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  #21  
Old 10th March 2017, 04:03 PM
JimW JimW is offline
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So surprisingly, what my darkroom printing experience has taught me is to be a more conscientious and critical photographer at the picture taking and film processing stages. Work on getting the best possible negatives is what it boils down to for me. You'll have much more fun and success during your darkroom sessions and it should help reduce frustration, disappointment and unnecessary cost and waste at the printing stage.
Proper Planning and Preparation Prevents Pi**-Poor Performance. I used to have my motordrive on, and get through rolls of film. Now, I slow right down, and try and plan. Some one told me to start from the end result, and I thought he was nuts. Shoulda listened. Am really enjoying this thread. After all, the idea is to enjoy what we do, and anything that helps to achieve such enjoyment can't be a bad thing.
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  #22  
Old 10th March 2017, 04:17 PM
Terry S Terry S is offline
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I have found recently that a 'good' neg prints so much easier and better than a 'bad' one. The thing now for me and MY circumstances, is a way to get as many 'good' negs, on each film that I process.

Years ago, I always overdeveloped my negs, thinking that a little bit extra was better than not enough. I managed to print some of those negs but they were always very dense, especially in sky areas and they required a lot of burning in and dodging to get a decent print.

I now develop my negs to be 'just so' = definitely a lot lighter than before and yes, I do find it much easier to print them. In fact the couple of times that I have used Ilfords XP2 film, although the negs look quite thin, they have produced some of my easiest to print work that I have been happy with. The only thing wrong with the film is it has NO grain, so focusing take take a longggg frustrating time to do, making you almost give up before you start!

Terry S
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  #23  
Old 10th March 2017, 05:07 PM
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Martin Aislabie Martin Aislabie is offline
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I used to work with a guy who had been a printer in a professional darkroom.

He said they never aimed to get better than OK for their prints - as they couldn't afford the time.

However, he did say they always had reference prints on the wall of their viewing area, to allow the printers to quickly compare the tonal range of their work against known levels.

It seemed a sensible idea to me.

Martin
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  #24  
Old 10th March 2017, 05:10 PM
Richard Gould Richard Gould is offline
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Originally Posted by MartyNL View Post
Call me a lazy or a bad printer because I only like to put my time, money, effort and energy into the best negatives.

No matter how much fannying about in the darkroom with a poor negative, I'm only left with a pile of unsatisfactory prints. I find it an expensive exercise trying to hone and perfect my printing skills when it's not in the negative in the first place. And for what? To tell myself or teach myself how to make prints that I would never hang or want to show to anyone.

So surprisingly, what my darkroom printing experience has taught me is to be a more conscientious and critical photographer at the picture taking and film processing stages. Work on getting the best possible negatives is what it boils down to for me. You'll have much more fun and success during your darkroom sessions and it should help reduce frustration, disappointment and unnecessary cost and waste at the printing stage.
I tend to agree with Marty, I print the best negatives on the roll, be it 120 or 35mm, those that are not up to scratch I put aside for another day, I also try my best, especialy with 120, to make it 12 or 16 out of 12 or 16,depending on format, sometimes I even manage it, but if I can get 2 thirds of then worth printing then that's fine, with 35mm then I always take two shots of everything, and if half are worth priting then that is as good film, and often I get more, sometimes I will go back to harder to print negatives, but I nearly always leave them after a few attempts, for me if they are hard to print then I personally find that the final prints are not worth having, and I get to the point of why did I take that,and with the price of paper today it is better to print the negatives that jump out at me, whether that makes me a better printer or not I can't say, but it makes my prints better, at least I think so
Richafrd
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  #25  
Old 10th March 2017, 05:45 PM
Jerry Bodine Jerry Bodine is offline
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For those interested, I just remembered posting the Mt. Rainier image mentioned in my #14 post in my album. It should help in understanding my verbal description better. AA was never one to try to verbalize the merits of an image and always preached about the emotional impact of it; it either speaks to you or it doesn't. Ed Weston had this version of the same belief: "If you have to ask 'what is it', you never will know."

Last edited by Jerry Bodine; 10th March 2017 at 06:09 PM.
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  #26  
Old 10th July 2019, 02:16 PM
Terry S Terry S is offline
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I've just reread this thread, after it popped up whilst I was searching for something else.

There's some really good thoughts in it, so I'm glad I reread it.

As for my path, to become a better printer. Well, I do and I am willing to spend more time, effort and materials in getting a better print than I used to. Most don't require too much of any of them, and thankfully I am getting a 'good' negative more often in the first place, which does make the whole process easier, more productive and more enjoyable.

I don't fire off numerous exposures of anything on film, (like one does in digital) limiting myself to just one to two shots. I also take my time to look longer, when time allows, before pushing the shutter button on whatever camera that I am using.

I have revisited older negatives and prints, and I can definitely see a difference between them when I reprint them.

So I think the path that I tread is a long one, but one that I am enjoying going down and I am getting a little further along it each time I visit the darkroom.

I just hope the above text doesn't sound too 'arty' and people can relate to at least some of it.

Terry S
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