Darkroom Printing Secrets

[brothernature]

Okay sorry for the click-bait title, but what are examples of techniques that you learned that made the biggest difference in the quality of your printing?

I have only just started, but it took me longer than I care to admit to learn to:

• measure in stops of light (f-stop printing) vs random time intervals
• mark test strips and prints with a reference # for keeping notes on f-stop/grade/time
• take my time. After making test strips, make one print as close as I can get, then let it dry and look at it for a few days before going back and trying to make another.
• do less. When I started I was trying to do split-grade printing, dodging and burning everywhere, etc. Now I'm trying to do as little as possible and just focus on picking the right time/contrast.
• be meticulous about dust on negatives/enlarger.

What are yours?

 

[laurentb]

Okay sorry for the click-bait title, but what are examples of techniques that you learned that made the biggest difference in the quality of your printing?

I have only just started, but it took me longer than I care to admit to learn to:

• measure in stops of light (f-stop printing) vs random time intervals
• mark test strips and prints with a reference # for keeping notes on f-stop/grade/time
• take my time. After making test strips, make one print as close as I can get, then let it dry and look at it for a few days before going back and trying to make another.
• do less. When I started I was trying to do split-grade printing, dodging and burning everywhere, etc. Now I'm trying to do as little as possible and just focus on picking the right time/contrast.
• be meticulous about dust on negatives/enlarger.

What are yours?

More or less the same for me, safe for your #3 ("take my time"). I'm usually too eager to see a print, so I tend to try to make it in a single session, then have to do it again the next day.


I'd add good music!


I recently started to make "reference" test strips (grades from 0 to 5, times by 1/3 stop) to train my eyes

 

[Corran]

Practice practice practice

 

[Ronald M]

Printing secrets. A contact print of 36 images is the best light meter for darkroom. I finally learned to split filter print. It can have big advantages and the further from #2, the bigger they are and you can burn and dodge high lites and shadows.
Dry prints flat with a blotter stack , corrugated board, fan dryer. They come out flat. Try and buy one without super good luck.
50 years ago I dried them taped on a basswood drawing emulsion out for 24 hours. Tedious but worked.
Mix your own developers. Cheap and fresh.

 

[brusby]

First thing I would do is calibrate my setup to print a well exposed negative using an exposure time in the range of 20 seconds to a minute. I'd pick a time that was easily divisible by 4 and set my footswitch to that smaller interval. So for a total exposure of 20 seconds, I'd set the footswitch to 5 seconds. This will permit you to dodge or burn in repeatable increments.

Then just hit the footswitch 4 times for the 20 second global exposure. During that exposure, dodge in 5 second increments, if necessary. After the 20 second global exposure, you can continue to burn in 5 second increments to darken whatever needs it by roughly 1/4 stop each time.

This method makes the whole process very easily repeatable. So, it's simple to make duplicate prints that are closely matched. Or it can be used to establish a repeatable baseline from which you can try different variations to get the desired end result.

Also, if you familiarize yourself with how the good negative you used for calibration looks, you can get very good results without test strips simply by mentally comparing the new negative to be printed to the reference and adjusting your global exposure accordingly..


For dodging tool -- a piece of metal coat hanger with a circle, oval or other shape taped to the end for small areas. Your hand or piece of black mat board for larger areas.

For burning tool -- 2 L shaped pieces of black mat board. They can be used to form a hole in the center that can be adjusted on the fly.

 

[benlees]

Have good negatives! And practice. And read Barry Thornton. Then just scan the tricky ones.

 

[Erik van Straten]

Never make more than one print in a session, but let that be a good one.


Erik.

 

[PKR]

Secrets ?

Check for light leaks..

 

[retinax]

Taking my time and doing less are points I need to work on.
You can theoretically dodge highlights and burn in shadows. Sometimes you have to. But generally, unless you want soft, airy images, you should aim to only burn highlights and dodge shadows. This way you can print at a higher grade, so you get more tonal separation and local contrast.

 

[brusby]

Regarding highlights and shadows --

Highlights always dry darker than they appear when wet. So to avoid muddy looking prints it's a good idea to familiarize yourself with how much the highlights darken, then compensate by adjusting exposure. It just takes practice.

To see if you have printed shadows too dark, hold a print up in front of a bright light source and examine the shadows. If you see more detail in the backlit print than you see with normal room lighting, it means there is shadow detail in the negative that was lost during the printing process. Adjust the global exposure or dodge that area.

 

[Erik van Straten]

Regarding highlights and shadows --

Highlights always dry darker than they appear when wet.

Dry a test strip quickly with a hair dryer if you want to see the effect on the dry print.


Erik.

 

[KenR]

I agree with Brusby that printing times need to be long enough to allow for dodging. I have read some books/articles where they use total printing times of 10-15 seconds. While that may hit the enlarging lens "sweet spot" of f/8, it really doesn't allow for dodging in any consistent way. Total times of 25-40 seconds allow for dodging multiple areas for 3-5 seconds in a reproducible way. Burning times really don't factor into that equation.
Obviously, as someone pointed out, if I had better negatives, this wouldn't be such an issue for me.

 

[brusby]

One of the goals of the roughly 5 second or so increment is to allow enough time for the dodging/burning tool to be moved around the area to be affected several times. That softens the edges so the manipulation appears seamless. Also the quarter stop dodge/burn amount is enough to make a difference, but small enough to allow for subtle alterations. Usually the goal is to have everything look very natural and not manipulated at all.

 

[Erik van Straten]

Usually the goal is to have everything look very natural and not manipulated at all.

The best thing is when no burning or dodging is necessary, so print on a paper that has exactly the right gradation.


Erik.

 

[brusby]

Here's a rejected first print made with the method I described above. I was pretty happy with everything (please excuse the milky shadows and lines that were caused by the early generation scanner many years ago) except the vignetting, which was way too coarse and abrupt. So, I was able to exactly replicate all the previous settings while adjusting just the vignette. The next print was the final and required just 2 pieces of 8x10 paper and done in less than 5 minutes. Unfortunately I gave all the finished prints away years ago.

Angie Bolling by Brusby, on Flickr

 

[brusby]

I don't agree at all. That's usually only possible in flatly lit scenes unless you either print too low in contrast or lose detail in highlight and/or shadows.

As an example, Ansel Adams prints were rarely, if ever, done as you describe. If he adhered to your philosophy his prints would have been drastically different and much less dramatic. If that's your personal tastes I don't suggest anything different for you. But it's not for everyone. Other approaches are just as valid, if not moreso.

Bruce

The best thing is when no burning or dodging is necessary, so print on a paper that has exactly the right gradation.


Erik.

 

[Erik van Straten]

This print I've made with two exposures. It is on Ilford MGFB, so variable gradation. The gradation can be changed with filters. One exposure was with the 00-filter and the other with the 5-filter. No burning or dodging was used.

Hektor 50mm f2.5 uncoated.

Ansel Adams never knew split grade printing!

Erik.

 

[brusby]

You've got one broad, relatively even source of illumination for the entire scene -- the window light. That's exactly the type of low contrast scene I was describing as optimum for your printing method.

 

[Erik van Straten]

You've got one broad, relatively even source of illumination for the entire scene -- the window light. That's exactly the type of low contrast scene I was describing as optimum for your printing method.

I can print any kind of light, high contrast, low contrast, it doesn't matter.


Erik.

 

[Erik van Straten]

Here's a high contrast scene, even the lamps are well drawn. Same way of printing as above. No burning or dodging.

Erik.