Written by: Ian Reynolds 1/17/2025

Santa Monica Photo 2 Darkroom Techniques 

As a digital photographer, I never really knew much about film, except for occasionally shooting with instant film. In 2024, I decided to take a film class called Photo 2: B&W Darkroom Techniques at Santa Monica College. This class turned out to be the most fun I’ve ever had in a college course.

At that point, I had already earned my AA degree in Liberal Arts, and before beginning my journey toward a BA, I wanted to take classes I genuinely enjoyed. Unfortunately, since I work my main job in the mornings, most photo classes were unavailable to me—until I found SMC. This community college has a fully dedicated photography department with options for AA, AS, and certificate courses, all at a very affordable cost.

Even though I had to make a two-hour commute once a week to Santa Monica, the skills I gained and the fun I had during this class made it entirely worth it. The darkroom technicians, students, and professors were all wonderful, and learning film photography has truly made me a better digital photographer.

With film, there are no redos—once you take a photo, it’s final. If you make a mistake while processing your negatives, they’re permanently ruined. As a digital photographer, you have the ability to try again as many times as you want, but film forces you to slow down and focus on every step of the process. I believe this experience has made me more attentive to details and more deliberate in planning each photo I take.

If you’re interested in learning film photography, I highly recommend taking Photo 2 at SMC.