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ARTX230 Analog Photography—Contacts and Enlarging Winter Quarter 2018, Kalamazoo College
Richard Koenig—Associate Professor LetÕs set up a
system to eliminate some variables and make printing more predictable. WeÕll do
this when we make contacts and standard prints. This method should save you
time and paper as well. Contacts Adjust your
enlarger to a height of Ò22Ó. There is a scale on the right-hand side of the
column of the enlarger. It is difficult to see the numbers in the dark but you
can set this by enlarging the patch of light to the width of the baseboard. Put the empty
negative carrier in place. (Note, normally you should not remove the negative
carrier while the light is on—youÕll fog paper of others in the room.) Turn
on the light and focus the enlarger (look at edge of light patch to do this). Set
lens aperture on Ò5.6Ó, or two clicks down from brightest setting. This is your
standard set-up for making contact sheets. To contact we make
a stack of the following: paper face up on the bottom, your negatives (you can contact
directly through the sleeves which hold your film), and then glass on top. This
glass presses down on the negatives so that you get a sharp contact print. One determines the
exposure time of the contact sheet by first making a test strip. This is a
smaller piece of paper, which you expose in ÒstepsÓ of increasing time. I
sometimes call this a Òstep wedgeÓ. Try steps of three seconds each. Process the test in
the normal fashion—times are listed on the wall in the darkroom. Quickly
rinse with water and go out into the lighted room (use an empty 8Óx10Ó tray
provided for this purpose). Look at sprocket holes to determine proper exposure
time—pick the segment where the holes are still just visible from the
surrounding black. Using that time, go back and contact the entire sheet of
negatives. I want you to
contact all of your film that you shoot in my class. You have to turn these in
with your assignments. Enlarging and Standard Print Size I want you to print
full-frame so the aim here is to match the 35mm format or proportions. I also want you to print as large as
possible on 8Ó x 10Ó paper. For those reasons, weÕll use the yellow speed
easels. Place a negative in
the negative carrier. Once again, turn off the light when you remove the
carrier from the enlarger. Put the magenta setting at 40 initially. Open the
lens wide (bright) so that you can focus. Use a combination of enlarging and
focusing until the image fits the speed easel properly. Now stop down to f8, or
three clicks down. Make a test strip
to determine the exposure of the print. Place the small piece of paper on the
part of the image that is important or a part that will give you the most
information for its size. As with contacts, try steps of three seconds each. ItÕs important to
process the test in the normal fashion (the same as your print will be
processed). If you yank it early
because it is too dark, youÕre defeating the purpose of a good test. Look at
the test out in the lighted room and pick a time you think is best for your
content. You may compare with your ÒhonestÓ contact sheet—though making a
print can be more interpretive than the contact, which you want to be accurate. Note: itÕs best to have an exposure time
between ten and twenty seconds. If need be, you can compensate with your
aperture to obtain this time. Hopefully, youÕll have an f-stop of 8 or 11. The
relationship here (time to aperture) is just like with your camera—one f-stop
either doubles or halves the amount of light reaching the paper. Make a full-sized
print based on your time selection and see how youÕve done. Assessing
Print Density and Contrast
A
Full-Range Print The
goal in this class is to produce a full-scale print. Learn this convention
first so you will have ability to run wild later. The full-scale print contains
the following: á
A full range of tones á
Rich blacks, middle grays, and brilliant whites á
A sense of texture and substance Density—refers to
overall darkness or lightness of a print.
Like your negatives, the density of silver will determine how dark a
certain area of the print is. Contrast—refers to the relationship
between light and dark areas. Low contrast can be referred to as ÒflatÓ (no real
blacks or whites—ÒmuddyÓ). High contrast can be referred to as ÒhardÓ or
ÒhotÓ (no detail in light areas, Òblown-outÓ and no detail in the shadows,
Òblocked-upÓ). Controlling Contrast
Your
photographic printing paper should be called Òvariable-contrastÓ or
Òmulti-contrastÓ. The emulsion has two layers in whichÉ
Therefore
the color of the light from the enlarger will control the contrast. á
Increasing the amount of magenta will increase
contrast á
Increasing the amount of yellow will decrease contrast Judging
the Print—Assess density first as itÕs too difficult to judge both density
and contrast together. Judge the contrast second using a test print—I
like to use quarter sheets for this, a test strip is just too small while a
full sheet is wasteful. You now have what we will call a ÒstandardÓ print. The
Benefit of Standard Print—If you make another print from the same contact
sheet now, you can judge relative density and contrast from that contact sheet.
If the two images look same on the contact, you donÕt need to make a test for
the second image. If what is to be the second print is a bit lighter on the
contact, add some time. If what is to be the second print is a bit darker on the
contact, subtract some time. While it seems machine like and methodical, it will
actually allow you to work faster in the future, allowing you more time to be
creative.
Dodging
and Burning—one can improve upon the straight print by dodging and
burning.
Dodging
refers to blocking some of the light reaching the paper. á
This will lighten an area á
Dodge during the
initial exposure á
A piece of wire with a disk on the end is a good
dodging tool Burning
refers to adding some light to selected areas of the paper. á
This will darken the area exposed á
Burn after
the initial exposure á
It is good to have a couple of cards for this task,
one with a small hole in the middle is often useful In
both dodging and burning, remember to keep the tools moving so that they are
not visible in the finished print. Find
a way to dodge and burn so that you can keep track of what you did. That way,
if you need to improve/change, you know how to do so. For
instance, I dodge during an exposure, and simply count how long I do it. For
burning, I use the same deliberate motions (I call them ÒpassesÓ) that I keep
track of in the same way. Processing
Times and Dilutions for Resin Coated Prints
Chemical To
Mix Processing
Times Print
Developer 1:9
from concentrate 2
minutes Ilford
1 gallon size Stop
Bath 1:19
from concentrate half
minute Ilford
16 oz size Fix 1:4
from concentrate 1
minute Ilford
1 gallon size Water
Hold water
in tray until
done printing Wash running
water, separate from holding tank 5
minutes Processing
Times and Dilutions for Fiber Prints
Chemical To
Mix Processing
Times
Print
Developer 1:9
from concentrate 2
minutes Ilford
1 gallon size Stop
Bath 1:19
from concentrate half
minute Ilford
16 oz size Fix1 1:4
from concentrate 1
minute Ilford
1 gallon size Fix2 1:4
from concentrate 1
minute Ilford
1 gallon size Water
Hold water
in tray until
youÕre done printing Hypo-Clear
(5-mixed) 1:32
from concentrate 1
minute Orbit
Bath 1-gallon size Wash running
water 20
minutes Notes: Fiber Paper has a better tonal range and is much more
permanent than resin-coated (RC) paper. There are a few changes you should be aware
of when using this productÉ
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