I had been thinking about setting up a darkroom for years and assuming it was out of reach. Specialist room, expensive enlarger, plumbing, climate control, all the rest. It seemed like the kind of project that requires either a dedicated photography space or serious renovation work.
Then I looked at my garage.
The garage already had everything I needed except light-tightness. And light-tightness, it turns out, is a problem you can solve with damp-proof coursing, expanding foam, duct tape, and rolled-up black bed sheets. A few weekends of careful work, and the garage was usable as a darkroom.
This article is about building the darkroom from a normal garage, the kit choices I made (including the Intrepid 4x5 enlarger as the centrepiece), the cock-ups I made on my first printing session, and what I learned about the genuine emotional rewards of analogue printing after years of digitally scanning my own negatives.
If you have been wanting to print your own film work but assumed it was beyond your means, this article should help. You can do this. The barrier is lower than you think.
The garage as raw material
A normal UK domestic garage is actually a remarkably suitable starting point for a darkroom.
What it has going for it:
- Concrete floor that can handle water spills
- Solid walls that already block most light
- Workshop-friendly layout (you can put things on the floor without worrying)
- Roughly the right temperature for chemistry (slightly cool in winter, slightly warm in summer)
- Existing electrical sockets (usually)
- A garage door that can be sealed
What it lacks:
- Light-tightness around the garage door, eaves, and various fittings
- Plumbing (no running water by default)
- Ventilation control
The plumbing and ventilation are problems you work around with hose pipes and timing your sessions. The light-tightness is the big project. That is what most of the work was for.
The light-proofing project
This took several weeks of incremental work. The principle: find every source of light leakage and seal it. Then test by sitting in the closed garage in daylight for ten minutes with the lights off, letting your eyes adjust, and seeing what you can still see. Anything visible needs another pass.
The garage door
The biggest source of light leakage. My solution involved three layers.
Damp-proof coursing strips along the bottom, top, and sides of the door frame. Damp-proof coursing is the right material for this because it is flexible (so it can move with the door opening and closing), durable (it is designed to handle weather), and reasonably cheap. I attached it strategically:
- One strip along the top of the frame, overhanging so it forms a curtain when the door closes
- A second strip on the door itself, positioned to seal against the first when closed (creating a double seal at the top)
- A strip on the frame at the bottom so the door closes onto it
The sides of the door turned out to be reasonably well sealed already, so they only needed a few bits of duct tape over specific gaps.
Expanding spray foam filled the small ridges and gaps in the garage door itself. Each ridge in the corrugated metal of the door was a potential light leak. The foam fills these and stays in place. (Expanding foam is genuinely horrible stuff to work with but it does the job.)
The eaves and remaining light sources
After the garage door was sealed, I walked around the rest of the garage looking for light.
The eaves (the gap between the top of the walls and the roof) had small gaps where exterior light came through. I rolled up old black bed sheets and stuffed them into the gaps. Cheap, removable, works perfectly.
Various small lights inside the garage had to be covered. The LED on my chest freezer. The little glowing dots on the plug sockets. The light on the boiler. Duct tape over each one.
Any remaining gaps in walls or vents got covered with more duct tape.
After all this, sitting in the closed garage in full daylight outside, I could see nothing. Total darkness. Mission accomplished.
What it cost
The light-proofing materials totalled maybe £30-40. Damp-proof coursing is cheap. Spray foam is cheap. Duct tape and old bed sheets I had at home. The expense in this project is your time, not your money.
![PLACEHOLDER: the garage door with the damp-proof coursing strips visible at top and bottom, showing the sealing approach]
The plumbing solution
A working darkroom needs running water for washing prints. My garage has no plumbing. Solution: run the garden hose under the (now sealed-around) garage door.
The workflow:
Water in: garden hose with a standard adjustable hose-end attachment, run under the door from the outside tap. I can control flow rate with the hose attachment, so I can keep washing gentle for delicate prints.
Water out: a second hose runs from the print washer (more on that below) under the same gap in the door, out to the existing outside drain on my driveway.
The “I am proud of this” part: my print washer is a washing-up bowl with a hole drilled in the side. I 3D printed a two-piece drain fitting (a flange that seats inside the bowl and a screw-on collar that grips it from outside) with a standard hose attachment on the outside end. A jubilee clip secures the outflow hose to the drain fitting.
The most ingenious bit: the plug for the drain hole. I cut a small circle of solid material and rest it over the hole from inside. When the bowl fills with water, the water pressure pushes the plug down onto the hole, holding it in place. To start the drain, I just lift the plug. No mechanical drain plug needed.
This whole plumbing system cost about £15 including the 3D printing filament. It works perfectly.
![PLACEHOLDER: the washing-up bowl print washer with the drain fitting visible, showing the homemade plumbing solution in action]
The enlarger: Intrepid 4x5
The centrepiece of the darkroom and the bit that would normally cost real money in a traditional setup.
