If you have a darkroom setup with an enlarger you may be able to use this to print B&W images depending on the type of enlarger. The results are quite good and you can combine this with some artistic flair to create your own unique prints.
The following is the process I have used to produce my first few prints and it is still a work in progress to improve on it. You will come up with a process that suits the equipment you have and the software you already have available for your digital photography.
- Check that you can remove the film carrier from your enlarger and that your iPhone can then fit in that space.
- Choose the image to use. If colour convert it to B&W and invert the image to a negative. I use Gimp to do this or I am sure Photoshop probably does it too.
- Load the image onto your iPhone (or smartphone).
- Use an app (or do this in Photoshop earlier) to squeeze the image dimensions so that it will display fully through the enlarger lens. You will need to experiment for your enlarger. I use an app called Square Fit and make the "Canvas" size 2:1 then save this to Photos.
- Set the iPhone screen never turn off and maximum brightness.
- Open Photos and bring up the image. Click on so it is full screen then rotate the phone so it appears as a smaller centred image with a black surround. You may need to rotate the image 90degree to achieve this in portrait.
- Keeping the screen in that rotation place it in the enlarger and with lights out and safe light on move the iPhone till the image appears in the centre of the circle of light of the enlarger lens.
- Now standard procedure to adjust the enlarger height to the print paper you are going to use then fine focus with your grain focuser onto the LCD electronics behind the iPhone glass. You will be amazed how sharp you can see these.
- Now standard darkroom procedure of establishing time and filter grade on test strips. I will explain what I eventually used.
- Printing onto 18x12.5cm Ilford Multigrade Pearl paper I set the lens at F5.6 and exposed at 35 seconds through a Grade 2 filter.
- Because you are not controlling the enlarger with a timer you need to work like this
- Insert the red block filter
- Place the paper into the paper holder and cover with say a book or magazine.
- Replace the red block filter with your Grade filter.
- Lift the book off and I exposed for 35 seconds watching a clock.
- Cover with the book again and swap over the filter to the red blocker.
- Develop the print as normal.
This image is a photo of the paper pearl print I produced from a photo taken in infrared on the Nikon FE hybrid camera. You will notice a lot of marks and these are from my rough work of modifying this sensor for the digital back, dust from in the film camera, marks on my well used iPhone 7 screen and if you expand the image you can see all the LCD electronics of the iPhone.
This next image was my first attempt but I used a DSLR scan of a real film negative. What is weird about this is I placed the film negative in the enlarger and with the DSLR vertical and took a photo of the negative. I have then used this scanned negative on my iPhone to produce the following 10x8 print back down through the enlarger! This print was just full size on the iPhone screen and not sized to fit neatly into the lens circle.
I will edit this post with a few more examples of successful iPhone prints.
