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Second to last Class

A note on enlarging.

When making enlargements, ALWAYS USE TEST STRIPS. The exposure time from a contact print to a 6"x9" print will increase by a few seconds. This is due to the distance the image/ light is away from the light sensitive surface of the paper. As you increase your enlargement size, your time will increase as well. DO NOT TRY AND GUESS. It will save you time, money and frustration, to just make the test strip. So when you finally get to the fun part of making a big print, it will look good which will be far more exciting.

Dust and Scratches

If you notice white spots or lines on your final print, these are due to dust and hairs on your negative, enlarging lens or glass(if you are making a contact). Use the blower + brush to make sure you have removed all the dust off the negative and make another print. An anti static cloth or canned air will work as well. 

If you notice black spots or lines on your final print, these are due to dust, hairs, scratches on the negative.

Spot Toning

"Spotting" is the practice of selectively toning your final print in the places where white dust and hairs have been printed. This can be done with spot toning ink or with the spot pen set. Both work well, and is up to preference. Begin spotting by starting with the lightest tone of grey and making tiny dots of pigment in the areas that should not be white. Gradually build up in tone adding darker layers until the dust or scratch is completely masked. 

In the event of a black scratch or bit of dust you can take a new razor blade and spot scratch out the black to reveal the paper below only and then proceed with spotting. 

Week 7...

Class has been postponed until further notice.

I need to get more paper developer as we're almost out.

And

I'm sick. there's some sort of Alien that's decided my lungs are it's new home, and I'm not sure y'all really want to be hosts to it's family. So there.

Please MAKE 10 GOOD PRINTS, shoot LOTS of FILM.

Try to do a solarized print
think about the exhibition, i want to talk about how to present this in every way!

Week 6 Assignment Due Week 7

Continue shooting.
If you're still having issues with thin negatives bracket. Make one exposure at the camera setting, and another over exposed. Min. 1 roll.

As per usual, bring in all test strips, contacts, film, and prints from previous assignments.
write your notes on the backs of these (pref. before you put the paper in the developer)

Make the paper developer strong, until new chemistry has been purchased and mixed, which should be by Sun.

Make 10 new prints.
See previous notes about Solarization. I'd like it if each one of you tried this technique for 1 image.
We only have 2 classes left, lets make the most of them. :)

Week 5. Assignment Due week 6 (January 12, 2011)

While you're away, please shoot 1 roll per week. Whatever you want.   (a total of 4 rolls min)

Try to continue to experiment with proximity, depth of field, shutter time (the longer it is the more movement you will capture) try shooting at night-  or alternative lighting conditions/sources.

The next class will be Jan 12. Please bring in all test strips, prints, contacts, rolls of film (you should have enough time to process and contact print the film you shot while away)

I want 10 good prints, utilize burning and dodging when necessary and filters.

Bring in all notes, film, contacts, TEST STRIPS and previous prints. Make sure to note all camera or enlarger settings, I can't help you, if i don't know what you did. After week 6 class there are only 2 classes left and we need to discuss the exhibition, which we can't have if there aren't tons of prints.

Week 5. Notes

Burning and Dodging

You may produce a print that has good overall exposure and contrast, but there may be areas which are too light or too dark. To lighten an area of the print dodging is used. To darken an area burning is used.

Dodging is selectively holding back exposure to lighten an area of a print. The amount of dodging varies from print to print. After determining the area that requires less exposure find a suitable opaque object (this will range from a circle of card board on a wire to a corner of paper to your hand) to block a portion of the print for some of the overall exposure time.   Whatever is used to block the light should be in motion to prevent hard lines of light being noticeable. 

Burning is selectively adding more exposure to darken an area of a print. The amount of burning varies from print to print. After determining the area that requires more exposure find a suitable form to allow light to pass through onto the desired area of a print. This form should be opaque to block light from the rest of the print. Paper, will allow some light through, while card stock or cardboard, or your hand will not. 

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Alternative Lighting Conditions


Night photography

Just as how daylight photographers pay attention to the position and angle of the sun, night photographers should also pay careful attention to the moon.  A low-laying moon can create long shadows on cross-lit objects, whereas an overhead moon creates harsher, downward shadows.

An additional variable is that the moon can have varying degrees of intensity, depending where it is during its 29.5 day cycle of waxing and waning.  A full moon can be a savior for reducing the required exposure time and allowing for extended depth of field, while a moonless night greatly increases star visibility.  Furthermore, the intensity of the moon can be chosen at a time which provides the ideal balance between artificial light (streetlamps) and moonlight. Gauging exposure times during a full moon can be tricky; use f/5.6 and 30 seconds at ISO 400 as a starting point (if subject is diffuse and directly lit), then adjust towards scenarios 1-4 accordingly if OK.

Another factor rarely noticed during daylight is movement of the light source (sun or moon).  The long exposure time required for moonlight photography often means that the moon may have moved significantly over the course of the exposure.  Moon movement softens harsh shadows, however too much movement can create seemingly flat light.

