SFLaB Beginners Guide to Film Photography 2024

You guys asked fo it so here it is! The SFLaB beginners guide to Black & White Film Photography and Darkroom Printing.

• 66 PDF Pages packed with easy to understand film information for beginners and novices
• Links to 11 NEW Unlisted YouTube Videos made exclusively for YOU
• Direct Links to many other useful SFLaB YouTube Videos for beginners
• Download and keep on your MAC/PC or Tablet/Phone for an on the go read
• Personal email support along your journey

This guide has been put together gradually over the past several months and features many questions I get on a daily basis from new starters and advanced beginners in Film Photography and Darkroom works.
It is not a course. It is literally a beginners guide put together in a simple and easy way to understand more of this beautiful medium along with illustrations and exclusive step by step videos for a better understanding.

This guide is for

• Beginners venturing into Black & White film photography
• Beginners that are already shooting film and want to dive deeper and understand more
• Film shooters that want to start making prints in the darkroom
• A refresher guide for many coming back to film
  
  

Overview -

• Purchasing your first Film SLR, making sure it works, sticking with it
• Choosing the right film, Black & White Filters, What to shoot first
• Light Meters, Pushing & Pulling Film
• Simple Film Development, avoiding mistakes, reading your negatives
• Darkroom set up at home
• Making your first Prints, Dodging & Burning, Contrast Filters, Contact Printing

Contents of the guide -

Black & White Film photography

• Black & White Film Photography
• Getting familiar with your first film camera
• Choosing the right films for your needs and shooting simple lit subjects
• Black & White Filters
• Zone Metering
• Light meters and exposure 
• Pushing and Pulling Your Film
• Developing your first film at home and choosing chemicals
• Chemical storage and safety
• Troubleshooting and diagnosing development problems
• Negative handling, cleaning and storing
• Scanning your negatives

Black & White Darkroom

• Basic start up equipment
• The bathroom Darkroom
• Chemicals and Papers
• Making your first print
• Dodging and Burning
• Using contrast filters
• Making contact prints
• Troubleshooting and diagnosis 
• Fun darkroom experiments to try
• Safety in the Darkroom
  

The small Print!

This guide is intended for beginners and novices in Black & White Film Photography and Black & White Darkroom Printing. It is based upon my own experiences over many years through shooting probably almost every film brand available today and experimenting with almost every commercially available developers and other photographic chemicals. I do not claim to be a photo lab technician by any stretch or do I claim to be an “expert” in chemical photography. Most of what is written in this guide is my own interpretation and my own common sense of what I believe has helped me understand the basics of Film Photography and Printing. And my prints speak for themselves. Thats not to say all my negatives and prints are great! Some are, some are not. But it’s the foundation of my own personal road to better film photography.

My approach to Film Photography and Darkroom Works has always been learn as much as you can, shoot and print to the best of your abilities and above all, have fun!

As a purchaser of this guide you agree not to sell, re-sell, share, copy, upload or distribute any part.

Cheers! 

Roger