As photographic paper is sensitive to blue light in most cases or blue and green light in some cases it is developed in dark rooms that have red or amber light which is called safelight and allows for safe developing of photographic material. The term ‘safe’ in safelight is dependant relative hence dependants on factors like the filter quality, bulb wattage and distance of film from safelight etc. In some instances orange and yellow lights are also used but these are not as common as red safelights. Although the history of dark room film development dates back to the 19th century it started fading with the emergence of digital photography.
A safelight is made out of ordinary light bulbs and prevents the exposure of the photographic material to those light spectrums to which is may be sensitive. For example the mono-chrome photographic film was sensitive to blue and green light spectrums and hence it required to be processed under red safelight. In this case all other colors appeared as shades of grey while color red which was the color of the safelight appeared in black. To solve this problem panchromatic film was developed but this was sensitive to red light and it required to be developed in darkness or under violet safelight. But darkness and dim light created issues regarding visibility and this problem had to be solved.
Components Of A Safelight
The lamp housing: It is a holder and contains the bulb and the light filter. This stops the ordinary bulb light or the un-safe light from escaping.
The light filter: This is used to change an ordinary bulb light into safelight. It is the light filter that prevents certain damaging light spectrums from reaching the photographic material.
The bulb: The bulb can be any ordinary light bulb but its wattage has to be carefully chosen based on criteria like distance of the safelight from the work area etc.
Methods Of Attaining Safelight
There are many ways of attaining a safelight. Following two methods of attaining safelight are most commonly used but no matter which method you use no safelight is safe enough to expose the film or photographic paper for unlimited period of time:
Homemade Safelights
A homemade safelight is most commonly used in darkrooms that are made by photographers at their homes. These are made by covering ordinary light bulbs with color filter or paint coatings that serve the same purpose. Kodak safelight filter can also be used along with a regular light bulb to achieve a homemade safelight. However, each KODAK safelight filter is aimed at specific type of photographic paper or film and it may damage the quality of picture if used on any other type. KODAK Safelight filters do not stay effective for life and are known to fade with use hence they are replaced depending on the frequency of their use. For the users of Kodak safelight filter such important instructions are clearly mentioned on the product. This KODAK safelight filter come in the form of safelight glass that serves as a filter when fixed in front of the light bulb and allows only safe light spectrums to pass through.
Professionally Developed Safelights
Professionally developed safelights come in fully developed safelight lamps mostly. KODAK safelights are available in several types that are fit for various applications. Some of the variations of KODAK safelight include KODAK darkroom lamp, KODAK utility safelight lamp and KODAK adjustable safelight lamp etc. These professionally developed KODAK safelights can be fixed in various positions depending on your requirement and use such as on a wall, underneath a shelf etc.
Another option available for people seeking professionally developed safelights is Thomas duplex safelights. Thomas duplex safelights are available in sodium vapor darkroom safelight, light amber filters and light red filter variations.
