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Old 10th March 2021, 07:52 PM
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Default Article, your thoughts please

What are your thoughts and conclusions about this article? I did not write it .
https://grainy.vision/blog/making-se...paper-contrast
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Old 10th March 2021, 08:40 PM
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Well, I got as far as: "I dare propose a new axiom for printing: “Expose for the highlights, adjust contrast grade for the shadows.” and stopped.

This is not a new axiom - as far as I am aware, it is the basis of darkroom printing as much as "expose for the shadows and develop (i.e. adjust contrast) for the highlights" is - and for exactly the same reason: the one being the literal negative of the other. One popular method of split-grade printing is to find the grade 0 time for your highlights and then add grade 5 for the shadow density - same concept. Even when I am not using split-grade I am using my highlights as the basis for my time and adjusting contrast to get my shadows where I want them. I'll read the rest later. I don't think I am going to enjoy it


[edit: Well, I should have read the rest 'cos it seems he is actually talking about doing this for the negative (or is he???) - I'm not sure how "controversial" his treatise is but I found it difficult to follow his train of thought as it bounces around so I am not sure if I understand entirely what he is saying...]

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Old 10th March 2021, 09:34 PM
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[edit: Well, I should have read the rest 'cos it seems he is actually talking about doing this for the negative (or is he???) - I'm not sure how "controversial" his treatise is but I found it difficult to follow his train of thought as it bounces around so I am not sure if I understand entirely what he is saying...][/QUOTE]

Agree, thats why I asked here for other peoples observations and opinions.
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Old 10th March 2021, 10:57 PM
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I've just finished reading his post and in all fairness there is a 'disclaimer' at the beginning.

However, I find it strange that in an article about photography and printing there's not a single picture to be seen.
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Old 10th March 2021, 10:59 PM
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I have just read quite a bit of the article. I stopped before the end. I thought it was quite confusing, and not very well written. Whilst it is good to see people sharing their knowledge and experience, I feel that anyone new to the subject would find this piece quite difficult to follow.
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Old 11th March 2021, 05:37 AM
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I read the part about printing.

I know there is the recommendation Expose for the highlights, adjust contrast grade for the shadows. This has the advantage that you concentrate on the highlights which are more important for the print than the shadows. But it makes the process of finding the right contrast more complicated than necessary. The main reason is that the exposure time for highlights changes dramatical if you change the paper contrast.

The exposure time for the shadows changes only slightly with changed contrast. Therefore I always look at my test strip for the shortest time which gives deep black. You should not use an exposure time shorter tan this because you won't have a deep black in the image.
In the next step I change the contrast to get the highlights where I want to have them. Mostly I can use the exposure steps from the last strip, may be changes third of a stop longer.
The very last step is the fine adjustment of the exposure time which includes dodging and burning. In this step I look more at the highlights, because they are more important for the image.

In our photographic meetings I usual give lab workshops. I teach fine art printing this way.
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Old 11th March 2021, 08:06 AM
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So I have had two goes at reading the article. Second time I got near to the end. As very much a beginner in the darkroom I found the article confusing, I am not sure what point he is trying to get across but his use of language did not help.

I tend to stick to this forum and photography books for information as I find articles on the internet can be over the top.

David
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Old 11th March 2021, 08:41 AM
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Personally, I find there is too much emphasis given to highlights and shadows and not enough, nowhere near enough given to the reproduction of mid-tones, either on the negative or the print. Tonality is everything inbetween light and shade and therefore my attention and exploration for the last few years has been primarily on improving the mid-tones.
This journey has led me to believe that there is no 'global' method to getting the best out of each scene, negative or print but a painstakingly individual approach.
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Old 11th March 2021, 09:43 AM
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I read what he said about making prints. His premise is that you should expose for the highlights and adjust contrast grade for the shadows. This won't work! It would work if the highlight density in the print stayed the same across the grades for a given exposure ( which he seems to be assuming) But it doesn't. The bit that stays the same is the mid-tone. Everything expands or contracts from this. Let's assume you have just made a nice print on grade 2.5, for an enlarger time of 20 sec. It has delicate highlights and nice shadow detail, with small areas of full black and full white. What happens if you make another 20 sec. print at grade 1.5? The highlights now go darker, and the deep shadows are now not so dark. BUT THE MID TONE STAYS THE SAME. If you now make another 20 sec. print at grade 3.5. you now see that the delicate highlights in the grade 2.5 print have disappeared -gone to blank white. And the dark shadow detail has gone to full black. But the mid tone has stayed the same.
For this reason I think it makes sense to begin by making test strips that home in on the mid tones. Not the highlights.

Alan
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Old 11th March 2021, 09:59 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Alan Clark View Post
I read what he said about making prints. His premise is that you should expose for the highlights and adjust contrast grade for the shadows. This won't work! It would work if the highlight density in the print stayed the same across the grades for a given exposure ( which he seems to be assuming) But it doesn't. The bit that stays the same is the mid-tone. Everything expands or contracts from this. Let's assume you have just made a nice print on grade 2.5, for an enlarger time of 20 sec. It has delicate highlights and nice shadow detail, with small areas of full black and full white. What happens if you make another 20 sec. print at grade 1.5? The highlights now go darker, and the deep shadows are now not so dark. BUT THE MID TONE STAYS THE SAME. If you now make another 20 sec. print at grade 3.5. you now see that the delicate highlights in the grade 2.5 print have disappeared -gone to blank white. And the dark shadow detail has gone to full black. But the mid tone has stayed the same.
For this reason I think it makes sense to begin by making test strips that home in on the mid tones. Not the highlights.

Alan
I completely agree Alan. And this is especially true with filters which are not speed matched.
The prints that I like and aspire to the most, have silvery, glowing mid-tones. This, I feel, has just as much to do with ‘the light, as with anything else.
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