Question about color negative printing

[Pfreddee]

I have read that one should become proficient in dodging and burning when printing B/W negatives, but is the same technique used in printing from color negatives?

Thanks to all who reply.

With best regards.

Pfreddee(Stephen)

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

Yes, you can dodge and burn when printing color. What's really cool is you can not only dodge and burn, but you can use those techniques to change color balance in part of the image without affecting the rest!

 

[35photo]

Yeah, you can as Chris said, but the dodging and burning times are much shorter..

 

[joeswe]

In theory the answer is yes, it is possible, in practice you will encounter some issues, mostly as modern color papers are very fast and contrasty, so very subtle changes in exposure will have a big impact on density and color balance.

To give you an idea, when printing 12x16 inch sheets at f11, a typical exposure time for me on Kodak Endura Premier paper is ~6 seconds, and that is already with about 1 stop of neutral density added.

I admit that I am a still a rookie in RA4 printing, but my limited understanding of the subject is that IF what you would try to achieve is to retain highlight and/or shadow detail in a print from a negative with a too wide density range, THEN contrast masks would be preferable to dodging and burning.

 

[Fotohuis]

I am RA-4 printing with a ND 0,6 filter 40,5mm on my Rodenstock enlarger lenses.

 

[kanzlr]

yes, ND filters are the answer 🙂

 

[joeswe]

yes, ND filters are the answer 🙂

A lens mounted ND filter sure comes in handy for avoiding ulta-short exposure times, but I found the biggest help is an integrated ND filter in the color head. For someone who is new to color printing, I would not recommend to buy an enlarger or color head without one.

 

[mwoenv]

With a color head enlarger, cyan (C) is set to zero and magenta (M) and yellow (Y) are varied. If you need neutral density, adding C provides it, with M and Y increased commensurately to maintain the same color filtration.

 

[joeswe]

With a color head enlarger, cyan (C) is set to zero and magenta (M) and yellow (Y) are varied. If you need neutral density, adding C provides it, with M and Y increased commensurately to maintain the same color filtration.

This is basically true, but I would like to explain why I don't think it is very practical (at least for me):
When taking photographs or printing, I am used to think exposure in "stops" or fractions thereof. When I look at a test print, I do not think "this print is 2.75 seconds too bright", I think "this print is half a stop too bright". For me this is a very intuitive and straightforward method of determining the correct exposure.

Now the ND wheel comes into play, as it helps me to transfer this concept of thinking exposure in stops in a very simple and error-proof way to the actual printing process.
I don't have to worry how many split seconds or how many values in CMY filtration I would have to add or subtract (well, in reality, to be able to subtract, I would have had to add CMY filtration beforehand ...) to get a full stop, half stop or quarter stop etc more or less exposure starting from ANY given exposure time or filtration. I simply add or subtract the needed stops or fractions of stops via the ND wheel.

So, exposure time remains constant, with the added benefit of avoiding the risk of introducing additional color balance problems due to the reciprocity characteristics of the paper. The ND filter in my color head gives me a range of +2 to -2 stops and in rare cases where I would need additional compensation I would rather open or close the aperture for an additional stop then start to fiddle around with the timer. CMY filtration is only touched to change color balance.

 

[cmc850]

RA4 papers are relatively "fast", optimized for automated printing. I worked for a number of years in the commercial lab business where we printed formats from 35mm through 8x10 color negatives. Given the size of our final prints, ranging from 8x10 to wall-mural sizes, there was never a need, I recall, for any ND filters as the exposures were plenty long to allow burn or dodge manipulation. We used dichroic heads from Durst or Omega with halogen lamps, sometimes as many as eight of them in a single head. As mentioned, it was customary to leave C filtration at 0, color correct with M and Y, and choose a functional aperture and time. I recall mural exposures over 12 feet in one direction, with exposure times in the 2-minute range. Lotsa blown bulbs and wasted material! That type of thing is done with large format inkjet these days.

 

[Fotohuis]

To give you any idea: 8x10"/20x25cm from a 6x7cm roll film Dunco II 67 120 pro with Osram 100W HLX, 8-10s F/11 ND 0,6 Fuji Crystal Archive RA-4 paper. Rodagon F/4-80mm.

From a 35mm negative. Same configuration however at F/8. Rodagon F/4-60mm WA. A bit more space between lens and easel too. 🙂