Could use some tips....

PhillipM · Nov 13, 2012

New to the forum, so HELLO

Details:

New to 4x5. Been developing my own b/w for around 3 months. I "think" I have a handle on that. I'm shooting Arista EDU 4x5, and developing it in Arista as well. Done some D-76 as well. Just trying to find my way.

So now the print bug has hit me. I bought an Omega D2 enlarger with a 70'sh mm lens. I'm waiting on a 135 or so to arrive later this week, since the 70'sh isn't giving me the coverage to print 8x10.

Now to the printing part... Up till tonight, I've only been doing some contact prints with some Formalux Contact paper which is kind of slow relative to the Arista EDU Pearl RC paper I tried tonight.

Boy, what a BIG difference. First off, I think my safe light is too hot. I have a 35 watt light bulb in it, and it's approx 8 feet away from the enlarger, and 6 feet away from the trays. I was developing face up, which after reading through some threads here, I read you can do face down, which I didn't know.

Test strips seem muddy for the lack of a better term, and I'm not getting clear indications on the strip from the 5 second intervals. I'm not sure what fstop I had the lens at as well. When I first shot the first piece, it came out really dark, so I started to stop down the lens, and tried another test strip. Having said that, I'm still not getting really good test strips like I did in the past with the contact print method.

Possible fog from the safe light?

Not sure. I've basically have just jumped into this Darkroom arena feet first. But that's my style. Good or bad. I'm not too good at reading and applying what I read. More of a hands on person.

What tips can you throw my way to move on from Contact prints to actually doing some enlargements.

TIA...

Gump in Tn.

ann · Nov 13, 2012

run a simple safe light test. Place a piece of paper in the easel and place a coin on it and let it sit there for about 5 minutes, then develop.

Use f8 as your printing fstop. Do a step wedge at 3 second steps and find your max black point.

You should be agitating the print while it is developing, just flip it over and back every 10 or 15 seconds.

What contrast filter are you using with this paper?

PhillipM · Nov 13, 2012

Thanks Ann.

i'll give that a shot tomorrow evening given the time to do so. I'm not using any filters btw.

btw, should I consider using a different paper considering my skill level or lack of?

one thing to I'm wondering is if I really have the paper, emulsion side up? I could tell the difference with that contact paper but I'm not 100% sure with this 8x10 stuff being different paper and all.....

Compaq · Nov 14, 2012

I've been reading about the Safe Light Test. Neither Rudman or Bartlett explains very well the procedure, nor explains exactly why the test includes what it includes. I understand it is to test whether the safe light is fogging our prints, but I'm left to myself to figure out exactly how the test work, I feel.

RichardH · Nov 14, 2012

I am not good at explaining something with a keyboard. Go to APUG.org and type in safelight test. You will have plenty of info on why and how. It doesn't take long and at least you will know how you stand on that part of the darkroom.

Richard

PhillipM · Nov 14, 2012

I figure I place a coin on the paper strip, leave the safelight on, but no exposure from any other light source, and develope the paper. If there is a circle there, then the safelight is either too strong, to close, or both... I have a sneaky suspicion one of two things are giving me problems. It's a safelight issue, or I have the paper upside down

The contact paper I was using was very easy to determine which side was the emulsion. This paper, I'm around 65% sure of... I was totally surprised as to how this paper reacted -vs- that slower contact paper.

Just my guess.

ann · Nov 14, 2012

the paper has a "shine" to the emulsion side. Just turn it at about 45 degrees and you should be able to see the difference.

traditional contact paper is very slow as the light source is very close to the negative and paper.

The paper your using is fine.

I believe I may not been as clear about the test, if the safe light isn't safe an image of the coin (circle) will appear, it may be very slight or very strong; all will depend on the equipment. You want NONE

ann · Nov 14, 2012

Compaq said:
I've been reading about the Safe Light Test. Neither Rudman or Bartlett explains very well the procedure, nor explains exactly why the test includes what it includes. I understand it is to test whether the safe light is fogging our prints, but I'm left to myself to figure out exactly how the test work, I feel.

Anders,

If an image appears at any level of color, the safe light is not safe. If the paper is still pure white, safe light is doing it's job.

Different papers react differently. For instance, Polywarmtone paper is more sensitive to fogging, and the safe light must be moved further away to avoid fogging.

PhillipM · Nov 14, 2012

This is great info.

Of course, me just jumping in on enlarging, really never even had a clue about how different papers could react to my environment. And I can safely say that at the time I pulled the first sheet of paper to print, I did have a wee bit of stray light coming into the darkroom near the enlarger which will be fixed as well, but never gave the safe light a thought.

I was just totally overwhelmed by what I was seeing or experiencing, and it threw me back some....

Can't wait to test this evening. Thanks for all the info as well.

PhillipM · Nov 15, 2012

Well, last night I had a few minutes so I did the coin test on my paper to make sure my safe light was safe. I exposed a quarter for 5 seconds, and then moved it, and did another shot it again for 10 seconds. Paper was all white

I did try to print an 8x10, and did some test strips to dial in the right exposure, and am making some progress but wasn't 100% satisfied as to what I was seeing.

I think before I attempt any more 8x10's, I'm going to wait for my 135 lens to come in from Florida. I'm not getting good coverage, and feel I need that before I move on.

Thanks for the insight.

amolitor · Nov 15, 2012

Exposing paper is a bit more of a game than exposing film.

With paper you need to get the white levels right and the black levels, with a combination of exposure and contrast grades. It can be a tricky dance.

Something I did quite early on in my printing career was this:

- figure out a decent exposure for some negative, just something so I am getting an image with detail across the tonal range, nothing fancy
- print it at the exact same exposure for every contrast grade I have available (maybe skip the half steps to save paper)

Look at the results. Now you have a better idea of what your contrast grades do for you. In my tests, with my materials, the way I saw it: Exposure places the white levels, and contrast grade places the black level. My printing procedure now it to:

- guess the contrast grade by looking at the negative. Start at 2 if it's not obvious.
- work out the right exposure to get the highlights printing the way I want.
- adjust contrast grades from there to get the shadows the way I want.

(roughly).

Your materials may differ, your analysis and way of understanding may differ, and you may produce a different procedure. But I think the test is worthwhile, so you can see and feel the results of JUST adjusting ONE variable, the contrast grade.

PhillipM · Nov 15, 2012

Thanks amolitor.... I'll try to digest that info. Tomorrow I'm going back to structured basics. Checking developer temps, fresh developer, documenting settings, ect .... I just found out from FreeStyle, that this is a VC paper, and I don't currently have any to use. Not sure if that plays into anything.