[pure-silver] Re: How long do you spend in the darkroom ?

 A couple times a month or more.
I try to print in two-four hour sessions with a break in between for lunch and change of chemistry. This is actually the cheapest way for me to do it as I use my chemistry fully; no need to save and reuse. Always fresh each session.
It takes a while to come up to speed while printing in the darkroom but I do make a number of prints each session.
I find that consistency in exposure and processing and keeping it all simple: same paper,chemistry,rarely crop, enlarger, f-stop etc makes it easy to get to the first rough print- in fact usually the fastest way to a great print is estimating the first print exposure, printing a whole sheet, which is usually really close, then fine tuning over the next print or two for overall exposure. I try to print the basic exposure so I only have to burn or only have to dodge for the final print to simplify things. Batch processing duplicates is also a good time saver after I I get to the final version. (Always 3 of the final so I can sell one, keep one, show one.)
Back towards the beginning of time, when I started printing,there was a technique to use your safe-light ( or a fixed light shining on the baseboard )to establish the basic exposure of your print. (There were instructions in magazines to construct a light-in-a-coffee can version) It was helpful for people who either had wide variations of exposure on their film or for people who printed negatives from a variety of sources( I used to print for 24 publications all using different cameras/photographers/films ) It involved projecting the image onto the baseboard then adjusting the f-stop until the image just matched the brightness of the safelight or fixed light. I don't use this technique myself because I use the same f-stop for 90% of my printing. and adjust only exposure time. 
but it was a great quick and dirty way to get to the first exposure.
If you think about this technique it will help you with establishing your base print exposure. If your safelight is consistent, your exposure and processing consistent,then your projected image will be consistent from image to image if you maintain a consistent enlarger height and f-stop.Then variations from the norm are easier to handle. 




 Russ Gorman Photography
 Portland Oregon
<http://www.russgormanphotography.com>



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