.jpg)
Film & Exposure
Need some basic help choosing what B&W-film to use? Check this address.
Some basic photochemistry regarding silver halides and their structure.
A sound approach to testing film, by Todd Shoenbaum.
"Exposure and Metering", a good article by Karl Blessing.
A good technical article called "Luminance vs. Illuminance Relationship".
And the same goes for this 'Luminous Landscape' page.
A a nice and highly unscientific take on exposure calculation.
I would recon that you are all familiar with manufacturers such as Ilford, Fuji and Kodak, but there are plenty of other manufacturers of film, and since it oftentimes seems to boil down to a matter of taste or working methodology when it comes to choosing a B&W-film it might be worth while trying one or two of them out.
-A manufacturer in Croatia called Adox.
-The German company Rollei (who collaborate with Maco).
-And another German company, Maco (who, of course, collaborate with Rollei).
-Here is yet another German company called Wephota.
-Arista film can be had at Freestylephoto.
-Emaks film from Fotokemika.
-And here is a French manufacturer called Bergger.
-A Russian organisation called photo art and their brand FoMos.
-For Gigabitfilm turn to this site.
-Here you will find the homepage of the SPUR Orthopan UR film.
At least some of these products can be found in stock at Retro Photographic.
Otherwise you might try at Silverprint.
Among other things JandC Photo have those hard to find film formats.
If you are on the continent, perhaps the German company Photoimpex is closer at hand.
How to get 'Accurate Exposure with Your Meter', information from Kodak.
A beginners guide to studio lighting can be found at this site.
Looking for examples of lighting techniques such as 'Butterfly Lighting' or 'Rembrandt' Lighting?.
Studio lighting and 'Making the Equipment Decision' by Kevin Connery.
How to make good use of an 18% gray card.
Exposure Accessories
Besides Kodak, the German company 'Footwand' also make gray cards (as well as colour checker cards)
Here are some links to manufacturers of exposure meters:
-Capital exposure meters are found here.
-And the German manufacturer Gossen have their home page here:.
-Sekonic light meters are here.
-You can find information about the Polaris exposure meters here.
And here is a list of some companies in the light business:
-Lastolite flashes reflectors and umbrellas.
-Elinchrom flash heads and power packs.
-Light panels, lanterns, reflectors etc. from Chimera.
-Hensel Studiotechnik have a wide range of products.
-Among other tings, power packs and flash heads from Novatron.
-Reflectors, heads and power packs are some of the products of Norman.
-Flash heads and power packs from Dynalite.
-A seemingly complete range of studio products from SinarBron.
-Lowel lighting equipment have their home here.
-Swedish company Profoto manufacture flash heads and power packs.
-The product range of Bowens include, among other things; heads, reflectors and power packs.
-Photoflex offer their Starflash range of heads, reflectors etc. at this site.
-Most likely, German company Multiblitz produce what you need in terms of studio lighting.
-And the same goes for the company Lastolite.
-Speedotron lights and power packs.
-Lights, umbrellas, softboxes, etc. from Westcott.
-Lumedyne make heads and power packs.
-Heads, power packs, reflectors, umbrellas, etc. from Broncolor.
-Photogenic Professional Lighting have a wide product range.
-Lumiquest offer bouncers and soft boxes among other items at this site.
-On camera/hot shoe flashes from Sigma.
-Metz have a wide range of on-camera/hot shoe flashes as well as slave units.
-Also from Phoenix, on-camera/hot shoe units.
Paper & Printing (Jump to top)
Some of the above standing film manufacturers also make excellent B&W-papers, notably Forte and Bergger, but there are also others who specialise in fine art papers:
-Oriental, with their highly recommended Seagull brand.
-Tetenal make RC papers as well as graded and variable fiber papers.
-Cachet Fine Art Photographic Papers are to be found here.
-Perfecta enlarging paper by Fine Art Photo Supply.
-Fotospeed have their paper range at this address.
