Historia de vida Maestra Adriana Arboleda

Glossary of Negative Development Terms

Latent Image This is the ‘negative’ image you have recorded invisibly upon your film when a picture is taken. The ‘latent’ image will form image silver when developed, but otherwise there is no perceptible change.

High Density Areas Portions of film exposed to a lot of light, (highlight areas or

‘overexposed’ areas).

Low Density Areas Portions of film exposed to small amounts of light, (shadow areas or

‘underexposed’ areas).

Grain Size Examination of a negative with a magnifier reveals an image composed of grains; this grain structure varies from film-to-film and with different developers (but typically the slower films have finer grain, and the faster films have larger grain).

Negative Developing Overview

Before we start, it is good to realize that roughly the same chemical processes are applied to the processing of both negatives and prints.

The variety of films and developers are staggering, so the best way to learn is to stick with one film type and one developer for a while until your results are consistent and satisfactory. Then try a faster film or a slower film with the same developer and you should see

differences in the contrast and grain, etc. Then maybe change your developer and see how the results differ, and so on.

Through these learning & development stages, you should keep notes to assist in being able to duplicate what was successful, and to avoid what was not.

When you are ready to develop your negatives, they have to be handled in a ‘dry area’, with complete darkness. This means you need a little practice on how to load your film into a developing tank in the dark. A practice roll, loaded in daylight a few times, is recommended.

Glossary of Tank Handling Terms

Stock Solution Your chemicals before they have been diluted for use in developing, fixing, etc. The stuff straight from the bottle or bag.

Working Solution Chemistry that has been prepared (diluted etc.) to proper strength for developing, fixing, etc.

Agitation The proper manner of handling chemistry during development and

fixing, etc.

Under-fix To use a fixer that has been ‘exhausted’ by overuse, or to not fix properly. This means your negatives will deteriorate over time. A few years later and your negatives will be showing stains or fading, which is a sad thing.

To start, you will need:

• Your exposed film (or one to practice with) • Developing tank and reels

• Can opener • Scissors

Plastic tanks are sometimes viewed as easier to use than stainless-steel tanks, and they are also cheaper. Though stainless is often considered more robust, it costs considerably more. Plastic is therefore a great way to start into the process, without the higher costs.

Once your negatives are loaded into the developing tank you will head to the ‘wet area’, somewhere where there is running water.

When the negatives are safely in the tank, to process them will need: • Negative developer

• Stop bath • Fixer

• Hypoclear (or Permawash) • Photoflo

To assist in the processing, tools you will also need include: • Thermometer

• At least two graduated containers • Negative washer

• Timer

Check your chosen developer specifications for recommended temperature, and development times. These will vary depending on your materials, and desired results. After bringing your working developer to the proper temperature and setting the timer, you will then need to have each chemical prepared and checked in advance of the appropriate step, because timing is critical during developer, stop, and fixing stages.

Processing Negatives

Step One - Quickly pour developer into tank, replace cap, start timer, and agitate irregularly

for the first 30 seconds, knock tank firmly down (to remove possible bubbles), and watch your timer.

For the remainder of the development time, set tank down for 25 seconds, agitate for five seconds. Repeat this short sequence until the developing time is up, and then quickly pour the developer out into an appropriate container, and move to Step Two.

This step is where the latent image is brought into existence on the negative.

Step Two - Quickly pour working stop bath, replace cap, and agitate continuously for 30

seconds, quickly pour into appropriate container and move to Step Three. The stop bath arrests the further development of the negatives.

Step Three - Quickly pour working fix solution, replace cap, agitate continuously for

recommended times. Generally three to five minutes is sufficient for most films, and six to eight minutes for Kodak’s T-Max series films.

Pour fixer out into appropriate container and move onto Step Four.

The fixing process is designed to ensure the negatives are stabilized for handling and long life.

Step Four - The negatives can now be safely handled under normal light!!! Open developing

tank, and wash negative under running water or in negative washer for approximately one minute.

Step Five - Pour working Hypoclear solution (or Permawash) into developing tank, replace

appropriate container.

Step Six - Return to running water, and wash for approximately five minutes. Prepare

Photoflo working solution.

Step Seven - Pour Photoflo working solution into tank, you need only agitate a little, after 30

seconds drain the film over the sink or onto paper towels.

The last steps are designed to put a final finish on your negatives, and minimize things like spots and watermarks.

Step Eight - Carefully take negatives off the roll and hang to dry in space provided,

preferably warm, dry and dust free.

Allow film to completely dry (probably three to five hours) before cutting your negatives into strips and putting them into the negative sleeves available from photographic supply stores. These steps will all become second nature to you after developing a few rolls of film, so have no worries if it didn’t work out perfectly the first time. Try, try again, and remember to keep taking pictures. All the time.

