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Thread: Going SOFT in the Enlarging Stage. Soft focus from sharp negs.

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  1. #1

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    Going SOFT in the Enlarging Stage. Soft focus from sharp negs.

    Here's a scan of a print I made from a sharp 6X9cm negative. Neg was made in a funny little Contessa I used to have that had a 155mm Turner Reich lens on it and was converted to American 2X3 film holders. I made the enlargement with the rear group of a 135mm Xenotar. Just the rear doublet as enlarger lens.


    here's the original


    here's the soft enlargement

  2. #2

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    Re: Going SOFT in the Enlarging Stage. Soft focus from sharp negs.

    Yes.
    Now it's a Galli.

    A really pictorial idea!
    Ritchie

  3. #3
    Peter De Smidt's Avatar
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    Re: Going SOFT in the Enlarging Stage. Soft focus from sharp negs.

    With diffusion under an enlarger, the blacks will glow. With diffusion on the taking lens, the whites will glow. Both can be effective!
    “You often feel tired, not because you've done too much, but because you've done too little of what sparks a light in you.”
    ― Alexander Den Heijer, Nothing You Don't Already Know

  4. #4
    Jac@stafford.net's Avatar
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    Re: Going SOFT in the Enlarging Stage. Soft focus from sharp negs.

    I'm sure some of our motion picture professionals can tell us about black dot filters.

  5. #5
    jp's Avatar
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    Re: Going SOFT in the Enlarging Stage. Soft focus from sharp negs.

    http://www.manray.net/images/man-ray-photo.jpg

    I am wondering if the glow around Man Ray here is from soft focus enlarging, or if its a normal soft focus glow that is solarized, or what the special combination is? (Also curious about any guesses of the lens pictured)

  6. #6

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    Re: Going SOFT in the Enlarging Stage. Soft focus from sharp negs.

    Quote Originally Posted by jp View Post
    http://www.manray.net/images/man-ray-photo.jpg

    I am wondering if the glow around Man Ray here is from soft focus enlarging, or if its a normal soft focus glow that is solarized, or what the special combination is? (Also curious about any guesses of the lens pictured)
    I'd say solarized...

  7. #7

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    Re: Going SOFT in the Enlarging Stage. Soft focus from sharp negs.

    Quote Originally Posted by jon.oman View Post
    I'd say solarized...
    Yes, true solarization, produced by severe over-exposure of the negative. Another well known example is Ansel's "Black Sun".

  8. #8
    bob carnie's Avatar
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    Re: Going SOFT in the Enlarging Stage. Soft focus from sharp negs.

    that is a classic negative black makie line around his profile, negative solarization.
    Quote Originally Posted by jp View Post
    http://www.manray.net/images/man-ray-photo.jpg

    I am wondering if the glow around Man Ray here is from soft focus enlarging, or if its a normal soft focus glow that is solarized, or what the special combination is? (Also curious about any guesses of the lens pictured)

  9. #9

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    Re: Going SOFT in the Enlarging Stage. Soft focus from sharp negs.

    Perhaps it's a soft negative enlarged with a soft enlarging lens giving the black glow? Not enough definition left on the lens to make much of a guess. Looks like it could be an ordinary Velostigmat. 15" would have a flange with that screw pattern. But that's just a guess.

    My hope is that other folks will give us some examples of softness achieved at the enlarger. Mine was just to get us started.

  10. #10
    Mark Sawyer's Avatar
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    Re: Going SOFT in the Enlarging Stage. Soft focus from sharp negs.

    Quote Originally Posted by jp View Post
    http://www.manray.net/images/man-ray-photo.jpg

    I am wondering if the glow around Man Ray here is from soft focus enlarging, or if its a normal soft focus glow that is solarized, or what the special combination is? (Also curious about any guesses of the lens pictured)
    The image is solarized, but I think the phenomenon you're referring to is the Sabattier effect, which creates a line along edges between light and dark, called a "Mackie Line".

    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Galli View Post
    Perhaps it's a soft negative enlarged with a soft enlarging lens giving the black glow?
    True soft lenses (those with spherical aberration) always make the lights glow, as light spreads, while dark doesn't. But in the enlarging phase, it's the darks that are light!
    "I love my Verito lens, but I always have to sharpen everything in Photoshop..."

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