Tim Gray
Well-known
Exposure time is really dependent on the negative, the print size, the aperture, etc. As far as what is good, it depends on what you are doing. I just printed 50 4x6's of the same image this weekend (with no dodge/burn) so I adjusted the aperture to make sure I got short printing times. About 4 s at f/8, grade 2, printing 35mm for the record. If you are dodging and burning, it might be more appropriate to print at f/16 so you can get the exposure time longer (16 s).
If you are printing with white light (I used to), I'd recommend sticking in a grade 2 filter right now. It gives you a consistent reference point when you start using other grades, and it also lengthens exposures a little bit.
Anyway, just follow the directions on your chemicals as far as times. It's a good place to start. I find 1 min of development time works for my developer and paper and 30 s of fixing is good for RC papers.
I would also ignore the comments about not using test strips at first. It's a good way to see how exposure affects things and where your maximum black starts showing up. As you get more experienced, you might choose to skip them, but I still find it convenient.
As you gain more experience and motivation to experiment, you can look into f-stop timing, alternative papers and developers, split grade printing, etc.
If you are printing with white light (I used to), I'd recommend sticking in a grade 2 filter right now. It gives you a consistent reference point when you start using other grades, and it also lengthens exposures a little bit.
Anyway, just follow the directions on your chemicals as far as times. It's a good place to start. I find 1 min of development time works for my developer and paper and 30 s of fixing is good for RC papers.
I would also ignore the comments about not using test strips at first. It's a good way to see how exposure affects things and where your maximum black starts showing up. As you get more experienced, you might choose to skip them, but I still find it convenient.
As you gain more experience and motivation to experiment, you can look into f-stop timing, alternative papers and developers, split grade printing, etc.