At 22:11 13/10/99 -0400, Jeff Borenstein wrote:
>Can anyone think of a good
>darkroom technique to burn the image so I can print it in the "real world
>darkroom" like the image on the left, as opposed to the digital domain in
>which it took 3 minutes to do what i wanted? :) My teacher thinks it would
>be very hard to capture the digital image in the darkroom, maybe there is a
>better way?
It shouldn't be difficult to remove the light in the darkroom, but you
might need a couple of goes at it before you master it. You'll never be
able to burn it in with the negative in the enlarger because the neg.
density will be too high (hence your teacher's doubts). So, you need to
remove it with a source of white light. Set up your enlarger with no neg.
in the carrier, and make a test strip to determine how long an exposure
gives you a good black. Make a note of that time. Now, print the image as
you have already done previously (maybe increasing the contrast (paper
grade) just a little to brighten the highlights). Now, leaving the paper
in the easel, take the neg out and mask off all but the top RH corner of
the paper (where you want to burn in), and expose that for the time you
determined earlier to burn it in to black. The light will be gone! The
trick to avoid a noticeable edge to the mask is to keep it moving, to
"feather" the burn-in exposure. I use my hands - in this case I'd put my
hand under the lens, turn on the enlarger, then uncover the area to be
burned in simply by moving my hand.
To my eyes, the digital version you've shown looks wrong because of the
density of the black on the outside of the fountain - it's too dark and
makes the fountain look like it's stuck onto a piece of black paper. Also,
because there is light on the statue it has to come from somewhere so I'm
not sure I would *completely* remove the light, just tone it down a bit so
it's less of a distraction.
You can use the same burn-in technique I described to gradually burn in the
background so you don't get that "stuck-on" effect. Preflashing the paper
would probably help detail in the highlights too, for more info look at
http://www.rhdesigns.co.uk/flash.htm
>It was late at night, 3 pictures left on the roll and I
>came up with a terrific print for such an early start in B&W career.
Agreed :-) It's worth persevering with it in the darkroom for two reasons
- one, it's an excellent image and will reward a bit of effort, and two,
you'll learn a lot doing it!
Good luck
Richard
PS - I agree with your comments on black/white vs colour, you have much
more control over the results in b/w, and a fine monochrome print on fibre
paper will beat any inkjet :-)
Richard Ross
Hemel Hempstead, England
richard@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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