My first 5x4 prints!

[locutus]

Just finished setting up my new bathroom darkroom and first thing to do was make 5x4 contacts!

http://i.imgur.com/bDOCid6.jpg

My this is fun and the small prints look gorgeous in the flesh!

The printing setup itself is just a 7W lightbulb hanging from the ceiling, a power switch and 'one potato, two potato'. There are a couple of issues still, my developer seems to be far to strong as the prints come out way fast (10 seconds or so) leaving very little control.

Now i need to shoot more negatives to print! Fun!

[John Layton]

Do keep in mind that Edward Weston did some wonderful work with just the single-bulb setup you describe! But to more fully ascribe to E.W.'s process - you might want to count peppers instead of potatoes! (Pepper #30 always works for me!)

[stawastawa]

Is your developer too strong? or is the exposure a bit too much? try moving the bulb farther from the paper.
But that development by inspection does add a nice cathedral and UFO tong print to your cloud photograph!

[blue4130]

I've been doing similar contact prints. What I do for my lightsource is use a flash set to 1/4 power bounced off the ceiling. Super repeatable and seems very even.

[Leigh]

Very good.

What developer are you using?

Normal development time for b&w prints is 1 to 2 minutes.

- Leigh

[locutus]

Thanks for the comments!

I'm planning to build a timer for the lightbulb but using a flash sounds like a good idea, i will give that a try first. As i'm down to ~2 second exposures and the bulb is the lowest powered one i could find (2W 2800K diffused LED) nor is there room to move it up higher.

For Developer i'm using Maco ecoprint at 1+9 with the 1 Litre solution at room temperature, for the next printing batch I will try to dilute the existing working solution by hand.

[chuck461]

I don't know that developer, but at 1:9 dilution, I suspect that that is NOT the problem. Have you let any prints develop to completion? Try leaving a print in the developer for 2-3 minutes. If it turn out very dark, you're probably over exposing. There are a few ways to attenuate the light. You could put the light on a dimmer or mount it in a coffee can and put one or two pieces of paper over the opening. I don't think heat will be a problem with LED, but check that it doesn't get hot. You could also try a paper designed for contact printing such as Fomalux 111, available from Freestyle or Lodima, available from Michael Smith (lodima.org).
Hope this helps.
Chuck

[locutus]

Hi Chuck, thanks for the tips.

I haven't tried just leaving the print for 2 minutes, i'll give it a try.

Not all LED lamps work with dimmers and this one doesn't, i'll try building some light box for it.

The shop i usually buy from didn't have a real contact printing paper so going off this: tutorial (http://shawnhoke.com/shawn-hoke-photography/2013/02/contact-printing-8x10-contact-prints) i went for MGIV.

As i still have 90 sheets left i will just continue with this first before buying another paper.

[chuck461]

Some other thoughts...If you have an enlarger you could use that as your light source. I addition to being able to control the light output through head height and lens aperture, it would be easy to use contrast filters. If you're going to stay with multigrade enlarging paper, I think this would be your best option. Another question is what your negatives look like. Underexposed and/or under developed negatives will be thin and will contribute to short exposure times. From what I can see, you don't look to be too far off though.
I suggest posting about your problem in the "Darkroom processing" sub forum. I think think you'll get many useful suggestions there.

[locutus]

And thanks again!

I dont have an enlarger....yet, as another project i'm building a projection back for my shenhao. But for now i'm doing contacts.

With all the tips i think its clear now what all variables i have to experiment with, first thing to do is build a small holder around the lamp so i can put filters (or just paper as a makeshift ND) in front of it. I'll experiment and if i have any issues for sure i will post again!

First i need more interesting negatives to print, time to get my ass out of the door :-)

[Thalmees]

Just finished setting up my new bathroom darkroom and first thing to do was make 5x4 contacts!
http://i.imgur.com/bDOCid6.jpg
My this is fun and the small prints look gorgeous in the flesh!
The printing setup itself is just a 7W lightbulb hanging from the ceiling, a phower switch and 'one potato, two potato'. There are a couple of issues still, my developer seems to be far to strong as the prints come out way fast (10 seconds or so) leaving very little control.
Now i need to shoot more negatives to print! Fun!

Wonderful locutus,
Thanks for sharing.
I assume you are using variable contrast/multigrade type of paper.
With 2800K light, I can also assume that any print among the 4, is in the lower contrast range for the corresponding negative, for the same exposure and development.
If you can make holder for the light source that can accept gel enlarger filters, you may control contrast, with the same setup.
Assuming no other controlling variables, the upper most print should have an ideal negative(among four), due to its flat contrast which may reflect the effect of yellow light source.

[locutus]

Yes, the paper i'm using is Ilford MG IV which is a VC paper. I skimped on buying Ilford multigrade filters as the packet that the store had was 100 Euros, i'll have to take a look if i can find some second hand.

[stawastawa]

yes do try and make a holder for filters, should be simple to find a set second hand. If you really come up empty I might have a spare set.

Also, those LED 2W bulbs are misleading they can be very bright! My guess is that it has somewhere around 400 lumens or more.
getting a tungsten filament light bulb with a low wattage might be less bright - and would work with a dimmer switch!

[QUOTE=locutus;1380997]With all the tips i think its clear now what all variables i have to experiment with, first thing to do is build a small holder around the lamp so i can put filters (or just paper as a makeshift ND) in front of it./QUOTE]

[alexmuir]

I see that you can't move the bulb higher, but perhaps you could move it further away? I don't think it needs to be directly over the printing frame. It's a lot easier than making a filtering system to reduce intensity.
Alex


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[stawastawa]

also, can someone comment on using a point source (single LED, or small filiment bulb) vs a diffuse source (frosted bulb / soft box) for making contact prints? any difference in appearance?