I built a darkroom.

I’ve been using film and more specifically, b/w film for YEARS. I used b/w film in my high school darkroom and for many years before digital photography took over the scene, then later revisited film use professionally around 2010 and haven’t looked back. It wasn’t until recently, however, that I built my own darkroom and started spending time re-familiarizing myself with the printing process and now handling the process of shooting b/w film, developing it, and producing a final print all myself, without the need of a computer or anything digital interfering with the final product/print. It’s taken years to get to this point, but it feels completely like home. And it’s just the beginning…there are a lot of alternative processes I cannot wait to experiment with and rabbit holes to follow, all under this umbrella of darkroom work.

Here was the process of getting here…

I converted a small section of our utility room into my darkroom. It’s a small footprint (roughly 70 sqft), but maximizes every inch and is very effective. I built a 7ft long sink out of plywood and epoxy, installed temp controlled and filtered water, had an electrician update the electrical and I installed IKEA cabinets and shelving for storage and organization. Along the way, I was gifted two amazing enlargers via craigslist finds and easels, negative holders, trays, timers and a bunch of other random stuff from National Camera Exchange visits or eBay purchases. The whole process has filled me with immense gratitude as the entire cost of this project was well below what I anticipated, which really helped when it came time to supply chemicals and paper, all of which have become somewhat expensive. Since these photos were taken, I’ve installed additional shelving and a dry desk, with inspection light, for prepping negatives and inspecting prints once they are dry. Future projects for the space will involve figuring out how to install the specialized print washers I recently picked up and possibly adding a table for a dry mount press. Thanks for following along!

Mother Co Plants Wedding in NE Minneapolis

Jeff and Rachel had a smallish, beautiful wedding at Mother Co Plants in NE Minneapolis earlier this Spring. It was such an honor witnessing their plans unfold that day and proof you don’t always need an enormous, elaborate event but simply do what works within your budget and desires. On a side note, Mother Co Plants had closed shop for events for a while, but I was excited to see them open back up for these, because they truly have a gorgeous space that works really well for a smaller wedding or photoshoot. Thanks for following, everyone. I really appreciate your support.

Minneapolis film couples session with Tori and Zach

Back in October, I spent a couple hours with Tori & Zach in and around their apartment in the twin cities. Tori is an amazing photographer herself, and I was absolutely blown away when they asked me about wedding photography. It was fun to include a new to me camera on this session, a Mamiya C330. I’ve always been intrigued by the square format, and find the holga camera challenging for that very reason. But, using this C330 has been really life giving in a way. The process is slightly slower for me, but I know I’ll get quicker with using it more and I’m really curious about using it with flash on wedding days or portrait sessions. My favorite moment with them was trekking up a small hill to find the sun just hanging in the sky and illuminating everything with that last bit of Autumn light. My heart leapt, and allowing the film and Tori and Zach to react to all that glorious light was such a joy to experience. I also had each of them make a portrait of the other using the C330 (which Tori also owns, so they are very familiar with it). I loved being an observer to this, and honestly, Zach’s portrait of Tori was better than anything I could do. It’s such a privilege making photo’s with clients. I cannot thank you all enough. -R

I decided to develop and scan all of the b/w film myself for this session. I’m glad I did. The process is always so rewarding and I had fresh chemicals, so why not! I used Ilford Delta 3200 and Ilford DDX as a developer. The negatives were scanned using a Nikon D850 and 105mm 2.8D macro lens, Film Supply equipment and digitally processed using adobe Lightroom and Negative Lab Pro. Color film was developed and scanned by FastFoto Film Lab in Bloomington, MN.