The Intrepid 4x5 enlarger is a Kickstarter project from a few years ago that takes an Intrepid 4x5 camera (their cheapest field camera) and converts it into an enlarger. You take the back off the camera, attach the light source unit in its place, and slide the negative holder underneath the light source. The camera body provides the bellows, the focusing mechanism, and the lens mount. The light source provides the projection.
The enlarging lens I am using is a Rodenstock Omegaron picked up second-hand. Other enlarging lenses would work; I had this one already.
Why this approach is genuinely clever:
Cost. A traditional 4x5 enlarger is £500-1,500+ and takes up a huge amount of space. The Intrepid system is a fraction of that price and folds down to almost nothing when not in use.
Space. My garage is also still my workshop, storage area, and occasional bicycle parking. The Intrepid enlarger packs away after each session, leaving the garage available for its other uses.
Quality. The Intrepid system uses real lenses (whatever enlarging lens you choose) and proper bellows. Print quality is genuinely good. Not Durst-Laborator quality, but excellent for the price.
Limitations:
4x5 maximum format only. This is the big constraint. The system handles 4x5 negatives or smaller (so 645, 6x6, 6x7, 6x9 medium format) by stopping down to the relevant frame portion. But I have a lot of 120 frames I want to print, and the workflow for medium format on a 4x5 enlarger requires custom-made or purchased negative carrier inserts. I will need to figure out a solution for that soon enough.
No multi-grade contrast filtration built in. You filter for multi-grade paper by holding filters above the lens or below the light source. More fiddly than a Durst with built-in filtration.
Limited maximum print size. The bellows extension and lens choice limits how big you can enlarge. For prints up to roughly 16x20 inches you are fine. Beyond that you need a different solution.
For a first darkroom on a budget, in a garage that has other uses, the Intrepid 4x5 enlarger is the right answer. Their website is here.
The supporting kit
The remaining bits I needed:
Trays for developer, stop, and fix. Standard print trays from any darkroom supplier. I have three trays in 4x5/8x10 size for now.
Chemistry. Ilford Multigrade developer, Ilford stop bath, Ilford rapid fixer. Standard kit.
Paper. Ilford Multigrade RC (resin-coated) paper for these first prints. RC paper is easier to handle than fibre-based paper, dries faster, and is more forgiving for a beginner. I will move to fibre-based later for serious work.
Easel. I bought a second-hand easel from Second Hand Darkroom for about £25-30. Brand new Kaiser easels are £800-900 (genuinely insane money for what is essentially a pair of metal blades). The second-hand option is the only sensible one for most people.
Safelights. I have a couple of safelights set up. I am not 100% confident they are all genuinely safe for the paper I am using. I have been keeping sessions short to minimise any fogging from suspect safelight wavelengths. Tip for first-time darkroom builders: buy quality safelights from a known darkroom supplier, not random eBay listings.
A timer. For exposure times and development times. Standard darkroom equipment.
Tongs. For moving prints through chemistry without getting fixer in your developer.
Total kit cost beyond the Intrepid enlarger: around £80-100 for the basics. Most things bought second-hand.
![PLACEHOLDER: the full darkroom setup with the Intrepid enlarger, trays, easel, and washing-up bowl print washer all in operation]
The first printing session
Here is where I have to confess to being thoroughly incompetent at first.
I had not printed in a darkroom since I was at school, roughly thirty years earlier. The muscle memory was gone. I had to relearn everything from scratch.
Test strip 1: completely black
Standard process for printing: do a test strip first to establish exposure. Lay a strip of paper in the easel, expose it in five-second increments by covering different parts of the strip with a card and removing the card in stages. Develop. You should see a gradient from underexposed to overexposed, and you pick the exposure in the middle.
My first test strip came out completely black. Useless. Cannot tell anything from it.
Tried again with one-second increments instead of five. Also completely black.
What had gone wrong: I had left the enlarging lens aperture wide open. With the lens wide open and a relatively low-density negative, the paper was hugely overexposed at any reasonable time.
Closed down the aperture. Tried again.
Test strip 2: completely black (again)
Repeated the same mistake. Lens still wide open, because in my muddled state I had not actually closed it the way I thought I had. Another sheet of paper wasted. Genuine cringe to watch myself in the video.
Test strip 3: actually useful
Finally got the aperture properly closed down. Did a five-second-increment test strip. The increments came out as an even gradient. I could see where each five-second band sat on the paper.
The right exposure for this particular negative was about four seconds at f/8. Worth knowing for future printing sessions, although every negative will require its own test strip.
The first print: my daughter
Once I had exposure dialled in, I moved on to a real print. The negative I chose was one of my daughters holding hands. Genuine subject, something I would want to give to them when finished.
The first attempt was slightly off. The negative was not quite straight in the easel, so the frame was crooked. Re-did it with proper alignment.
