If you never bothered to learn to retouch your negatives, then either pay a professional retoucher to do the job or, (unless it's your equivilant to Pepper #30), throw it in the trash and have a beer. Better yet, a Jack Daniels on the rocks.
If you never bothered to learn to retouch your negatives, then either pay a professional retoucher to do the job or, (unless it's your equivilant to Pepper #30), throw it in the trash and have a beer. Better yet, a Jack Daniels on the rocks.
Wilhelm (Sarasota)
Hugo,
"Not only lines, but pieces of the clear coating were sratched off the film. When printing, these scratched areas appeared as dark spots."
You could contract print the neg onto film, correct the positive and make a duplicate neg. You could bleach out the dark spots more easily than trying to fill-in the scratches. OR just make the dupe positive light enough to use as an un-sharp mask.
Just a thought.
Paul,
"You could contract print the neg onto film, correct the positive and make a duplicate neg. You could bleach out the dark spots more easily than trying to fill-in the scratches. OR just make the dupe positive light enough to use as an un-sharp mask."
How? It seems rather difficult for a green hand in the darkroom.
I have just tried a 5B pencil. Some lines and spot are just too small for the pencil. When I generously used the pencil on and around the scratches, there are darker areas in the negative and they will appeare white on the print. I really don't know what to do.
Here is part of the picture. See the area above that rock...
Hugo,
Forelli's techniquesounds excellent.
You don't really need to develop the negative, just fix it and wash it.
Retouching after some frustration can be really rewarding, it is one of my favourite stages of finishing a print.
The bad thing for you is that you are starting with an enormous task. I have seen the negative and it doesn't look easy beacause the areas have definite edges and that can be a B...h!
"I have just tried a 5B pencil. Some lines and spot are just too small for the pencil. When I generously used the pencil on and around the scratches, there are darker areas in the negative and they will appeare white on the print. I really don't know what to do. "
The areas will probably look lighter in the print, and that is a problem very fixable.
Just do 5/6 prints and start experimenting in retouching the print.
It seems an enormous task but you'll see that when you start to get the hang of it, things will get easier ....and pleasant.
And if you want an Adams retouching machine, let me know!
Try a HB lead. Take a piece of fine sandpaper and fold it back on itself so that the grit is inside. Tape the sides to keep the graphite inside of the envelope.
Pull about three inches of lead out of your lead holder and insert it into the sandpaper envelope, use a pumping motion while rotating the lead until it becomes thin and sharp as a needle. With the lead still extended from the holder begin retouching the negative, if the lead breaks and needs to be resharpened you have used too much pressure, resharpen and begin again. Do this on the base side if possible. I won't go into detail why, but a little thought and you can figure out why. The method I have described has been in use since the very first negative that needed retouching
was done. Weston learned it early in his career. The thin sharpened lead is used with the Adams machines, as well as by hand. It the case of scratches, the Adams is really not much help.
Crocein Scarlet is not an ink, it a dry powdered dye that is mixed with water. The dilution of the dye is how the dinsities are matched. ANSCO had exactly the same dye available. their name for it was Nue Cocine ( not sure of the spelling) and it worked exatly the same as Kodak's product.
C Webb
Hi Hugo,Originally Posted by Hugo Zhang
I feel your pain!
Retouching negatives is NOT the easiest job in the world. When I worked at a lab years and years ago, there was a Czechoslovakian fellow who use to do this kind of work. He was one anal retentive fellow (had over 30 years of experience and was a perfectionist to the nth degree.)
And, even he had his share of challenges with damaged negatives.
Anyway, I'd most likely follow Steve F.'s recommendation... digitize the negative via a drum scan, retouch it in Photoshop and have a negative made from the digital file via a film recorder.
I'd think there would be "some" degradation in the end result when compared to the original negative but I really don't know how much. Perhaps, someone here on the forum has had direct experience with going this route.
Good luck... I hope you find a solution as it looks like a nice image!
Cheers
Life in the fast lane!
crocein scarlet is no longer available at B&H Photo. Too bad another one goes down for the count.
Hugo,
What I have done it spot out the neg on the base side. Print it then painless spot the print. I have even used a sharpie on on the neg occasions..
We learn best from our mistakes. Now you know the main reason why St. Ansel (and most other LF "greats") always made a backup negative when possible, (put aside and developed seperately). Also, always remember the immortal guiding words of W. Eugene Smith: "The most important darkroom accessory is the trash basket."
Wilhelm (Sarasota)
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