Introduction to Photography - Final Printing

Final Printing

The final stages of printing an image involve using the techniques I vaguely touched on in the last post - Dodging and Burning. To dodge is to keep light from penetrating a specific portion of the image. To burn is to add additional light to a specific portion of the image. When used together, these techniques are extremely effective in correcting lighting in poorly exposed, or difficult negatives.
Using your initial test sheet of exposure time from part 1, you may be able to get an idea of how much additional time you may need to add to a given part of an area which is underexposed. Underexposure is the technical term for when there is not enough light (blown out of too light) hitting a specific region of the photo. Likewise, Overexposure if the technical term for when there is too much light (very dark, or blacked out) hitting a specific region of the photo. Keep in mind that these guidelines only pertain to traditional black and white photography.

Dodging:
Create a simple dodging tool is a lot easier then you might imagine. By unfolding a paper clip, or another small longer pliable stick, and taping or gluing it to a small piece of cut out cardboard, you can make a very useful and inexpensive burning tool. It is useful to make multiple sizes of these "tools" to reuse for various prints over time. Because each print in unique, and tweaking the lighting in every print is different, having multiple dodging tools is very useful.

The purpose of the dodging tool is to block light from hitting the overexposed portion of the image. You do this by exposing the paper with the correct exposure time, and quickly moving the dodging tool over the area in question. Because anything hindering the light from reaching the paper is going to create a lighter image, it is important to remember to move the tool around as you are dodging the image to avoid creating jagged white lines from where the handle was on your final print, or over dodging to create an unnatural feel. Dodging generally works out a lot better if you are using a longer exposure time. Due to the nature of this assignment I did not touch on lens settings or equivalency scales, but altering those scales is very important in rendering a properly dodged area in your final print. These are subjects you will need to become familiar with in order to print, and they are covered in all basic photography classes, and in most books.

Burning:
Burning is basically the same concept as dodging, except in reverse. To burn is to add more light to a specific area of the image - while keeping the extra light away from the complete print, whereas dodging is to subtract light from the final exposure time. A cheap and easy burning tool is also very simple to create. Simply poke a small hole in the center of a piece of cardboard, and customize it as necessary for your particular print depending on the size of the area you need to burn in. Burning is a process that takes much care and practice to master efficiently. It is very easy to over-burn an area, and create a very unnatural, unflattering photograph. Always be careful to avoid the "halo" effect, which is when you burn an area outside of where you intended, only slightly, just enough to create a slightly darker area bordering the burned section. Burning is always done AFTER the initial exposure. Burning, like dodging, takes a lot of patience and practice to master correctly. It is important to try and stay relaxed and not overwhelm yourself when you are learning. When done correctly however, it is a relatively easy way to "fix" the imperfections of your image due to overexposure.

After you have mastered the art of printing your image, agitated it through the chemical process, cleaned, and dried your final print, it's up to you where you go from there. Many people don't understand the complexity involved in traditional darkroom photography. Hopefully this little blog has helped its readers understand what we really go through, on a very introductory level. Remember, there is always more then meets the eye. I have only touched on most of this stuff, but have at least attempted to give you an idea of what is actually involved.

Below are some useful links to Basic Photography information, advice, and suggestions. I hope you found what I've written to be educational, and interesting. Thank you for reading.

Some Basic Elements of Photography - by Chuck Doswell
Photography Basics - By Andy Lim
The Black and White Darkroom

Introduction to Photography - Basic Printing

Printing a Base Print

In the last post, I explained a little bit about what is involved in developing film to acquire negatives to print onto light sensitive photographic paper. Now I will elaborate more on printing an image. In the last post I touched base on the subject of printing. The process is, however, far more involved then I explained.

Printing can range from a simple process to a very complex ordeal that can span from a few minutes to many hours per individual prints depending on the amount of manipulation required to make the image presentable. In a perfect world, every single negative would put forth a perfectly exposed image ready to enlarge and print quickly, easily, and without having to customize anything. Unfortunately, however, this rarely happens. As I touched on earlier, negatives capture information by recording different amounts of light. The amount of light required to properly expose a negative varies greatly by subject matter, time of day, available light, artificial light, and a number of other elements. The amount of light required to properly expose a negative is that negatives Exposure Time. Exposure time is determined on an individual basis, and is different for each and every print. To begin, you load the negative into the carrier, emulsion face down, and enlarge your image to the inside marks on your predetermined easel WITHOUT photo paper in it. You then use a magnification device to enlarge the grains and focus the image accordingly. To determine a base exposure time, turn the enlarger light off and place a single sheet of paper into the easel. Create a test sheet by taking a piece of cardboard (or something similar to block the light of the enlarger) and expose one-inch sections in 5 second increments until you have exposed the entire piece of paper to the projected image light of the enlarger. Once you have developed the test print fully, take it outside and choose an increment which best suites the light density you wish your entire image to portray. Then, print the image again on a new sheet of paper using that selected time. Once you develop that print, take the image outside again and see what, if any, changes need to be made to overall exposure time. Modify your overall exposure time by a few seconds in either direction if you are unsure of where to start adjusting. Take notes of your exposure times, and pay attention to how the lighting works. Eventually, you will have a better idea ahead of time of what your timing will be. Going back to my previous comment regarding difficult printing, it is sometimes possible that your negative is exposed in such a way where you will need to print it again and again, using slightly different exposure times for various portions of the print. In the event of this happening, you will need to learn how to Dodge and Burn your image, which I will further explain in the next post.

Introduction to Photography - The Negative

Most people have the same reaction when I tell them I'm a Photography Major. They think, "Point, shoot". Then, the next logical question inherently becomes "Why do you need to go to school to know how to do that?” This little Blog Spot is going to focus on Photography, and giving a very basic explanation of what is involved in the various stages of taking, developing, printing, and presenting a traditional photograph - from start to finish.

The Negative

Due to the nature of this assignment, I am not going into the requirements of taking a picture. Art is subjective, and what I find visually stimulating may be completely different from something you might enjoy. Because of this, I will focus primarily on the technical aspect of the medium.

Photography is the study of capturing various degrees of light onto a transparent receiver called film using a device called a camera. A traditional camera uses a series of mirrors to reflect a shrunk image onto a light sensitive strip called film. The backing of film is coated with a chemical formation called emulsion. Emulsion is a light sensitive chemical compound capable of recording a reversed images that when combined with a complex chemical formation in complete darkness (known as the development process) will render a reversed image on the back of the film. The film is loaded in a completely dark room into a canister, which allows no light to damage the film. A series of chemicals are then used to develop the images onto the film, and allow light to touch the film without damaging the information. Once the film has been developed, it is dried and cut into 5 or 6 panel strips called negatives (named for the reversed quality of the images) which when magnified and focused through a device called an enlarger, can be projected onto light sensitive photographic paper in various sizes. Due to the sensitivity of the supplies in use, it is required that complete darkness covers the work area. There are special places for this called Dark Rooms. When you magnify, or enlarge the projected image onto photo paper (available in resin coated or fiber based properties) in a dark room, and expose the paper to preselected timed amounts of light, it reverses the image back to true form. Once exposed, the paper (now called a print) is put through a series of chemicals and agitated for pre-designated times until the paper is no longer light sensitive. Once the sensitivity is removed, you can bring the print into daylight to see what time changes need to be made to correct the quality of the image. The whole development process, from developing the initial film, to printing your first test image takes about an hour and a half to complete, and that is just the beginning of the artistic process.