I was just getting ready to quote Adams from his book, "The Print" when I read your reply. The key to the passage you quoted is where he speaks of walls "near the enlarger." Near is apparently a very generous distance. In "The Print," he notes, "The walls near the enlarger and easel should be painted matte black to minimize reflection onto the paper during exposure."(The italics are his.) A photo accompanying this chapter shows his darkroom with at least a dozen feet of black wall and ceiling surrounding two enlargers. Yes, the workspace on the far side of the darkrrom is light colored. So too the lower half of the walls on the opposite side of my darkroom. But in any darkroom the size or a bathroom, you're going to need a lot of black to eliminate bounce back from the enlarger leakage. Paul
Shel Belinkoff wrote: > Adams writes, in "The Negative" : > > "Use a paint that is waterproof and washable on all interior walls and > the ceiling. A light color will make efficient use of the safelight > illumination as well as making a pleasant environment. I personally > favor a rather light, neutral color (about 70% reflectance) for walls > and ceiling. White ceilings are best for the use of reflecting > safelights, such as the highly efficient sodium units. However, walls > near the enlarger should be *flat black* to minimize reflection of > enlarger light onto the printing paper." > > Paul Stenquist wrote: > > > > Hi Brendan, > > Okay, that's test one. For test two, put a lens cap on you enlarger lens. Put a > > piece of unexposed paper in your easel. Place that same quarter on your easel. > > Then make an exposure at extreme conditions, say f8 for two minutes. I'll bet > > that light leaks from the enlarger will fog the paper if the room is white. Any > > takers? > > Paul > > > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > > > > > Paul... > > > > > > I have had navajo white walls ans ceiling in my last setup and I never fogged > > > any paper. > > > > > > The test for whether you're fogging paper is the old quarter test: Take a > > > piece of paper out with the safelight on and put it in place on your enlarger > > > baseboard. Put a quarter on the paper and wait a few minutes. Develop the > > > paper...if there's a shadow where the quarter was move your safelight farther > > > away until the shadow disappears...it's that simple. Or, try a different > > > safelight filter with that paper. > > > > > > In any case, white walls will not contribute to this problem if the safelight > > > is far enough away from your baseboard. In defference to Mr. Adams (crossing > > > myself) there are a million ways to skin a cat... > > > > > > Maybe 18% gray walls are the answer!! LOL!! > > > > > > Brendan > > > - > > > This message is from the Pentax-Discuss Mail List. To unsubscribe, > > > go to http://www.pdml.net and follow the directions. Don't forget to > > > visit the Pentax Users' Gallery at http://pug.komkon.org . > > - > > This message is from the Pentax-Discuss Mail List. To unsubscribe, > > go to http://www.pdml.net and follow the directions. Don't forget to > > visit the Pentax Users' Gallery at http://pug.komkon.org . > > -- > Shel Belinkoff > mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > http://home.earthlink.net/~belinkoff/ > - > This message is from the Pentax-Discuss Mail List. To unsubscribe, > go to http://www.pdml.net and follow the directions. Don't forget to > visit the Pentax Users' Gallery at http://pug.komkon.org . - This message is from the Pentax-Discuss Mail List. To unsubscribe, go to http://www.pdml.net and follow the directions. Don't forget to visit the Pentax Users' Gallery at http://pug.komkon.org .
