Home Colour Printing with the Intrepid Enlarger
The team at SilvergrainClassics have published another book. We talk to Christopher Osborne about “Home Colour Printing with the Intrepid Enlarger”.
By Marwan El Mozayen
Colour darkroom printing is one of the subjects that Christopher Osborne teaches analogue photographers. “There is still a belief that making colour prints in the darkroom is hard. And that you must start with black & white printing before moving on to colour. And that colour darkroom printing is expensive”, says Christopher. “All of these preconceptions are untrue. For example, it is easier to explain colour calibration to a photographer that has never darkroom printed before than it is to explain the relationship between exposure & grade in black & white printing.”
Christopher Osborne is on a mission to disprove these misconceptions. “Amazing colour prints are within the reach of all of us. Even those of us who use a bathroom in a small apartment as a darkroom”.
“The last books on how to process colour prints were written in the 1980s,” says Christopher. “Many of the papers and chemistries that these books describe are no longer available. The subject needed a fresh look to bring it into 2022. Not only has the choice of paper and chemistry become more limited but new technical innovations such as Sous-vide wands have brought colour temperature management within the financial reach of analogue photographers”.
“Home Colour Printing with the Intrepid Enlarger” is a spiral-bound book of 114 pages. “We chose this format so that the book can be left open at the page of interest. Even commercial darkrooms do not have space for books, and home darkrooms are usually extra cosy”, explains Christopher.
This book simply explains everything a photographer needs to know to print in colour. The paper to use, and the chemistry and equipment that are required are simply explained in the first section of the book.
The second section of the book steps the reader through the process of making prints.
The book focuses on the use of Intrepid’s enlarger. Like this revolutionary enlarger, the equipment described in the book is designed to pack away for those of us who do not have a permanent darkroom.
“Home Colour Printing with the Intrepid Enlarger” by Christopher Osborne is published by SilvergrainClassics. It can be purchased directly from:
SilvergrainClassics at https://shop.silvergrainclassics.com/books-tutorials/home-colour-printing-with-the-intrepid-enlarger
or from Intrepid at https://intrepidcamera.co.uk/products/colour-printing-book
Images © Christopher Osborne 2022.
You might also be interested in a previous SilvergrainClassics article on the Heiland Splitgrade Controller at https://silvergrainclassics.com/en/2021/09/what-is-the-heiland-splitgrade-controller/