-The German company Adox's photo papers.
-Emax and Varycon papers from Fotokemika.
-Freestylephoto carry the Arista brand.
-A vide range of enlarging papers by British company Kentmere.
Or, this page from ePHOTOzine,
Lots of good information about darkroom procedures at this address.
A good article about print tone and colour by Steve Anchell.
How to control the print image tone (from cold to warm).
And you can find an f-stop timing table (as a pdf-file) here.
For "Variable Contrast Control From Graded B&W Papers" by David Kachel go here.
A beginners primer to the unsharp masking technique can be found here.
Further information about this technique and unsharp masking kits can be acquired from this site.
"Unsharp Masks Offer Benefits beyond Sharpness", a pdf-article by Paul F. Wainwright.
An article about split-toning.
Information about the intermittency effect.
Here is also a good page about lith printing, with several examples.
Lith printing with the 'MLD-Technique'.
Darkroom Items (Jump to top)
"A Beginner's Guide to Darkroom Equipment" .
Tips on how to build a darkroom.
An article called "Fitting a Darkroom Into Your Life".
And another called "Building a Home-brew Darkroom on the Cheap".
Lots of good information about how to build and use a darkroom from darkroomsource.net.
Get a darkroom-checklist from here.
A brief enlarger guide can be found here.
An article worth considering: "Is Your Darkroom Safe?"
Here is a list of enlarger manufacturers:
-Kaiser Fototechnik have several enlarger models (as well as other darkroom products).
-Homepage of the Fujimoto enlargers.
-LPL enlargers by OmegaSatter.
-And the Omega enlargers by the same company.
-The De Vere range of enlargers are found at this site.
-Information about the Beseler enlargers (and some other darkroom accessories) are here.
-Kienzle Phototechnik have a wide range of enlarger models (as well as accessories).
-The Sentinel enlarger by ZBE.
And to go with that, some manufacturers of enlarging lenses:
-The Nikon EL-range can be found at this site.
-Rolyn Optics offer a wide range of enlarging lenses at this address.
-The Meopta-lenses have their homepage here.
-Schneider-Kreuznach manufacture several models.
-And the Rodenstock range of enlarging lenses have their site here.
If you need to check that your enlarger is properly aligned, you can turn to one of these companies:
These companies manufacture aids that will help you focus on your easel:
-Grain focusers (as well as loupes) from Peak Optics.
Densitometers for reflection or transmittance are produced by these companies:
-Heiland electronic have theirs (along with their 'Splitgrade-Controller') at this address.
Enlarger timers (from companies other than those who make enlargers) are made by these manufacturers:
-Paterson have their option here.
-Darkroom Automation make timers, enlarging meters, and footswitches.
Archival washers are manufactured by the below standing companies:
-Nova make several types and sizes.
-The Calumet washers are here.
-At this site you can find the Versalab model.
-Summitek offer their Cascade Photographic Print & Sheet Film Washer at this address.
A list of manufacturers of light boxes and light tables:
-Artograph light boxes can be found here.
-Light boxes from Logan Electric.
-Light tables and boxes from Mayline.
Darkroom ventilation products can be acquired from one of these companies:
-Edwards Engineered Products design darkroom ventilation.
-And Sebastian Darkroom Products make ventilation hoods (among other things).
The following companies manufacture a wide range of darkroom items/accessories:
-Jobo make tanks, drums, trays, loupes, light boxes, processors, film wipers, dryers, etc.
-OmegaSatter have their range of darkroom products here.
-Dot-Line-Corp. have their catalogue (as a pdf-file) here.
-And pretty much the same goes for Ahel who also have their 'Marge'-range of easels.
-Nova make sinks, processors, washers, masks, easels, slot-paper processors, etc.
-IE-NDT make developing tanks, drying cabinets, safelights, film processors, etc.
-Although mainly a distributor, The Brandess-Kalt-Aetna group have darkroom items of their own.
