Holy cow! Got into printing yesterday.

gho

gho

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Folks, I just wanted to share my joy! For some time I had an old Meopta Optemus enlarger sitting around and yesterday I put it into good use in my bathroom. I did not have a paper developer and a stop bath, so I just used Rodinal 1+20 and some vinegar from the kitchen. Works fine.

This is seriously opening up a whole new world to me and it is potentially changing my perspective on my own photography. Looking at a print is totally different from scanning the negs and viewing them on the screen. Strangely the last two evenings in the darkroom made me think more about the pictures I take. I guess I will shoot less and more carefully and print more. I have the feeling that the printing broke a creative block I had for the past few weeks. It was about time!
 
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It's funny, I just bought a Meopta Opemus a few weeks ago too.

It's really difficult but so fascinating. Some negatives almost print themselves and with others I struggle very hard to get all the tones where I want them. I borrowed some books and will keep practicing, maybe I'll get to a level where I can print "good" prints from almost any negative.

The thing I have most problems is getting the midtones where I want them, any tips on that?
 
lem0n said:
The thing I have most problems is getting the midtones where I want them, any tips on that?
Click to expand...

I am not sure about that, as I am just starting myself, but here are my thoughts:

I guess I will have to tune my film exposure/development to the printing process to get the look I want. First I will check out the old rule expose for the shadows develop for the highlights. The zone system is also potentially interesting. What I found is that I get muuuch more shadow detail with wet-printing compared to scanning.

Another observation is, that very small changes in the exposure time of the paper can make a huge difference in the appearance of the whole print. Amazing. The paper surely also has a huge influence on the overal look of a print, but I will check things out one at a time.

As for the Optemus, I find the film carrier is a bit suboptimal. Mine came with glass plates that tend to scratch the negs if one is not careful. Another concern are Newton rings.
 
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On how to get better...

... practice, practice, practice (and see as many top quality prints and the negs they came from as you can)
 
Thats awesome. Congratulations!

gho said:
Looking at a print is totally different from scanning the negs and viewing them on the screen. Strangely the last two evenings in the darkroom made me think more about the pictures I take. I guess I will shoot less and more carefully and print more.
Click to expand...

I am in the exact same boat as you. You couldn't have said it any better.
 
gho said:
Folks, I just wanted to share my joy! For some time I had an old Meopta Optemus enlarger sitting around and yesterday I put it into good use in my bathroom. I did not have a paper developer and a stop bath, so I just used Rodinal 1+20 and some vinegar from the kitchen. Works fine.

This is seriously opening up a whole new world to me and it is potentially changing my perspective on my own photography. Looking at a print is totally different from scanning the negs and viewing them on the screen. Strangely the last two evenings in the darkroom made me think more about the pictures I take. I guess I will shoot less and more carefully and print more. I have the feeling that the printing broke a creative block I had for the past few weeks. It was about time!
Click to expand...

Good for you!
Now you are ready to say whether film is for you or not (I suspect it is). Most people never come this far.

By the way. Now that you have tasted the goodness, get a real paper developer and stop-bath and fixer.
 
Yesterday I was searching through my pretty unsorted piles of negatives for some frames and I thought: "Hey, what is all this for, if you do not produce some prints?" I have the feeling, that I have neglected half of the process of photography and that the finished result is actually the print.

To remedy the chaos of my archiving, I have decided to start making contact sheets. I find looking at contact sheets very informative. I think they add a lot of context to a photograph in terms of time, place, subject and approach. They are a format in their own.

Still a lot to learn! To get rid of the Newton rings caused by the glass plates, I ordered a 35mm adapter for the Opemus' film holder and I will get some more paper for practicing. Dodging and burning sounds exciting, but also very difficult.
 
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gho said:
This is seriously opening up a whole new world to me and it is potentially changing my perspective on my own photography. Looking at a print is totally different from scanning the negs and viewing them on the screen. Strangely the last two evenings in the darkroom made me think more about the pictures I take. I guess I will shoot less and more carefully and print more. I have the feeling that the printing broke a creative block I had for the past few weeks. It was about time!
Click to expand...

Hear Hear! Congratulations! So glad to hear another one stepping on the engrossing journey!

I was in the very same boat as you, except that after a day of intense intoxicating joy of focussing the grain, playing with lights and time, watching images appear...I had to leave the country for 5 weeks! The thought at the time was also to take fewer pictures, and work through one good set of negatives. It's fascinating how subtle things can differ in the timing of a second, fraction of a second even, and that one might not see it comparing two, but when the third one comes out, suddenly the eyes can differentiate.

(Another thing is about letting it rinse in fresh water.. I might have been imagining thing, or maybe the print wasn't long enough in the fixer...but I thought some of the over all contrast get cleaner and sharper after being in the fresh water pool for a while......but i guess I should ask this on another thread...)
 
dfoo said:
You could make a cardboard mask to sandwich the neg in also to get rid of the rings.
Click to expand...

Hey, thanks, that is a great tip. In fact I like the simple, hands on approaches.

I will try to post a scanned print compared to a scanned negative later. I am a bit occupied with other things for the next few days and weeks, but I have reserved a few hours for the darkroom in the evenings.
 
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Wet printing is a joy. I can't wait to get back in to it. Even more, I can't wait to see the look on my grandson's face the first time he sees a print develop in the tray.
 
That is the way I remember it. I was about to start again, then just when I got the final piece I needed to start doing enlargements, I came down with this bug that's going around. You know, the one that knocks you on your behind for a month or so.

March was a total loss. Hopefully, April will be better.
 
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