Controling highlights in a wet print

[fstops]

Hi, I'm new here. I was recommended this forum by a friend when I asked him some questions about analog printing.

My question might sound stupid but I was wondering when making a wet print (b&w), how do/did you decide how light the highlights should be?

Just to clarify, with digital one can push/pull the highlights until they clip, with wet printing how did highlight control worked?

One aspect of b&w analog prints that really appeal to me is that highlights are really light which gives the image a 3D-like look. How was this achieved during printing?

Sorry for the incoherent questions but hopefully those with experience know what I'm talking about.

 

[sleepyhead]

Well, this is a question connected to a lot of areas, such as exposing and processing a good negative to begin with.

But, first remember that unlike digital exposure a piece of printing paper starts white, not black, and that the highlights therefore start off "clipped" and you then add detail to them by increasing exposure to the paper (sometimes differentially such as by burning in whilst dodging the shadows.)

'Hope this starts you off.

 

[ray*j*gun]

Test prints using your best guess then adjusting the time/aperture until the print looks as good over all as possible. Then I burn or dodge the highlights until i get what I want or close. If part of the neg is clear or black there is often not much you can do.

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

Set exposure for the highlights, then adjust the shadows by changing paper grade. Dodge and burn to refine small areas.

 

[x-ray]

Different papers dry down more or less meaning there is more tone in whites when the print dries. It all a balance of exposure and ma ny times requires dodging or often in my case burning in the highs. Sometimes they need bleached.

 

[muser53]

Optimally you should start at the beginning of the chain. Which is to say expose and develop your film in a way that retains the level of detail you desire. If your negatives are overexposed (i.e. too dense to retain highlight detail) than the highlights in your prints will likewise be washed out. One last thought regarding negs. As a general rule of thumb if you place your negs on newsprint you should be able to read through the densest part of the neg. Negatives that print well generally look kind of flat to the eye.

 

[Turtle]

What Chris says, but with a large BUT//

Experience.

There are other techniques you can use, like pre-flashing, that will allow you to produce the highlights you want, but with more contrast throughout the rest of the range of tones if that is what you want. Starting with what Chris says is the best bet and then make a heck of a lot of prints and experiment. If you find you cannot hold the highlights at the paper grade you need to get the desired mid-tone separation, then try pre-flashing, but do all you can to learn without pre-flashing until you can do no more!

Then practice some more.

Scream a lot (in the soft red glow of your safelight of course)....

..... then print some more. I't is easy to become quite a reasonable printer who can tackle most negs. It is a very different thing to become a brilliant printer who can produce a super print out of almost any neg. The good news is that you should enjoy it along the way.

I think getting highlights right can be the hardest thing in wet printing. For some prints it does not seem to matter, but for others it seems a tremendously difficult balancing act.

 

[rlouzan]

+ only specular highlights should be paper white.

 

[RObert Budding]

Set exposure for the highlights, then adjust the shadows by changing paper grade. Dodge and burn to refine small areas.

Exactly right.

 

[Murchu]

Some great info here, and am learning a lot. As someone who does not wet print, but looking to dip my toe in again and perhaps make a concerted effort to become a reasonable printer, can I confirm one thing - when you say, set exposure for the highlights and adjust the shadows by changing paper grade, will changing the paper grade move the band of contrast on both ends (shadows & highlights), or just adjust the shadows?

Thanks in advance

 

[Jockos]

Set exposure for the highlights, then adjust the shadows by changing paper grade. Dodge and burn to refine small areas.

Does this mean that you don't use variable papers and split contrast with color filters?

 

[Moriturii]

Does this mean that you don't use variable papers and split contrast with color filters?

Same thing in spirit.

 

[Jockos]

What would the benefits be for using graded papers versus VC? Excuse me if it's a stupid question, I got my darkroom ½ year ago, and know only what I've read on the Internets 🙂

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

Does this mean that you don't use variable papers and split contrast with color filters?

Changing paper grade can be done with filters on VC. That's actually how I do it. Split-grading the main exposure is a waste of time, its been scientifically proven to give identical results to using a single filter, but like many religious beliefs, it has a lot of vocal priests. Using different filters for burning is a useful technique for lowering contrast in very bright highlight areas. I did that a lot.

 

[Roger Hicks]

What would the benefits be for using graded papers versus VC? Excuse me if it's a stupid question, I got my darkroom ½ year ago, and know only what I've read on the Internets 🙂

Very few. The very hardest grade (5) is harder in graded, and some textured papers can't really be coated with VC. But from the point of view of overall quality, VC caught up 20 years ago or more.

Cheers,

R.

 

[.... _]

What would the benefits be for using graded papers versus VC? Excuse me if it's a stupid question, I got my darkroom ½ year ago, and know only what I've read on the Internets 🙂

today the differences are largely subjective. VC has convenience factor of many grades in one paper and ability to print different parts of one image at different grades.
However, for people who take their printing to a higher level, then print colour, surface finish and how any paper responds to toning come into play and that is often a deciding factor. For example when lith printing.

 

[Turtle]

I concur. I only use filter changes for local adjustments. That said, I do often use setting that are approximately 1/4 grad variations. Sometimes it seems to matter a lot, but most of the time 1/2 grade intervals are fine.

Changing paper grade can be done with filters on VC. That's actually how I do it. Split-grading the main exposure is a waste of time, its been scientifically proven to give identical results to using a single filter, but like many religious beliefs, it has a lot of vocal priests. Using different filters for burning is a useful technique for lowering contrast in very bright highlight areas. I did that a lot.

 

[jordanstarr]

also...learn how to bleach to control local contrast an pop out highlights.

 

[Moriturii]

also...learn how to bleach to control local contrast an pop out highlights.

Now this I want to know more about, please elaborate or possibly, links that I could read?

I remember watching things like a HCB documentary. Someone printed out a picture, and a woman took out a small paint-brush and "painted" something something. She was bleaching then?

 

[fstops]

I really learned a lot about the complexity of wet printing from all the great responses to my question. Thanks, I really appreciate it.

But I'm going to disappoint by saying that I'm not currently wet printing or even planning to do so, my question came about with my struggle with digital post-processing where IMO the highlights are never light enough and the shadows are never dark enough.

If I may turn the question around and ask those of you who post-process with photoshop, how do you translate these wet-printing techniques and experience into digital?