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Analog Photography—Contact Sheets and Enlargements Winter Quarter 2022, Kalamazoo College Richard Koenig, Professor Contacts and
Enlarging 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 (do not remove negative carrier while 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. This is your standard set-up for contacting. To
contact we make a stack of the following: paper on bottom, negatives (you can
contact directly through the sleeves which hold your film), and then glass on
top. One determines the exposure time by making a test strip. This is a smaller piece of paper, which
you expose in steps of increasing time so you can get in the ballpark. 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. 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. Enlarging 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 or 50 to
begin with. Open
the lens wide (bright) so that you can focus. Enlarge and focus 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. Try steps of three seconds. ItÕs
important to process the test in the normal fashion (as your print will be
processed). If you yank it early
because it is too dark, youÕre defeating the purpose of a good test. Pick a
time you think is best. Note: itÕs best to have an exposure time
between ten and twenty seconds, so compensate with your aperture accordingly,
hopefully around f8 or f11. The
relationship here (time to aperture) is just like with your camera: one 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
Blacks, grays, 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 difference 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.
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 and 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 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
real useful... In both dodging and burning, remember
to keep the tools moving so that they are not visible in the finished print. Get in a habit of doing it the same way
each time so that you donÕt get confused. |