Miscellaneous darkroom items manufactured by companies that are a bit more specialised in a particular area of darkroom products:
-Custom darkroom sinks by Leedal.
-Stouffer Industries have a wide range of transmission step wedges and reflection step tablets.
-Variable contrast cold light heads and custom built light sources from Aristo.
-Information (a pdf-file) about the large format Combiplan developing tank.
-Film & Darkroom cleaning products from Picture Pocket.
-Stainless steel tanks, hanger cases and reels from Hewes.
-Kindermann have a darkroom table system, drying machines and cabinets.
Chemicals
As usual when it comes to chemicals it is safety first.
A reference page to black and white photographic chemistry can be found here.
Here is a "What Makes a Developer Do What It Does"-introduction.
A good all-round page on photographic chemistry is to be found here.
Below is a list of some less known suppliers of ready made photo chemicals:
-Paterson have their products here.
-Tetenal site is at this address.
-And here you will find the Fotospeed range.
-German company Moersch is to be found at this address.
-Retro Photographic have their range here.
-Speedibrews' photographic chemicals.
-Several types of developers are made by Foma.
-Information about the Rollei developers (a pdf-file).
-And the Dutch company Amaloco have their chemicals here.
Archival Considerations (Jump to top)
Here is a good page from Unblinking Eye that deals with the archival processing of B&W photographs.
A basic page about archival processing from About: Photography.
Park Photographic Services have a technical note on image permanence here.
Good information about toning and permanence of silver gelatin prints.
Here is a page about toning prints for image protection.
"Storage and Care of KODAK Photographic Materials" (a pdf-file).
Some thoughts on preservation and presentation by Steven Anchell.
Free publications from the Image Permanence Institute.
Below is a list of links to some of the manufacturers and suppliers of products for archival storage and care:
-Light Impressions offer just about everything for archival storage and presentation.
-And pretty much the same goes for University Products.
-Boxes, frames, scrapbooks, negative storage products, etc. can be had from Archival USA.
-And ditto from Archival Methods.
-Lumiere Photo offer a range of archival products.
-Products for storing negatives, slides and prints from PrintFile.
-Archival sleeving from FilmGuard.
Mounting and Framing
Some thoughts from the year 1861(!) about mounting photographs.
A short primer on how to mount a print from About: Photography.
An article (as a pdf-file) about "Matting, Mounting, and Framing Photographs".
A Luminous Landscape article called "The Why and How of Matting Photographs".
"How to Do Your Own Matting and Hinging".
Advice on mounting matting and framing by Paul Wainwright.
Picture frame mounting techniques.
Good information about the different kinds of mounting boards.
BKA offer an extensive range of retouching and spotting products (link to pdf-file).
The following companies manufacture picture framing products such as mounting boards, mat boards etc.
-Nielsen-Bainbridge and their line of Artcare products.
-Alvin & Company manufacture several types of boards.
-And the same goes for Savage.
-Mat board and mounting board from Crescent Cardboard.
-Museum mounting board from Strathmore Artist Paper.
-Foam core boards from Piedmont Plastic.
Cutting devices and framing tools are manufactured by the below standing companies.
-Knives and trimmers from X-Acto.
-Framing tools and cutting machines from Logan.
-Professional mat cutting system from Alto's EZ Mat.
-Mat Master have bevel cutting tools.
-Bevel mount cutting system from Longridge.
-Professional cutting machines from Keencut.
-United claim to have what you need in terms of framing (pdf-catalogue).
A brief list of manufacturers of frames and frame mouldings.
-Frame mouldings from TAI YE Frame Woods.
-Framerica have frames and moulds.
-Paradisio make hardwood custom frames.
-A wide range of mouldings by Monarch Mouldings.
Below are links to manufacturers of special glasses and acrylics for framing.
-The Mirogard range from Schott.
-The Luxar non-reflective glass.
All content copyright © 2009 by Ola. All rights reserved.
