Introduction to the Darkroom: B+W Film Processing and Photographic Printing Workshop

What to Expect

This entry-level, two day workshop establishes good working practice for processing black and white film and making a first set of prints, taught by Peter Wilcock, an award-winning photographer with thirty years’ experience as a staff photographer for major UK national newspapers and City and Guilds teaching qualifications, who has also taught at Manchester, Central Lancashire and Lancaster universities. Participants learn to pre-visualise the result they want before they shoot, then calibrate both camera and processing chemistry to get there, rather than relying on chance in the darkroom. The course covers shooting on film, correct darkroom processing technique, and the fundamentals of print-making from a negative. It is designed for people starting out with film photography who want a solid grounding in the whole process, from exposure through to a finished print. Wilcock’s long background as a working press photographer means the course leans on practical, real-world habits developed over three decades in newsrooms, rather than a purely academic approach to the darkroom. The workshop runs in the same studio building used for the centre’s other analogue photography course in August, so equipment and darkroom set-up are already familiar to anyone who has attended before, though no previous course attendance is required to book a place.

Good to Know

• Dates: Saturday 17 and Sunday 18 October 2026, a two day course
• Venue: Leitrim Sculpture Centre, New Line, Manorhamilton, Co. Leitrim
• Price: €240 per person
• Bring your own working 35mm SLR or medium format (120) camera with manual shutter speed and aperture controls
• Accommodation on site is available separately at €35 per night, email the centre after booking to check availability
• Booking: via Eventbrite, linked from the centre’s own workshop page
• Recurrence: a one-off two day course, the centre also ran an alternative darkroom techniques workshop in August and a welding workshop in September as part of the same autumn programme
• Contact: 071 9855098 or info@leitrimsculpturecentre.ie

Getting There

Leitrim Sculpture Centre is on New Line in Manorhamilton, on the N16 Sligo to Enniskillen road, roughly 30 minutes from Sligo town and 20 minutes from Carrick-on-Shannon by car.

While You’re in Manorhamilton

Manorhamilton is a market town in north Leitrim, set where several valleys meet, close to the Dartry mountains. There is more to see in Manorhamilton and across Co. Leitrim.