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  #1  
Old 10th October 2010, 02:07 PM
starless starless is offline
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Default Again on Split Grade printing

Hi everyone,

I have been reading up on SG printing and looking at some examples online. I even tried it a few times in the darkroom. However all of the examples I have seen so far have been of landscapes or still life - the kind of pictures I'm not interested in.

Since all my photos have people in them, does it make much sense my trying to get good prints using split grades? Is this technique more oriented for still life photography?

It makes sense to me to focus on the midtones (skin tones) with a single grade and then burn in or dodge selectively parts of the image to achieve some blacks and whites, instead of starting with the extremes and hope the midtones fall into the right place. But, I am quite an amateur and would appreciate any feedback.

I have also started studying f-stop printing, perhaps this is what I should stick to for this kind of photographs.

Thanks!
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Old 10th October 2010, 04:45 PM
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Although I'm not an expert on SGP, I believe it can be an especially effective way of producing good prints from difficult negatives of any subject. And this has been the only situation that I've ever used it in.

Personally, I've never really stuck with SGP long enough to say if it's worthwhile or not.

Now, as for f-stop printing this has been my standard since first reading Gene nokon's book and as far as I'm aware it is also compatible with SGP.

It's good you're experimenting and I'm confident you'll find what works for you, your style of working and your subject matter.
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Old 10th October 2010, 06:34 PM
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If you do a search here you will find information on split grade printing including some links to demonstrations posted on I think it was utube. Marty is correct f stop printing is useable with SGP, I too have used f stop printing since reading Gene Nocons book it is a great system.


Neil
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Old 10th October 2010, 06:50 PM
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Split grade printing is applicable to pretty much any print. It works best (for me, anyway) with higher-contrast negatives. OTOH, as Starless says, if it's the mid tones that are important (as in most portraits) it may not wok quite as well. It's always worth experimenting, though.

One of the best articles I seen on SGP is here: http://www.film-and-darkroom-user.or...read.php?t=376

Rob
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Old 10th October 2010, 06:58 PM
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My wife always prints via spilt grade but I keep it just for negs that I feel would be better if printed this way.

I also got converted to f Stop Printing after having Gene Nocon's book given to me as a birthday present back in the 80s. I later acquired one of RH Designs excellent StopClocks and never looked back


Neil.
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Old 10th October 2010, 07:18 PM
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Thanks so much for the responses. So I guess basically it is all a matter of practice and experience.

I will not rule out SGP yet, but rather try and experiment, alongside with the f-stop approach. I hope in time I will be able to decide which is the better approach for my style.

I have looked at all the examples here on SGP, but as I said - they were all photographs of still life and more or less negatives with pure whites and pure blacks in them. In my case, I always expose for the subjects in my frame, so in backlit or bright sun situations I seem to end up with contrasty negatives.

I hope to be able to post some print scans soon for feedback.

Thanks,
Anastas
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Old 10th October 2010, 07:22 PM
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I shoot a lot in my little studio against a black background which sometimes isn't black enough in the prints when I want the subject to be at a softer grade, which is kinder to skin tones, so I sometimes burn in the background at a higher grade.

Paul
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Old 10th October 2010, 07:27 PM
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This was an interesting interview with Gene Nocon, I think I should get the book as well, even though I can't afford a timer yet ... just a reference table.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...2561368471214#
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Old 10th October 2010, 07:40 PM
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I've a copy of Gene Nocon's book going spare.

Paul
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Old 10th October 2010, 08:44 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by starless View Post
This was an interesting interview with Gene Nocon, I think I should get the book as well, even though I can't afford a timer yet ... just a reference table.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...2561368471214#


I have just remembered that Les has an excellent article on FADU that covers the basics of SGP. If you have not already done so have look at:

http://www.film-and-darkroom-user.or...read.php?t=376

Neil.
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