doesn't seem to be much to really include in a new Cookbook about colour, though. There is the known ECN developer recipe and a few hit-or-miss C41 recipes floating around online, some blix recipes...

titrisol · Sep 10, 2023

Thanks for continuing working on this resource. I have learned a lot more than I could ever collaborate

albada · Sep 10, 2023

I recommend adding a chapter on LED-based enlargers, especially as proper tungsten bulbs for many enlargers are becoming scarce. These fall into three groups: (1) Using a household LED bulb instead of tungsten, (2) commercial LED enlargers, and (3) DIY designs which range from simple to sophisticated.

Mark

Kino · Sep 10, 2023

Could I suggest you go back to the "lay flat" ring binding if at all possible?

Personally, I would pay more if that is what it requires to get this binding!

Leidolf · Sep 10, 2023

Steve Anchell said:
Yes and no, mschem. DCB has been devoted to b/w film and paper. However, there is a great deal of interest today in color processing. A lot of it revolves around using out-of-date film.

I am willing to entertain anything you wish to propose, though there is no budget for color reproductions.

I think you could consider color processing to The Film Developing Cookbook, if ANOTHER EDITION ever is in the cards...
I have a collection of historical rcipes on hand and have an outline for an article, if interested.

BryanFlnt · Sep 10, 2023

Steve Anchell said:
Greetings, All. I am working on the 5th edition of The Darkroom Cookbook. As readers of The Cookbook know, the goal is to share darkroom tools, tricks, and techniques so they are not lost or need to be rediscovered by future generations.

For this edition, I would like to invite members of the darkroom community to share anything they feel would be of benefit to future photographers. If you have something to share, please contact me. There is limited space so not everything submitted will be included, but I will try to get as much in as I can.

Thank you.

Thank you for continuing to work on this resource. As someone who has built a new darkroom and renewing my passion after a long hiatus, I will look forward to buying a copy once ready. I do not have a copy now (apologies if the ideas below are already included).

Given the renewed interest from a younger generation, and how few resources there are to learn here are a few things to consider for the new audience:
LED lighting sources for safelights and enlargers
F-stop timing
Environmental impacts and options
Basic steps that might be assumed by more seasoned practitioners.

Renato Tonelli · Sep 22, 2023

A revamped section, a couple of pages, on copying (enlarging) negatives for contact printing would be very much appreciated. I am thinking of Bergger's Print Film but also using what is currently available.

These books have become such a valuable resource to me that I can't thank you enough for putting so much effort into them.

Hubigpielover · Jul 7, 2024

Steve Anchell said:
Greetings, All. I am working on the 5th edition of The Darkroom Cookbook. As readers of The Cookbook know, the goal is to share darkroom tools, tricks, and techniques so they are not lost or need to be rediscovered by future generations.

For this edition, I would like to invite members of the darkroom community to share anything they feel would be of benefit to future photographers. If you have something to share, please contact me. There is limited space so not everything submitted will be included, but I will try to get as much in as I can.

Thank you.

Where is a good place to preorder? I didn't see a link on your website

moggi1964 · Jul 7, 2024

Steve Anchell · Jul 7, 2024

I do not know why Photorio did not forward any of these responses to me. I received a first response from MSHChem, which I answered, and then notifications stopped. I assumed no one was interested. Then today I received a response from Hubigpielover. Had it not been from Hubigpielover I would not have seen any of the other responses. I will try to answer the relevant ones now.

Steve Anchell · Jul 7, 2024

mshchem said:
Seems to have been a rather limited response.???

Might be nice to have a chapter, short, on some of the basics of developing color film. Seems like color printing, at home, is less and less. Not so for color film processing. It would be interesting to see if someone like Bellini might have something to share? I think Bellini is growing nicely.

I apologize if I was too terse. The short answer is that the DCB is about b/w darkroom technique, with the more recent addition of alternative processes. Although I owned a lab in the 1970s, I only developed b/w and E3 (the precursor to Ektachrome E4 and E6). The point of this is that I am not expert enough in color processing to be writing about it. The yes and no answer was my way of "fishing" to see if you had any substantive ideas that you could write about for possible inclusion. When I did not receive a notification from Photorio that you had responded I thought you weren't interested.

A big problem is that I am not active enough on any Forum to keep on top of these threads unless I am prompted.

