Show me your latest darkroom prints

HP5+/ 28mm Elmarit v3, Pyrocat hd on the negative
ansco 130/ Ilford Warmtone FB/selenium toner on the print

I think I misjudged the highlights in this one. It dried down way flatter than I thought it looked. Maybe the selenium drove it down?
Great Island, Cape Cod 2018.jpg by Chris Coppola, on Flickr


HP5+/ 5cm Elmar Red Scale/ FX-15 on negative
Same on the paper as above with a reduction in toner time
Andrea at Longnook.jpg by Chris Coppola, on Flickr
 
Ccoppola82 said:
HP5+/ 28mm Elmarit v3, Pyrocat hd on the negative
ansco 130/ Ilford Warmtone FB/selenium toner on the print

I think I misjudged the highlights in this one. It dried down way flatter than I thought it looked. Maybe the selenium drove it down?
Click to expand...

The selenium wouldn't have an effect Chris. The old standard for drydown is 10%. You can learn to see when the print is right though without subtracting the 10%. It just takes practice. You are off to a great start though. Congrats.
 
BLKRCAT said:
Hey Erik,

I haven't been on RFF or flickr or shooting even in the past few months because of work and family emergency but I saw your post about the sharpness. Flickr pulled something like this back in like 2015. A solution to avoid the weird compression was to re upload the same image using the "edit" feature. The compression they apply on the image at the upload screen vs the edit screen was different and the quality was higher when the images were replaced with edit.

Maybe give that a try.
Click to expand...

Thank you very much, BLKRCAT. I hope that you and your family are well and that we soon can enjoy new work from you.

I will give your advice a try.

I tried and damn! You are right! Thank you very much!

Erik.
 
PRJ said:
The selenium wouldn't have an effect Chris. The old standard for drydown is 10%. You can learn to see when the print is right though without subtracting the 10%. It just takes practice. You are off to a great start though. Congrats.
Click to expand...

Thank you. Is there a general rule for dry down? Such as 1/2 a stop etc? I’m using F stop timing because it seems very logical to me and would make an easy adjustment.
 
Ccoppola82 said:
Thank you. Is there a general rule for dry down? Such as 1/2 a stop etc? I’m using F stop timing because it seems very logical to me and would make an easy adjustment.
Click to expand...

The 10% is a rough estimate, but sort of a rule of thumb. That means if the exposure is 10 seconds, you drop it to 9. I think that equates to a fifth of a stop, but I'd have to get out my calculator to verify that. Some papers need more, some need less. The most I ever heard quoted is 15% and some claim some papers have none. It has probably been two decades since i thought about it though.

It is hard to tell until you learn what to look for, but you can do it. Look for any white that hits the edge of the print which of course is paper white. You want to look for the faintest tone at that line. And I mean faint. That will get you there pretty much. If you don't have an edge, flip a different print over and use the back of that next to what you want white. Prints tend to flatten as they dry too. Water adds contrast, so you should aim for a slightly contrastier print than you want. With experience you will just know what it looks like. You won't even have to think about it. By all means since you are starting out, make copious notes. Write everyting on the back of the print with a pencil. Then compare notes as soon as the prints are dry. Learn learn learn. As long as you know what to look for, it won't take you long to find it. Once you learn a paper, you have it.


I never got into that f stop stuff. I knew the guy that invented it though. He never tried to convert me and I never questioned him. There is nothing wrong with printing that way, I just got used to another way. Whatever works! If your prints look good no ones cares how you got there! F stop printing is a logical way to do it though, so you are ahead of the game if you are learning it. Keep doing it.

Hope that helps you. Got any other questions feel free to ask.
 
BLKRCAT said:
Hey Erik,

I haven't been on RFF or flickr or shooting even in the past few months because of work and family emergency but I saw your post about the sharpness. Flickr pulled something like this back in like 2015. A solution to avoid the weird compression was to re upload the same image using the "edit" feature. The compression they apply on the image at the upload screen vs the edit screen was different and the quality was higher when the images were replaced with edit.

Maybe give that a try.
Click to expand...


I did, and it helped, but now, after a few days, my pictures on that Flickr account are all gone! All of them! How on earth ...


Erik.
 
Yes, Deardorff, an impressive shot ... and print.

Leica III, Elmar 50mm f/3.5 nickel, TMY2-400, printed on Adox MCC 110.

Erik.

47000042564_4da6733d95_b.jpg
 
Ccoppola82 said:
Thank you. Is there a general rule for dry down? Such as 1/2 a stop etc? I’m using F stop timing because it seems very logical to me and would make an easy adjustment.
Click to expand...

Some years ago I concluded that the least change in printing time that made any difference I could detect was fifteen percent. That's with Ilford Multigrade paper, and (usually) LPD developer. I imagine it can vary with other papers and developers. My old Componon lenses have only full one-stop click-stops, so I haven't tried fractional f/stop changes. I'd guess that a 1/2 stop change, or even 1/3 stop, might be too much when looking for a subtle difference.
 
Leica M3, Summicron 50mm f/2 rigid, Tmax400, Adox Mcc 110.

It is remarkable that when there is snow, the sky often appears darker than all the white on the ground, although the sky is theoretically lighter.


Erik.

46872929835_1214ac121f_b.jpg
 
"My first darkroom print in twenty five years."
Nice work Nokton. Help keep our numbers up!;)
 
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