No I'm
not talking about the weather but about the lighting in your
darkroom. Is it
safe? Is it the right colour? Is it to close to the enlarger or
developing dishes? How do you find out?
There is a simple
test, you will need to cut some photographic paper into about 6x6
(150 x150mm) and lay them flat in various places with the lights off
around the darkroom with a small object like a coin on the top. Don't
forget to mark each piece with the location you have placed it in.
Switch on the safe light(s) and leave them for five minutes.
Then develop all
the pieces as you would normally, if they all come out blank then
there is not a problem. However if you can see the image of the
object/coin on any of them you know that the light is too strong in
that place and will fog any paper you leave out. You could move the
light further away. Now if all the bits of paper show signs of an
image it means that the safe light is the wrong colour and will need
to be changed or your darkroom is not light tight.