The second attempt came out slightly low contrast. Multi-grade RC paper lets you change contrast with filtration. I dialled in more contrast.
The third attempt was slightly too much contrast. Pulled back a fraction.
The fourth attempt was about right. Black-and-white tonal range looked balanced, daughter’s faces clearly readable, the moment captured.
Hung it up to dry.
![PLACEHOLDER: the first real print hanging to dry, with the chemistry trays visible in the foreground]
The emotional dimension
Here is the thing I did not really expect.
Holding a print in your hands that you made yourself is genuinely different from looking at a scan on a screen.
I have been scanning my own film for years. I have seen these images in countless variations on my computer monitor. I have shared them online. I have looked at them and judged them and adjusted them. None of that prepared me for the feel of a freshly washed print in my hand.
The print has weight. The paper has texture. The blacks are deep in a way no screen can reproduce. The whites are paper-white, not screen-white. The image sits in physical space, not in a virtual one. You can give it to someone.
I had never been particularly drawn to printing before. It was always on the list, somewhere, the thing I would get around to eventually. Doing it changed something. I am now genuinely excited about printing as a discipline in its own right, not just as a final step in a process.
If you have been resisting darkroom printing for similar reasons (it seems complicated, expensive, time-consuming, unnecessary): try it once. The reward might surprise you the way it surprised me.
What I would do differently
Lessons from the first session for the next one:
1. Check the lens aperture before every test strip. Twice. Three times if you have to. The wide-open-lens mistake is the most common rookie error in printing, apparently, and now I understand why.
2. Buy proper safelights, not bargain ones. My current safelights may be fogging the paper slightly. Worth the investment in known-good safelight equipment.
3. Plan your printing session before turning out the lights. Decide what negative you are printing, what print size, what exposure approach. Doing planning in the dark is harder than doing planning in the light.
4. Keep a printing log. Note the negative, the exposure, the aperture, the contrast filtration, any dodging or burning. You will return to the same negative later and want to remember what worked.
5. Wash prints properly. RC paper washes in a few minutes. Fibre needs an hour or more. Do not skimp on washing. Residual chemistry on the paper will yellow the print over time.
6. Tone prints for archival storage. Not on my first session, but planning to learn selenium toning for the prints I want to keep long term.
What’s next for the darkroom
Several projects.
Medium format printing. I need a way to print my 120 negatives on the Intrepid enlarger. Probably involves a custom negative carrier insert for the various 120 frame sizes (645, 6x6, 6x7, 6x9). Either I make these on the 3D printer or buy them somewhere.
Fibre-based paper experiments. RC paper is the right starting point. Fibre is where serious printing lives. Higher quality results, harder to work with, longer drying times.
Multiple contrast filters and proper filter holder. I have been holding filters under the light source by hand, which works but is fiddly. A proper filter drawer would be better.
Specific projects from specific negatives. I have many years of 120 work that I have never seen as a physical print. Time to print some of it.
A more sophisticated print washer. The washing-up bowl works for small prints. For larger ones I will need something with proper baffles to ensure water circulation across the whole paper surface.
What’s next on the channel
A confession that fits the timing of this article.
I have been suffering from photographer’s block for the past few weeks. I have been going out with cameras, having a plan, getting there, and just having no inspiration. It has been a real problem and the reason there has been a gap between videos on the channel.
The next article will be about tackling that block honestly and the active versus passive photography distinction I have come to articulate as part of working through it. It will be a deep one because I think the problem is worth talking about properly.
Beyond that, I have boxes full of cameras ready to be tested and reviewed and have plenty of fresh content coming once the block lifts.
A note to readers considering this
If you have been thinking about setting up a darkroom and have been put off by the cost, the space, or the complexity, here is the truth: it is genuinely accessible.
You need:
- A space that can be made light-tight (garage, spare room, basement, large cupboard)
- A small budget (£200-400 covers the basics including enlarger)
- Time and patience (the setup is the project, the printing is the reward)
- Willingness to make mistakes early on (I overexposed three test strips before getting the basics right)
You do not need:
- A dedicated room (multi-use spaces work fine)
- Expensive enlargers (Intrepid for 4x5 is brilliant value)
- Professional-grade chemistry (Ilford basic kit is excellent)
- Years of training (you learn by doing)
If you want to print your own film work, stop putting it off. Look at the space you have. Plan how you would light-proof it. Cost up the basics. The barriers are smaller than you think and the rewards are bigger than you expect.
Useful links
No affiliate stuff in any of these. I paid for everything I bought.
- Intrepid Camera (for the 4x5 enlarger): intrepidcamera.co.uk
- Second Hand Darkroom (for kit at sensible prices): secondhanddarkroom.co.uk
- Ilford Photo (for paper and chemistry): ilfordphoto.com
If you set up your own darkroom after reading this, drop me a comment. I would love to hear what spaces you converted and what kit choices you made. The darkroom community needs more of us in it.