The more I immerse myself in teaching myself how to print in the darkroom, the more frequently I search YouTube for tutorials on the topic. While attempting to teach you the things I’ve learned, I’ve seen many aspects of printing in the darkroom that I was utterly ignorant of. Andrea Calabresi, an instructor, located in Italy, does an excellent job in this video of providing an overview of what is required to get a lovely print.
There are many various kinds of enlargers and procedures that need to be taken to regulate the contrast in print, both of which photographers who have only worked with digital photography would never have to worry about. In this video, Calabresi walks you through each stage of making a print from start to finish.
After walking over the components of the enlarger, he then discusses the materials that will be required and the rationale for their selection. The core of the class consists of his walking you through how to locate the appropriate tones in print and how to alter contrast in the darkroom so that you can get the desired range of tonal values. If you have no experience creating silver gelatin prints, you may find the procedure somewhat tricky; nonetheless, it will undoubtedly provide you with some insight into the process.
You won’t be able to accomplish everything in the darkroom with this information, but it will provide you with a road map that will take you to practical prints on the most fundamental level. Calabresi has a gentle and unruffled manner that makes making a print appear to be the most straightforward job conceivable, instilling trust in the people who watch him. Take some notes, then go to the nearest darkroom and start experimenting!
