11 Oct
DARKROOM BUILD

SIMPLE & EFFECTIVE DARKROOM WINDOW BLINDS / Container Darkroom part 13

Hey guys its been quite a while since I last gave you updates on my shipping container darkroom. For those of you who are new to my Blog I have built my dream darkroom all by myself inside a 2,5x6m shipping container from the electricity to darkroom sink. I have been using it for well over a year now and it became my studio where I produce Zebra products, film videos, design new things... The container is separated into two part light-room and darkroom. The light part of the container has a big window that...

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How to make Silver Gelatine emulsion
28 Apr
AUTOCHROME, DARKROOM CHEMISTRY, EMULSION, OTHER

Basic Silver Gelatine Emulsion Tutorial – Step by Step

In this Tutorial I will show you how to make a Basic Silver Gelatine emulsion from scratch. I will guide you step by step through the whole process including equipment, materials and many tips and tricks I learned on my emulsion making journey. It was invented almost 150 years ago and became popular to the point where we can find it in pretty much every analog light sensitive material. The first time I made photographic emulsion was a few years ago when I was starting to reproduce the mysterious Autochrome. That emulsion was much more complicated than the...

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Reuse-scrap-dry-plates-large-format-film
24 Apr
DARKROOM CHEMISTRY, EMULSION, OTHER

Reuse scrap Dry Plates & Large Format Film

If you shoot analog on a regular basis you know how much film gets wasted due to experimenting, failed exposures and so on. In a very short time you are left with a stack of unusable film. I have the exact same problem with dry plates and because nature already has enough weist on its shoulders I would like to show you how dry plates or even modern film can be recoated and reused. Types of base / support ? Emulsion can be coated on different...

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17 Mar
AUTOCHROME, DARKROOM CHEMISTRY, OTHER, PRINTING PROCESSES, Uncategorized

Salt print – Detailed Step by Step Walkthrough

I love working with alternative printing processes as they only need a few ingredients to work and are perfect for those who would like to learn the very basics of recording the light. One of the first alternative printing processes used for turning negatives to positive prints was Salt print invented in the mid 1830s by Henry Fox Talbot. He used to soak plain writing paper first in a weak solution of ordinary table salt and then in strong silver solution. This way he got a light sensitive sheet of paper that darkened when exposed to the sun...

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Kodak-d-19-original-recipe
03 Mar
DARKROOM CHEMISTRY, OTHER, PRINTING PROCESSES

Making Kodak D-19 from scratch with Original Recipe

In this week's Blog I am showing you how to make Kodak D-19 Developer from scratch including all the steps and recipes. Developing film at home is always a special pleasure if you have the right equipment. Kodak D-19 is really hard to get these days specially now during the lockdown when everything has to be bought online. I always like to make my own stuff as you learn so much along the way. Kodak D-19 is actually made out of only a few ingredients and it's not hard to make so let's start. Kodak...

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14 Feb
EMULSION, EQUIPMENT, ON THE FIELD, Uncategorized

Large Format Landscape Photography in Pouring Rain

Two weeks ago I launched commercially available hand coated 4x5 glass dry plates meaning I spent a lot of time in my shipping container darkroom producing, packing and sending them all around the world. It's an incredible honor to be able to bring some history back and produce light sensitive materials that others can make images with. If you would like to try them out they are available in my Store. I really love doing it but I also love to be out in the field and explore the nature. It has been a while since I packed...

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Reverse-developing-dry-plates-to-positive-foma-emulsion
01 Feb
AUTOCHROME, DARKROOM CHEMISTRY, EMULSION, EQUIPMENT, OTHER

Trying to Reverse Develop Dry Plates to Direct Positives

After being quite busy in the last few months doing exams and practical work for the academy I finally have a bit more time now to experiment with more advanced alternative techniques. It's been almost half a year since I had to push my Autochrome research aside as I just couldn't afford the cost of production any more. I hope I will be able to proceed my research soon as I am only missing a few details!  When I was unraveling the mystery of Autochrome piece by piece I also...

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Lumiere-History-autochrome
18 Jan
AUTOCHROME, DARKROOM CHEMISTRY, EMULSION, EQUIPMENT, OTHER, PRINTING PROCESSES

Unboxing Package full of Lumiere’s legacy

A few days ago an interesting package arrived at my door. It turns out it was sent to me by a very friendly guy from Paris, France who is a collector of old photographic materials. Right around Christmas we have been discussing through messenger about my work with old photographic techniques especially dry plates. At the end of this discussion he told me that he might have something for me and all I have to do is give him my address. All he said was that I will probably have a better use of it than him.

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KODAK-D76-DEVELOPER-RECIPE
30 Dec
DARKROOM CHEMISTRY, OTHER, PRINTING PROCESSES

Making Kodak D76 from scratch with Original Recipe

In this week's Blog I show you how to make the famous Kodak D76 Developer from scratch including all the steps. Developing film at home is always a special pleasure if you have the right equipment. During the lock-down it's often hard to get Darkroom chemicals here in Slovenia and also shipments are very delayed. That's why it's nice to be able to make & mix your own stuff. It is actually made out of only a few ingredients and it's not hard to make so let's start. D76 is a classic and truly versatile...

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Cyanotype-contact-printing
20 Dec
PRINTING PROCESSES

Cyanotype Contact Printing from glass Dry-Plate Negative + PRINT GIVEAWAY!

I love to make cyanotypes and especially I love to make contact prints from my glass dry plate negatives! In this video you will follow me along the whole Cyanotype printing process from cutting & coating the paper all the way up to making the final prints. I will be contact printing my very own hand made glass dry plate negatives on Fabriano 5 paper coated with DIY Cyanotype solution. I wouldn't say this is a Cyanotype tutorial but rather a documentation of my workflow that includes many tips and tricks I learned so far....

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