Glossary of Paper Terms

Resin Coated (RC) Paper is a low-cost petroleum-based photo paper.

Fiber Paper is a more expensive, high quality, paper-based photo paper. Often used for archival, higher cost prints for galleries or sales.

Summary: RC paper is best for contact sheets and prints until you are doing fine printing. Once you begin to make prints that will be important to you, you may choose to use fiber-paper because it is more archival, meaning it will last longer without fading or any noticeable change in the image, additionally it also has some other subtler advantages, such as enhanced tones and contrast.

Printing to Paper Overview

Once your negatives have been dried thoroughly and you have cut them into strips, and placed the negatives into sleeves you are ready to move into the darkroom...

To set up a home darkroom, you will require a unique solution depending on what kind of space you have to work with. Ideally, you will be able to outfit your darkroom with a large shallow sink and some dry counter space, or tables for your enlarger and supplies to rest on. Assuming you have a darkroom, we can then get into printing our negatives. Or interrupt the wet processes here, and move onto scanning and the digital process. But who wants that?

Point One - Take a look at the sink, trays and tongs and clean if necessary. Always better to

be safe and rinse the trays and tongs because any contamination can possibly stain your prints.

Point Two - Set out four clean trays. And set up chemicals running A, B, C, D away from the

enlarger. These should be:

A - Paper developer (not negative developer) B - Stop bath

C - Fixer

D - Fresh water (preferably running water)

Remember!! One set of clean tongs for each of the different trays, as mixing the tongs and processes can result in unsightly chemical marks on your prints.

will need to have a safelight on in the darkroom.

You will also need your negatives in their sleeve, one piece of printing paper, a piece of glass or a contact printer. Get to know your enlarger and timer, etc. Turn on the lamp and raise the head so the light covers enough area on the base of the enlarger to cover a sheet of 8x10 paper then turn off the lamp.

Printing Steps

Step One - Take out one sheet of paper and close your paper package securely, place

the sheet of paper inside the area where the light from the enlarger will fall, place your negatives directly on top of the paper and then place the clean glass directly on top of the negatives.

Step Two - Set the aperture on the enlarger to f11 and the timer to 10 seconds (this

recommendation is simply a guess, but a decent guess and you can make adjustments if the contact sheet is too light or too dark) and using the timer, expose the paper.

Step Three - After exposure, place the paper into the developer continuously agitating the

contact sheet using the tongs provided. Your images should appear after 20 or 30 seconds but the idea is to let the paper develop for up to two minutes or longer so the blacks get good and black. Then carefully pick up the print using tongs and allow the excess developer to run back into the developer tray and move the print into the stop bath.

Step Four - In the stop bath, use tongs to agitate for at least 30 seconds, remove, drain

excess and place print into the fixer.

Step Five - Using tongs, agitate in the fixer for three minutes, remove, drain excess and

place into the fresh water tray. Remember to agitate your prints and contact sheets while they are in the fixer.

At the end of your darkroom session you will want to thoroughly wash your contact sheets and/or prints for at least five minutes.

Prepare a Hypoclear bath and agitate the contact sheets and prints all at once for at least two minutes and then a second wash of five minutes are recommended for RC papers, but a longer wash for fiber based papers is necessary.

Squeegee the print and place on a drying rack or hang to dry. Then clean up after yourself.

Photographic Printing Worksheet

Comment on Contrast. There are two types of photo paper generally available. 1) Variable

Contrast paper is recommended initially, which can be both high-contrast and low-contrast and this is determined by use of filters (available in the studio darkroom), and 2) Graded Paper, which comes in grades typically from 1-5 (1 is the lowest contrast and 5 is the highest).

If you are using a condenser enlarger with a conventional tungsten bulb and condenser optics, the light is sharply focused providing an accurate print exposure with sharp focus and normal to high-normal contrast.

Another common enlarger system you may encounter elsewhere is the diffuser enlarger or cold light system where the light source is behind a diffusion screen or filter. The diffused light in this system tends to have a softer more even effect on your printing, with slightly lower contrast. The differences will seem fairly subtle to you initially but one day you may have a preference.

What you will need to print: • Enlarger

• Negative carrier • Trays, tongs, etc

Tools you will need to assist you include: • Dust brush or compressed air • Printing easel

• Grain focuser

Pick a darkroom and set up your trays and chemistry just as you have for printing contact sheets: developer, stop, fixer and fresh or running water. And again, always better to be safe and rinse the trays and tongs before and after use because contamination will stain your prints.

After you have examined your contact sheet and negatives to determine which image you want to print. Take the negative strip out of the negative sleeve, handling it by the edges as always and place it in the negative carrier so the correct viewing side faces upward. You will notice that the image will be upside down on the platen.

