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Emil Schildt
15-Jun-2012, 14:04
I sometimes wonder how big or how small prints other photographers make. I know it depends on motive - negative and so on.

In addition to this I have always been restricted by the sizes of my developing trays, which make prints larger than 50x70 cm problematic..

However, tonight I thought to He"" with it - I am not going to let that hinder me, so I have just made my biggest prints ever...

Messy, but rather addictive, I think.

Liquid emulsion on 600 grms paper - size of paper: 70x110 cm (ca 27,5x43,3").

what about you? how big do you go - and how do you print larger than large?

pbryld
15-Jun-2012, 14:08
Sorry for already getting off-topic, but would it not be more economical to get rolls of paper instead (unless you just like the self-made stuff of course)?

Emil Schildt
15-Jun-2012, 14:31
Sorry for already getting off-topic, but would it not be more economical to get rolls of paper instead (unless you just like the self-made stuff of course)?

Liquid emulsion is MUCH cheaper (for me) than "normal" papers. And far more fun to use! And looking great! and.....

BUT it would proberly be easier to use "normal" papers.

ROL
15-Jun-2012, 14:55
11"x14" to 30"X40" (all aspects: 4:5, 3:5, 1:2 based on longest dimension), the largest I can personally manage for fine prints, depending on negative. I use 2 different sets of trays, one for 20x24 and smaller, and the other for anything larger. This is partially described at various points here (http://www.rangeoflightphotography.com/pages/a-darkroom-portrait). One of my next videos will be focused on printing big. My favorite "large" size print is 24"x30". Yes, it can be quite addictive, and was of primary concern when building my darkroom.

SpeedGraphicMan
15-Jun-2012, 15:03
9x13 feet is the biggest size I've worked on.

It was a multi-sheet composite.

Unfortunately I did not print it.

cdholden
15-Jun-2012, 15:10
5x7, 8x10, 11x14 and 12x20 (all in inches).
I don't have an enlarger, so I only do contact prints. Any smaller would be too small for my taste. No bigger because I don't have any negatives larger than 12x20. Even if I did, I'm already finding space limitations in my bathroom/darkroom make that format difficult to work with.

Bill Burk
15-Jun-2012, 17:21
While I'd love to make truly large prints, I've built a darkroom optimized for 11x14 prints.

Events have conspired to make it hard for me to make large prints. One time I bought a huge stainless steel tray - and it had a hole in it! Another time I made a plywood and fiberglass tray and used it for one print for a difficult customer.

Jim Fitzgerald
15-Jun-2012, 17:50
For me as well it is going to be contact prints. All carbon transfers. 8x10, 11x14, 14x17 and 8x20. Now I do have a very nice 8x10 enlarger that I have never set up so in the future????

Bill Burk
15-Jun-2012, 19:20
In all fairness to my customer, it did take me over a year to make the fiberglass tray...

bob carnie
16-Jun-2012, 06:12
I am preparing for a personal show in the fall, I think I am going to make about 6 Hero prints at 40 x50 , a bunch of 30 x 40's and the balance 24 x 30 , included in the show are smaller prints I made a year ago. All are silver gelatin toned prints.

I have added an extra 8x10 enlarger into the darkroom to accommodate this printing. So this is going to give my darkroom a workout, right now deciding if we need to move things around inside to make the workflow easier.

Vaughn
16-Jun-2012, 08:18
16x20 was the size I use to print, with a 20x24 here or there -- but now all contact alt processes (up to 11x14).

We have a mural assignment our intermediate class does every semester -- 40"x60" to 40"x72", from 45 negatives. I turn around two of the Omega D5-XL's to project the images onto the floor, the paper is laid directly onto t he floor. The prints are see-sawed in troughs...one student on each end of the print. For the class critique, the prints are tacked to the outside of the art building...impressive to see 24 big prints on the wall!

cdholden
16-Jun-2012, 10:06
16x20 was the size I use to print, with a 20x24 here or there -- but now all contact alt processes (up to 11x14).

We have a mural assignment our intermediate class does every semester -- 40"x60" to 40"x72", from 45 negatives. I turn around two of the Omega D5-XL's to project the images onto the floor, the paper is laid directly onto t he floor. The prints are see-sawed in troughs...one student on each end of the print. For the class critique, the prints are tacked to the outside of the art building...impressive to see 24 big prints on the wall!
That sounds fun. I'd love to be able to do that.
Just being a gearhead, I have to ask... how do you calibrate/compensate to make sure the floor is level and parallel to the film plane?

Harold_4074
18-Jun-2012, 16:49
or how small

Well, since you asked---about 5x7.........millimeters.

(4x5 negatives printed to fit into a heart-shaped locket for my wife :) )

ROL
18-Jun-2012, 19:43
or how small

Well, since you asked---about 5x7.........millimeters.

(4x5 negatives printed to fit into a heart-shaped locket for my wife :) )

Well, that certainly turns the thread 180º. I'll bet your wife's heart was enlarged greatly though.

Harold_4074
18-Jun-2012, 19:48
Indeed.

Just to get the discussion turned 'round again, the largest print I have ever made was 16x20. I'd like to try it again, just to see if it was as awkward as I remember. The real question now is : where on earth would I put a print on a 20x24 mount?

ROL
18-Jun-2012, 19:50
Wait a second.... how do you reduce a negative?

Vaughn
18-Jun-2012, 19:55
That sounds fun. I'd love to be able to do that.
Just being a gearhead, I have to ask... how do you calibrate/compensate to make sure the floor is level and parallel to the film plane?

Frankly, we don't worry too much about it...or at least the professor does not worry too much about it. He is more interested in the image than perfection. I have taken the time to calibrate the image thrown onto the floor -- using scratched lines on a negative. I move the lens platform until all lines are in focus (not worrying too much about key-stoning, but occasionally putting some spacers under the enlarger baseboard). But after doing all of that, things would get moved around so it never seemed to make much difference.

Each student gets one test strip (1 foot x 5 foot) and one try at the print. They are suppose to make an 11x14 print, mapping out the burning, cropping and all that beforehand. The mural assignment is tied to using a 4x5 camera for the first time, along with a self-portrait assignment and using the lighting studio.

Vaughn

Harold_4074
18-Jun-2012, 19:59
Wait a second.... how do you reduce a negative?

Very carefully....

In my case, I settled on a 28mm Nikon wide-angle, using a Series-type filter holder to attach the lens (front element towards the negative) to a cardboard lensboard in an Omega D2. I printed onto contact-speed paper after tracing the locket opening to get the approximate size. It turns out to be pretty hard to gracefully fit a conventional portrait framing into the heart-shaped window of the locket, so the image has to be pretty tiny.

And now, back to the subject of enormous prints....:)

Brian Ellis
19-Jun-2012, 06:26
The largest I've printed on my own printer is about 16x24 because 16 inches on the short side is as large as my Epson 3800 printer will go and still leave a border. The largest I've had prints made by others is 20"x30" by Costco. AFAIK 20x30 is their limit. However there seem to be plenty of labs around that will print almost any size you want from a digital file. The last show I saw had few prints under maybe 2'x3'. BIG prints seems to be the trend or maybe just the fad.