Split grade printing tutorial

oftheherd said:
I've heard of the technique but never tried it. What I have seen is my son-in-law use a desitometer. He reads a shadow and a highlight, then makes amazing b/w prints. Has me intrigued enough to want to try it with my Luna Pro SBC.
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I have the Luna Pro with darkroom attachment; the cell dimension is too big (3-4 mm) to read a small area of negative (it should be the lighest area with details: deep shadows on the final print). Excellent results I obtain with Ilford Multigrade probe whose cell diameter is about 1-1,5 mm.
Anyway for accurate prins I use darkroom meters only to have an idea about the mean time of the strip test
 
shadowfox said:
But the above method works for me, and it fits the way I think better, so I'm going to keep doing it.
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Your method makes your life harder than it would need to be - both plain split grading (at Magenta 17 and Yellow 17 each, with the balance between layers controlled by the exposure times) and mixed filters are much easier to control and calculate than your approach of doing two exposures with different mixed filter settings.
 
Roger Hicks said:
Dear Will,

Not just "maybe". Sensitometrically, the answer is "Without doubt".

Do you find your approach easier and more intuitive? Yes. So, far and away, it's the best way for you (and for many others). Again, "Without doubt".

The only problem I have with split-grade printing is the fantasy, entertained by some, that they are in some way "laying down" the shadows and highlights separately. No, they aren't.

No-one should ever be discouraged from using split-grade if they want to. They should however be discouraged from constructing meaningless fantasies about it, if only because too many B+W photographers are fed too many meaningless fantasies that stand in the way of actually understanding what they are doing.

Quite a lot of good photographers, with a shaky (or in this case non-existent) grasp on theory try to make life more difficult for beginners. Jargon is bad enough (and the Zone System is very bad for this), but at least the Zone System is based on sensitometry. Jargon plus bad theory is far worse.

Cheers,

R.
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Roger,
Always appreciate your explanation.
And, your fairness to acknowledge that there are certain ways that fits the way some people work.

Will
 
sevo said:
Your method makes your life harder than it would need to be - both plain split grading (at Magenta 17 and Yellow 17 each, with the balance between layers controlled by the exposure times) and mixed filters are much easier to control and calculate than your approach of doing two exposures with different mixed filter settings.
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No, my method does not make my life harder.
It makes more sense to me to achieve the look that I like, in a consistent manner.

I bet we can find something you do that in *my* mind makes things harder. But if that makes more sense to you, I would be the first to say that it would be a mistake to change it.
 
Back from the darkroom. The process yielded acceptable tonal gradation across the range with a very straight-forward approach. Exposure times were doubled, in one case nearly tripled, from previous exposures using a mid-grade filter. Thanks for everyone's input.

14y484y.jpg
 
Roger Hicks said:
Look at the D/log E curves for two different grades. The curves are additive. It doesn't matter whether you make the two exposures sequentially or simultaneously.

I've no doubt that your mentor gets great pictures that way. Nor do I deny that some people may find it easier than using a single grade/single exposure. But many, many people are saved by the flexibility of neg/pos printing; and unfortunately, quite a few of them then go on to devise totally worthless theories about why their pictures work.

Frances hit upon split-grade on her own, many years ago. As she says, "I doubt I was the first. Many came up with the same idea at the same time." Full of enthusiasm, she explained her theories to someone who knew a lot more about sensitometry. He explained to our satisfaction about the D/log E curves. But as she says, "It's not a rational sensitometric argument. It's an emotional argument. That's why it's so hard to let go of it. It FEELS right."

Cheers,

R.
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Roger, not to beat the horse after you have attempted to kill it, but -

Your argument seems to be that if we consider the two contrast grades to correspond to different Density/Exposure functions, then they are additive, which is clearly true. However, if I use DIFFERENT overall exposures with different filters, then I have effectively shifted exposure along the horizontal axis before adding the functions. Why must that yield the same result as a single contrast grade?

The 'beyond monochrome' chapter provide D/E plots for different exposure proportions for grade 5 and grade 00 filters, and the claim is that you get a different transfer function than is possible with a single grade. That seems possible to me.

Anyway, I am going to try the split grade printing too. I will report back.

Randy
 
zauhar said:
Roger, not to beat the horse after you have attempted to kill it, but -

Your argument seems to be that if we consider the two contrast grades to correspond to different Density/Exposure functions, then they are additive, which is clearly true. However, if I use DIFFERENT overall exposures with different filters, then I have effectively shifted exposure along the horizontal axis before adding the functions. Why must that yield the same result as a single contrast grade?

The 'beyond monochrome' chapter provide D/E plots for different exposure proportions for grade 5 and grade 00 filters, and the claim is that you get a different transfer function than is possible with a single grade. That seems possible to me.

Anyway, I am going to try the split grade printing too. I will report back.

Randy
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Dear Randy,

Re-read what you have written. OF COURSE you get different transfer curves. But somewhere there is a single exposure and contrast grade that will correspond EXACTLY to that two exposure/two grade double exposure. The sensitometry is quite easy to prove theoretically and only a bit harder demonstrate practically.

What of it? If those who like split-grade find it easier, that's fine. It's just the "fairy dust" argument about how it "works" that sensitometrists find hard to swallow.

Cheers,

R.
 
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