I have just bought my own darkroom and i dont know how long you are supposed to keep the photo in the stop bath. Please help

-- stephanie Driver (stephie9000@hotmail.com), July 25, 2001

Answers

There is no need to keep it in there very long. I usually leave it in approximatly 10 seconds but I certainly don't bother to time it.

-- Joe Miller (jmmiller@poka.com), July 25, 2001.

Stephanie:

I leave my prints in the stop bath until the slimey feel goes away. How long this takes can vary a bit depending on how much developer has been carried over into the stop bath, thereby neutralizing it. When the time it takes to remove the slimey feel becomes too long, I discard the used stop bath.

-- Ken Burns (kenburns@twave.net), July 25, 2001.

30 seconds is usually the standard

-- Ann C lancy (clancya@mediaone.net), July 25, 2001.

Its not going to hurt anything to leave paper in stop bath for 30 seconds I suppose. However, Kodak's instructions state 5 to 10 seconds for paper and 30 seconds for film. As far as feeling of the print, I wouldn't recommend putting your hands in stop bath if you don't have to. It has never hurt mine, but it's too much trouble to wash them before touching another sheet of unexposed paper. Stop bath is cheap. Keeping it fresh doesn't cost much.

-- Joe Miller (jmmiller@poka.com), July 25, 2001.

If you just bought your darkroom equipment, the best thing you can do is a get a good book. Henry Horenstein's book, Basic Photography, is fabulous. It is very easy to understand - good illustrations and charts. If you can't find it, ask any local bookstore to order it. MOst orders like this come in in a matter of days.

It will be well worth your time to get and read this book - it'll save you a lot of hassles in the dark.

-- Kathe (kmdrum@home.com), July 26, 2001.

If you're still not sure, consider that the job of the stopbath is to stop the paper/film from continuing to develop. In the case of prints, It does this almost instantly upon contact. Assuming the bath is fresh, drop the paper in face down, flip it over 4 times, drain, and it's ready for the fixer.

Leaving a print in there longer (again, assuming the bath is fresh) does no harm at all, so just replace the stuff often and don't worry about it.

-- David Dutchison (ddutt@telus.net), August 14, 2001.