Working in your own darkroom can be satisfying and rewarding.
Semi-professional and professional photographers like to having their own darkrooms in their houses. This is especially true of purists who prefer to use film over new digital media. Some amateurs even enjoy the process of developing and printing film at home. Of course, the crucial element of a darkroom is the fact that it is dark. This prevents your photos from being ruined by over exposure. Making a space dark is surprisingly easy and requires only a few steps. Each space has its own requirements, but by using a combination of solutions, you will find the answer you need.
Instructions
1. Turn off the light in your darkroom and shut all the doors and windows. Wait five minutes. Identify any sources of light. These will likely come from the window and cracks around the door, but there could be ventilation issues as well.
2. Block out any of the major light sources, like the window, using the black garden plastic. This is the plastic normally placed under a garden or rock garden, so it is fairly dark. However, you may want to double it overto block out more light. If there are large cracks in the door, use weather stripping.
3. Check the room again. This time you will identify any smaller light leaks. These require a bit more creativity to fix. You can cover them with black fabric, but that might make it difficult to move in and out of the room. You could also use boards, but this can create the same problem. Be creative and weigh the pros and cons of a specific solution before deciding on one.
4. Turn of the lights in the room one last time and wait five minutes. Repeat steps 2 through 4 as necessary to block out all light coming into the room.