Steve Anchell · Jul 7, 2024

albada said:
I recommend adding a chapter on LED-based enlargers, especially as proper tungsten bulbs for many enlargers are becoming scarce. These fall into three groups: (1) Using a household LED bulb instead of tungsten, (2) commercial LED enlargers, and (3) DIY designs which range from simple to sophisticated.

Mark

This is an excellent idea, Mark. However, I am not up-to-date on using LEDs, though I have heard many positive things in their favor.

The MS is with the publisher. There is just enough time to insert a paragraph or two if you would like to submit something within the next week. I will place it in a box and credit it to you. If you are interested, write me directly, info@darkroomcookbook.com. BTW, www.darkroomcookbook.com is the URL for The Darkroom Cookbook Forum.

Steve Anchell · Jul 7, 2024

Kino said:
Could I suggest you go back to the "lay flat" ring binding if at all possible?

Personally, I would pay more if that is what it requires to get this binding!

I have already asked as I also prefer it. The publisher says no due to increased production cost.

Steve Anchell · Jul 7, 2024

Leidolf said:
I think you could consider color processing to The Film Developing Cookbook, if ANOTHER EDITION ever is in the cards...
I have a collection of historical rcipes on hand and have an outline for an article, if interested.

Leidolf, that is a good idea, I will speak to Troop about it. If I had heard from you and Mshchem we might have put something together. Send me an email at info@darkroomcookbook.com and let me know more for future possibilities.

Steve Anchell · Jul 7, 2024

BryanFlnt said:
Thank you for continuing to work on this resource. As someone who has built a new darkroom and renewing my passion after a long hiatus, I will look forward to buying a copy once ready. I do not have a copy now (apologies if the ideas below are already included).

Given the renewed interest from a younger generation, and how few resources there are to learn here are a few things to consider for the new audience:
LED lighting sources for safelights and enlargers
F-stop timing
Environmental impacts and options
Basic steps that might be assumed by more seasoned practitioners.

All good ideas, Bryan. I'm afraid it's too late to get them in this edition.

Steve Anchell · Jul 7, 2024

Renato Tonelli said:
A revamped section, a couple of pages, on copying (enlarging) negatives for contact printing would be very much appreciated. I am thinking of Bergger's Print Film but also using what is currently available.

These books have become such a valuable resource to me that I can't thank you enough for putting so much effort into them.

The 4th edition has a chapter on enlarging negatives. In this edition, I have included an updated chapter on making enlarged digital negatives for contact printing.

I spent many years of my career making enlarged negatives in the darkroom. It is one of the most difficult and tedious things to do and hard to get right the first time. I have found enlarged digital negatives to be a much better method.

Steve Anchell · Jul 7, 2024

Hubigpielover said:
Where is a good place to preorder? I didn't see a link on your website

It is scheduled for release in October. It is available on Amazon. Unfortunately, photorio is not allowing me to publish the link.

Once again, I wish to apologize to everyone following this thread for not having seen your posts. I don't spend a lot of time on the web, including social media and forums. Unless I receive a notice that a new post has been made to a watched thread, or that someone has mentioned me on Facebook, I don't check on my own.

{Moderator's note: try this for Amazon.com: search : "The Darkroom Cookbook", click on the link for the 4th edition, and then within that, click on the "newer edition" link. It may work as well for the various local Amazons like Amazon.ca}

MattKing · Jul 7, 2024

moggi1964 said:
Here

I think this is a link to the listing on the publisher's website.
@Steve Anchell will hopefully correct me if I'm wrong.

Molli · Jul 7, 2024

This is the link I got on Amazon for the 5th Edition Pre-ordered -

https://www.amazon.com.au/Darkroom-Cookbook-Steve-Anchell/dp/1032404884

Steve Anchell · Jul 7, 2024

Molli said:
These are the links I got on Amazon for the 5th Edition Pre-ordered - note the domains:

https://www.amazon.com.au/Darkroom-Cookbook-Steve-Anchell/dp/1032404884

Hopefully one of those will work for you.

Thank you, Molli.

Molli · Jul 7, 2024

You're most welcome, Mr. Anchell.
I'm sorry to say, I edited that three times before I got it to stop trying to fetch media (the book cover, most likely) and failing. Apologies that my final effort before giving up left you all with a link to the Australian Amazon outlet. Just switch out the domain locale to your own country's code i.e..com, .co.uk, .de, etc if the site doesn't offer to switch country for you.

The Darkroom Cookbook 5th Edition

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