IMPORTANCE OF CONTACT SHEETS
If you’re like me then you find film photography more interesting than digital photography. It’s probably because it has a different look to it and it’s more grainy. Contact sheets are so important to film photography. If you don’t have a contact sheet for each of your rolls then you won’t be able to tell which picture you’re putting in the enlarger. If you wanted to purchase anything in the darkroom, I recommend shopping here.
To make a contact sheet you will need a clear sheet of plastic with 5 columns to fit all your film in. You can find these anywhere. Make sure your enlarger light is off or you will expose your light sensitive paper to the light. Take an 8X11 piece of fiber based paper and put it under your plastic sheet filled with your film. Then set a piece of glass over both pieces. Make sure your paper and plastic sheet are lined up or they won’t print center. Set your enlarger to 3 seconds if your photos are well exposed and the aperture to f8. Then throw the piece of paper in the chemicals for the proper amount of time. I highly recommend doing one of these for each roll of film. This is any easy way of seeing how your photos will turn out and deciding on which one’s you want to print.