Before putting the negative carrier into the enlarger, give it a quick glance close up to see if there is dust and use the small airbrush to gently remove dust, eyelashes, etc. because those little specks become big specks in your print. You will be able to ‘spot’ or retouch dust specks in your finished prints but it is easier all the way around if you clean the negative as well as possible before printing.

And you are ready to go:

• Place the negative carrier into the enlarger. • Place the printing easel on the base of enlarger. • Turn out the lights.

• Put the timer on ‘focus’ or ‘f’.

• Adjust height of the enlarger so that the image size is about the size you want. • Place the grain focuser on the printing easel to aid with focusing your

picture. This takes a little practice but as you adjust the focus knob you should be able to see the grain move in and out of focus through the grain focuser. It is a helpful tool and only a little tricky.

• Once the image is focused and centered on the easel. Turn the timer off of focus, and back to ‘timer’ or ‘t’ which shuts off the light until you are ready to expose your test strip • Take one sheet of photo paper from the package and tear it or cut it into

smaller squares. Quarters or sixths will do nicely. Place on strip on the easel and return the other to your paper package and close it securely. • My recommendation for the test strip exposure is again simply a guess and

you may want to change your guess as you get used to the enlarger: • Use a #2 filter for average exposure.

• aperture of f11. • timer set to 10 secs.

• Expose your test strip and then place it into the developer continuously agitating using tongs. Your image should appear after 20 or 30 seconds but the idea is to let the paper develop for one to two minutes so the blacks get good and black. • Stop bath for 30 seconds, agitating throughout.

• Fixer for at least three minutes but after one minute you may turn on the lights and take a look at your test print.

Assessing Your Test Strip:

• If your test strip is too dark, you can either shorten your exposure time or go to a smaller aperture.

• If your test strip is too light you may increase your exposure time or go to a larger aperture.

• If your strip appears to have too little contrast then you can use a higher number filter. CAUTION: When you change filters you are likely going to change your correct exposure time so while you are getting used to printing it makes sense to make your contrast corrections first and then make another test strip for exposure time.

Okay, it may take two, three or more test strips before your strip looks really good to you but once you have something you like then you use the same filter and exposure time to make your first print.

This print will probably not be perfect but you should only have to make small adjustments to get a print that you’ll like. But keep at it, as this is really the good part.

And remember, test strips and bad prints make great postcards or journal stuff.

At the end of your darkroom session you will want to thoroughly wash your contact sheets and/or prints for at least five minutes. Prepare a Hypoclear bath and agitate the contact sheets and prints all at once for at least two minutes and then a second wash of five minutes are recommended for RC papers, but a longer wash for fiber based papers is necessary (up to 30 minutes or longer).

There are archival washers available, which may be used instead of washing, rinsing, interleaving prints by hand.

Squeegee the print and place on a drying rack or hang to dry. Then clean up after yourself.

A Nickel’s Worth of Knowledge

Okay... you have the basic film developing and darkroom skills... So, here are a few extras, which will surely be of use at some time, if not the too distant future

Burning - A printing technique whereby added exposure is given to certain area of the print

so that a highlight might be made printable, or a gray area darker, etc. (sort of the opposite of dodging).

Dodging - A printing technique whereby less exposure is given to a certain area of the print

so that a shadow area might be lightened, or a gray area lighter, etc. (sort of the opposite of burning).

You can do some of your burning and dodging by just using your hands but you can also make tools from cardboard or wire with a little piece of tape or paper. It doesn’t matter so long as it works for you. There are kits too, but it is really not necessary to buy what can so easily be made.

Archival - A term given to a photographic print that has been developed & processed

to archival standards. Properly handled and washed thoroughly, a print should last for hundreds of years. ‘Incomplete fixing’ is a common cause for deterioration. If the fixer has become exhausted or a print was not agitated thoroughly in the fix then silver halides will be left in the emulsion and these will eventually discolor.

A fiber print has to be washed in an archival washer for as long as forty minutes or by continuously interleaving the prints in fresh running water for the same amount of time in order to meet archival standards.

Selenium toning is recommended by some to ensure more archival results. Follow the directions accompanying the toner. A subtle shift in the color of the print will take place as well. A drawback is that selenium is a heavy metal and quite toxic to water systems and ecosystems.

option and certainly not the most dramatic toner in terms of color shift.

Sepia toner is another popular toner and creates an old ‘antique’ feeling photograph with warm brown tones. It is a two part toner that requires a bleach bath (Part A) and a toner bath (Part B).

Note: Always Hypoclear and wash your prints thoroughly before toning because the extra steps and different chemistry will inevitably stain your pictures if not handled properly. Also, fiber prints will generally tone with better results than RC paper.

Berg toners are available in a variety of different colors. They should be handled according to manufacturer’s recommendations but you may be able to tone your prints blue, red,