Good Darkroom Technique and Liquid Emulsion
Posted on October 27, 2010 by hmeisner , Posted in Blog ,
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Printing black and white photographs onto something other than paper is difficult, for reasons I’ve listed in previous blogs. But the most important knowledge base for the photographer is good, old fashion, darkroom technique, which is becoming more and more difficult to learn as film and darkrooms disappear, not to mention the photographers who can teach this to others. I will list a few of the standard techniques that are essential to become proficient in, so that a good print can be made.
- Contrast filters and their proper use. Variable contrast emulsions are useless unless the correct grade filter is used. For example, if the film is contrasty, or as the distance from film to print increases, a lower contrast filter would be used.
- Dodging and burning. It is rare that some selective darkening or lightening should not be used to improve the final print. My favorite example is A. A’s “Moonlight , Hernandez”- the straight vs. final print have little resemblance!
- Toning. Although selenium is used to render prints archival, it also tones; the extent depends on time and concentration of the chemical. Toning is also greatly influenced by bleaching with, for example, ferricyanide, followed by selenium. Also of great importance is the type of liquid emulsion used- is it a warm or a cool tone emulsion?
- Judging how much darker the final, dried, print will appear, while the image is still in fixer. One of my biggest headaches is to keep the image slightly light, so that after toning, the dried and Krylon-sprayed print has the correct densities.
- How do you learn these skills? The easiest way is to take a basic course at a craft/art center. Of course, there are books still in print covering these methods, but you would have no one looking over your shoulder to judge your work!
- Good luck
Posted on March 18, 2010 by hmeisner , Posted in Blog ,
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Technical pan film by Kodak is a very high contrast, high resolution film that has been discontinued. The photo of Anthony’s Pier Restaurant in Portland, Maine, is an example taken with a 35mm Nikon; I’m guessing at 1/60 sec, f16, no filter. If you click to enlarge the image, even the people that originally appeared as specks are still in reasonable focus. The clouds are very contrasty, as if a red 25 filter had been used.
Posted on March 1, 2010 by hmeisner , Posted in Blog, Techniques ,
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B/W photograph of two swallows on fused glass, with sterling silver bezel. The glass is a lens that I have fully fused into a 1.25 inch diameter piece, with the photo being printed on the back. Since all the glass pieces are the same diameter, I can prepare many sterling silver bezels of exactly the same size. The image above appears colored; this is due to ambient light being reflected from a piece of transparent dichroic film sandwiched between the photo and the back of the bezel. This film diffracts light at various wavelengths, depending on the viewing angle. Thus the print may appear bluish, yellow, or orange from different angles.
Posted on September 11, 2009 by hmeisner , Posted in Featured Articles, Maine ,
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On a bitter cold morning in Belfast Harbor, Maine, when the temperature is minus 10-15 degrees, the warmer ocean water condenses and forms “sea smoke”. The water vapor disappears when the sun warms up the air sufficiently.
Posted on September 11, 2009 by hmeisner , Posted in Featured Articles, Uncategorized ,
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Stanley Park is located in Vancouver, British Columbia. It’s a great park filled with trails for hiking, bike riding, with rivers, great foliage and wildlife.
Posted on September 10, 2009 by hmeisner , Posted in Featured Articles, Maine ,
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Sunset over Belfast Harbor, Maine, from Young’s Lobster Pound. B&W photograph taken with Rollei infrared film, using an 87 filter.
Posted on February 24, 2009 by hmeisner , Posted in Blog, Featured Articles, Maine ,
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“Ruby’s Place” is a black and white photograph of a window in an elderly Maine woman’s house. The weathered shingled siding is across from a small town cemetery—as can be seen in the reflection in the glass-and you are possibly wondering what the occupant of the house thinks as she looks out her window.
Technically I used a Mamiya 645, Kodak PX 125 film, shot at f8/125 sec.
Posted on February 24, 2009 by hmeisner , Posted in Blog, Techniques ,
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Silver gelatin B&W printing doesn’t have to be onto paper- this is of course the easiest choice, because papers are readily available from Kodak, Ilford, Bergger, etc. In this article I will explain how I print onto glass, which is one of my favorite surfaces.
Continue reading “Printing Photos onto 3D Glass” »
Posted on January 20, 2009 by hmeisner , Posted in Blog, Techniques ,
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Black and white photographs can be printed onto almost any surface- not just paper.
Generally, the process involves painting a special silver gelatin emulsion onto the
surface, in the dark room. The surface is exposed to film, taken through developer
and fixer, and dried.
Continue reading “Printing on Other Surfaces – Clamshells” »
