![]() Since I had a voltage regulator connected to the light source, I couldn’t figure out what the problem was. At that time I was using a Gra Lab timer to control the exposure for my prints-a timer that shut the light off automatically. Consistently, some prints were lighter and some were darker. One print, even though it was a straight print that required no dodging or burning-in, would not print the same way twice in a row. ON METRONOMES-AND WHY USING ONE TO TIME PRINT EXPOSURES IS ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL:īack in 1970 I was printing my first portfolio and trying to make twenty-five identical prints from each of twelve negatives. This article only deals with a way of working once those decisions have been made. Of course it should go without saying that the making of any fine print primarily involves the making of many aesthetic decisions, but a discussion of the basis for those decisions is for another time. A short discussion of my processing procedures for archival permanence concludes the article. The other is to use the method I call “outflanking the print.” Both are explained here in detail. One is to use a metronome to time exposures. Outside of making perfect negatives every time, there are two main ways to insure that all of your negatives will be relatively easy to print. Since relatively few photographers are able to come here to work with me personally, I am writing about my approach to printing in hopes that it will be helpful to a greater audience.Īlthough I only make contact prints on Azo and develop them in Amidol, and although some of the things I do while printing are specific to the materials I use, it will be easy for those who make enlargements to adapt my approach to their materials. Most of these photographers can already print fairly well-in some cases very well, but nonetheless they want to see exactly how I make my prints and to learn how to make their prints not only better, but with less effort. Over the years, many photographers, some quite accomplished, have come to my studio in the country in eastern Pennsylvania to learn to make better prints. ![]() On the other hand, if you are like the rest of us who sometimes have negatives that have wonderful things in them but that are difficult-to-impossible to print, this article is written for you, with the hope that it will make your time in the darkroom less difficult and more productive. If you are one of those photographers that does live in that perfect world where all negatives are perfect, read no further I have nothing to teach you. Even those who have done seemingly interminable testing and refining of exposure and development techniques often have negatives that aren’t exactly right on and/or that require extensive dodging and burning-in. ![]() Perhaps I don’t know the right people, but I have yet to meet a photographer who lives in that perfect world. All negatives would then print on a normal grade of paper, require a standard amount of exposure, and require no dodging or burning-in. In the best of all possible worlds, all exposures would be perfect-neither over nor under exposed, and all negatives would be developed for the right amount of time. This is an expanded version of the article that originally appeared in the May/June 1998 issue of View Camera Magazine. ON PRINTING AND WHY THERE Is NO SUCH THING AS A DIFFICULT NEGATIVE TO PRINT MICHAEL A. ![]()
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