B&W Darkroom Q&A: Video Edition!

Today's YouTube upload is a bit different from my brief "B&W Darkroom" series of how to videos. This time around, the inspiration for the vid comes from FPP listener and YouTube channel viewer Kris Pearson:

Hi Mat,

Thanks for returning my comment/question about drying fiber paper.

You and FPP have both been a huge factor in getting me back into film.  I took film photography in high school and college during the 80's but got back into film a year ago with a Konica Auto S2.  From there I added a Mamiya 645  system with an assortment of lenses which has become my primary camera.  Your Youtube video on E6 processing encouraged me to try developing slide film at home.  The results have been great.  Now I'm also developing black and white negatives and printing in a bathroom/darkroom with a Beseler 23c that I got off of Craigslist for FREE!!!.  I has a ZoneVI cold light too! I look forward to spending a lot of time this summer improving my skills in the darkroom.

I am currently printing with resin coated paper.  Eventually I would like to try printing with fiber paper but I've read that drying fiber papers can be problematic and the process may cause the paper to wrinkle or crease if not done correctly.  What method do you recommend?  I don't have a heat press but I may try to find one on the 'Bay if having one is the best/easiest way to go.  Are there alternatives?  I read somewhere that taping the print down on a flat surface as it dries is one way to do it.

Congratulations on your recent shows.  Your work is a pleasure to look at.

Kris Pearson 
Accord, NY

Well Kris, not only do I have an answer for you, here's a complete How-To!

Spring Cleaning, Week 2

In celebration of "Tax Day" here in the USA, it's back to "Spring Cleaning" here in the darkroom. This week's deal is one that you will not see again on this site. In celebration of another 364 days until taxes are due again, here are my first four images made on 8x10 infrared film, available to you as 16x20" silver gealtin fiber prints, for the low, low price of $100 + S&H. Get 'em while they're hot off the press, literally, because they won't be here for long!

IR 16x20 Silver Gelatin Print

Litzenberg Park 1 Litzenberg Park 2 Maple Grove Cemetery 1 Maple Grove Cemetery 2

 Just a quick reminder, all B&W prints are hand made by me in the darkroom, are printed on double-weight fiber paper that has been selenium toned for archival permanence, signed and numbered by yours truly, and will ship encased in a protective sleeve and backboard. For the collectors out there, I'll only be printing these images as 16x20 until the end of this month, so consider this a very, very limited edition run.

Thanks all for looking, and as always, long live film!

Now Selling Prints!

Washing a fiber print in the Univeristy of Findlay darkroom. Photo by Dan Domme, 2011.Keeping the new features coming (the best still to come!), I'm now offering fine art B&W, alternative process, and color prints of any work you see here in the Gallery or my Flickr account.

All B&W and alternative process prints are hand printed by me in the darkroom, while color prints are digital c-prints professionally managed by one of the top remaining labs in the U.S. Standard B&W enlarged prints are all made on double-weight, fiber-based paper, hand spotted, and selenium toned to provide the most archivally stable, brilliantly toned images possible. Cyanotype and Van Dyke Brown prints are made on 250lb. hot pressed, smooth watercolor papers, they'll be around for a long while. ;) Carbon prints have almost as much archival stability as platinum/palladium prints, and as a bonus have very noticeable relief to them!

As one additional offer, I'm creating a limited edition portfolio for my body of work in 2011. Portfolios will ship in their own 11x14" black leatherette, museum quality storage box, and will contain 10, 8x10" images all hand printed, spotted, toned, signed, and matted 11x14", ready for showing. The silver gelatin printed edition will be limited to 9, while the very special carbon transfer portfolio will be one-of-a-kind, much like the carbon prints themselves.

That's pretty much it, folks. If you're interested in getting some fine art prints, head on over to the Prints section of the website for more information. Prints can quickly and conveniently be purchased directly through the website, via Paypal, or you can email me for more options. Thanks and continue to have Happy Holidays!