Subject in Moonlight – Static Chart

The following exposures are for f/8 using 400 ISO.
See the dynamic form below for different aperture and film settings. The exposure
times are rough starting points, the subject surface (reflection), ambient light and
other factors will effect your exposure. When in doubt, bracket.

Moon Phase	Days after Full
Full Moon	–
Gibbous Moon	3-4 days after
Quarter Moon	7 days after
Crescent Moon	10-11 days after
New Moon	14 days after

Note: The moon phases are reflexive, so 3 days after a full moon is the same
as 3 days before a full moon.  Moon Exposure Calculation LINK

Fill with FLASHLIGHTS


Without a sun, you can leave the shutter open fairly long and compose how you want. Try 2 minute exposure at f4 on 200 ISO or 1 min f4 400 ISO.  You will need a tripod. Set up your framing, and use the bulb (B) or time feature (T) on your shutter speeds. Bulb you will need to keep the shutter open manually, time will stay open until you trigger the shutter a second time. (this is recommended for longer exposures). Experiment with painting in subjects. Or using the flashlight to fill in dark areas where you might want detail. This works similarly to burning when printing. Use the flashlight to bring out more detail. 

FIRE (works, spinning, sparklers etc)

6 seconds in duration on 200 ISO at f4 or 6 seconds on 400 ISO at f5.6 for 6 seconds - just enough to light up the people. This is a base line suggestion, if you can meter, do- definitely brackett. Think about the photos you've seen where people write their names or draw pictures with laser pointers.

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Reciprocity Failure

Reciprocity Failure is a problem that occurs with film’s ability to evenly measure light during long exposures. The characteristics of film is that during an exposure it is initially very sensitive to light but as exposure time increases the film’s ability to record light is diminished. So what a light meter may tell you should be a 1-minute exposure, for a particular film that exposure may actually need to be 8-minutes.
here is a link to an HP5 correction chart for long exposures

Black and White films are effective more by the reciprocity failure than color or slide film.

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Solarization

Solarisation is when the image recorded on a negative or on a photographic print is wholly or partially reversed in tone. Dark areas appear light or light areas appear dark. 

Solarization is the process of re-exposing photographic paper during the development process. The result is an eerie silver image which contains light lines between the shadows and the highlighted areas. 

Areas that have been exposed the least are affected the most during the re-exposure of the print. The darker areas or shadows on the prints show little change during the solarization process.

The term is synonymous with the Sabattier Effect when referring to negatives, but is technically incorrect when used to refer to prints
To begin the process, develop and agitate your paper normally. When the image begins to appear, remove the print from the developer and place it into a tray of water for about ten seconds. This will slow the development process.

The next step is to re-expose the paper to light. This exposure should last only about two seconds. The light source should be a low watt bulb, 15 to 20 watt, and should be three to four feet away from the print.

Th

e fi

nal step is to put the paper back into the developer .

A solarized print - ManRay

Tips for gaining maximum results.

• Using high contrast papers will give you a more dramatic effect.
• Slow films are easier to work with since they require longer exposure time to develop.
• Since re-exposure effects the highlights, use a print with a lot of light areas to achieve the most dramatic results

The Sabattier Effect is essentially the same process, but done with the developing film and not the print. Explore at your own risk.

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Paper Negative

There are two ways of using paper negatives.The paper is processed to give a negative, and a final positive print is obtained by contact printing. If you are metering the light set the ISO at anywhere between 4 and 10. You will need to experiment and "bracket". Write down your lighting conditions and exposure times. 

The paper negative is made by sandwiching the original positive print, emulsion-to-emulsion, with a fresh sheet of paper, and pressing them tightly together under a sheet of heavy glass. You then expose the “sandwich” to the light of the enlarger, just as if you were making a contact sheet from a roll of film negatives.  

A paper negative and the contact print

more info here on paper negatives
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What a colour negative looks like if you process it as black & white & scan it:

Week 4 Assignment Due week 5

All work needs to be caught up

Camera settings and enlarger/timer settings should be recorded and stored with your contacts and prints.
This is what you will refer to when printing on your own.

Test Strips are Essential for figuring out the right exposure times! If you use them, you will make better prints.

As a group we need to come up with a theme, Joao suggested "Challenge"
I think we need to define or clairfy that or at least come up with a phrase for a group show.
This is what I want you guys to be thinking and applying to your photographs, so we can curate our work.

Bring to class:

• printing paper
• processed negatives (all 4 rolls)- the new roll maybe of whatever you choose keep in mind the theme
• printed contacts (all 4 contacts)
• test strips 
• 7 new prints (with f stop, time, and filter noted on back)

Prints that were due this week will be referenced during crit next week and  while discussing technical issues. BRING THEM!!!
2 of them should be reprinted (unless we discussed otherwise) using filters to control the contrast and enhance the print quality.
In addition 5 more prints need to be made. These can be any images from any of the 4 assigned rolls, as long as you have not already printed them. I strongly recommend looking at your negatives for density (how much information is on them) and select easy negatives to print. I will send out emails with numbers from your contact sheets of images the class thought were interesting for potential enlargements. You will need to make test strips, and mark your print notes on the backs of each print so we can talk about how to improve our work. You have to use filters for these, even if it is only a #2.