(alternate post title: My newfound appreciation of the local library)
There is still a looming possibility that I will be able to rent time in a local darkroom, and considering that the last time I spent any hours in a darkroom was about 2 years ago I thought I should bone up on some darkroom theory. I headed to the local Borders store and went to the photo section only to find books on digital photography and manipulation. There was not one book on darkroom techniques - everything was digital. I even asked a clerk if she knew of any darkroom books in the store thinking maybe there was a hobby section where those books were kept. She informed me after searching for a few minutes that the only books on photography were in the section I had already visited.
Thinking I'd have to tap into amazon.com for a book on darkroom techniques I gave up the search and planned to look it up when I got home. I never got around to it that night when I got home, so when my wife and I had a few minutes to kill before our daughter's Christmas party at her school we decided to swing through our local library to hunt for some photo books.
I can't remember the last time I was in a library, and that's not a good thing. I really need to make better use of the library - a point underscored by the fact that I found exactly the kind of book I was looking for. I actually found two - volumes 1 and 2 of Darkroom Techniques by Feininger. Sure they may be 34 years old now, but a lot of the principles are the same.
So, not only did I gain a new appreciation for my local library, I also located two books that are a great start to learning more about darkroom techniques and even building your own darkroom.
Next up is securing a spot to actually develop and print and find some materials to use.
