 Bathes in Maple Syrup | Dancing Lobster | Moy Pomidor | Seneca's Beard | That Is So Fetch!
Eleanor gave the room a final glance, making sure each student had their enlarger focused and a sheet of photographic paper positioned beneath it. She gave nods of approval to each, including the young Hufflepuff and Slytherin boys nearby.
"Excellent. We're ready to make our first print," she said, resting one of her hands lightly beside the enlarger she had been using. "The next step is exposing the photographic paper. You will switch on the enlarger lamp and allow the light to shine onto the paper for somewhere between five and thirty seconds. The exact exposure depends on the density of your negative and the look you're hoping to achieve. Finding the perfect exposure is often a matter of trial and error, so don't be discouraged if your first print isn't exactly what you imagined. Around fifteen seconds is usually an excellent place to begin, though."
She demonstrated, counting down before switching off the enlarger. "Once the exposure is complete, carry your paper carefully to the four processing trays. Try not to bend or touch the surface of the paper."
Moving to the first tray, she lowered the sheet smoothly into the developer. "The developer is where the magic—well, the chemistry—happens." A faint chuckle escaped her. "Start counting to yourself immediately and leave the print there for sixty seconds."
Almost immediately, faint shapes began to materialise on the paper. "This is my favourite part," she admitted, watching the image slowly emerge. "No matter how many thousands of photographs I've developed, watching an image appear from what looked like a blank sheet of paper never quite loses its wonder."
When the minute had elapsed, Eleanor lifted the print using the tongs resting beside the tray. "Each tray has its own dedicated pair of tongs. Keep them with their assigned solution to avoid contaminating the chemicals."
She transferred the print into the the next tray: the stop bath. "The stop bath halts the developing process. Ten seconds here is all you’ll need."
After the brief pause, she reached for the other pair of tongs. "Next comes the fixer. The fixer stabilises the image, making it permanent and preventing further exposure to light. After transferring the print, leave it here for thirty seconds."
Once the time had passed, she used another pair of tongs to lift the print into the last tray. "Finally, you will place your print into the rinse bath. This tray contains clean water, which removes any remaining processing chemicals. Allow your print to rinse for approximately two minutes."
While her print was in the rinse bath, Eleanor looked around the room, ensuring everyone was following along comfortably.
"When the rinse is complete, remove the print with the last set of tongs and bring it over to the drying area along that side of the room," she stated, gesturing to the drying lines containing a number of wooden clothespins. "Your print will need around thirty minutes to dry completely before it is ready to handle.
"Once your first print is hanging to dry, I encourage you to make additional prints. Try different photographs, adjust your exposure times, or even experiment with changing the crop or composition. Darkroom printing is as much an art as it is a science, and every print teaches you something new."
With that said, she smiled warmly and waited a moment before she started circulating through the room, pausing beside individual workstations to answer questions and offer quiet guidance as Hogwarts' captured moments slowly emerged from blank sheets of photographic paper.
OOC: Apologies for the wait; I have been travelling abroad and phone/iPad posts are always so tedious. Lol. But, without further ado, here is the second part of the main activity.
At this stage of the lesson, students will develop their photographs using the steps that were modelled. Feel free to have your student experiment with exposure time, image size, cropping/framing, focus, careful vs. rushed timing, following or disrupting the steps, etc. Varying results are strongly encouraged!
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