More contact printing experiments - what happened THIS time?

[Scott --]

Ok, so I got some Arista paper, and some decent Kentmere paper developer. Used a night light bulb at about 18" from the glass. Exposure time ended up at 5 seconds or so. Got me a print, but it's gray, and low contrast:


What happened here? I developed in my Uniroller setup for about 3 minutes, per the label if for no other decent reason. Fixed with newly-mixed 1:7 Kodak Rapid fix.

Ideas? Going out to dePot tomorrow to get some supplies to make a more regulatable light setup, but I'm not sure I understand why even the masked parts of the paper went gray...

[domenico Foschi]

It seems fogged from here.
I think you'd better check your safelight.
That's a nice picture, by the way.

[Scott --]

Thanks, Domenico, but here's what confuses me - I'm developing in a Uniroller tank. No safelight - everything done in darkness, then expose, then pull the print in darkness and load into a tank. Where'd it get fogged?

[Randy H]

Scott,
Try developing a blank sheet of your paper. Straight from the box into the developer. It indeed looks as though your paper is fogged. Especially if it is even grey under the mask. If the paper comes out gray, you may have a bad box of paper. Has it gotten hot, or inadvertantly opened where light could have gotten it? Or just plain "old"?

Or perhaps your uni is leaking light?

[Christopher Breitenstein]

You must be masking this otherwise all the paper around the image would be jet black. other then fogged paper I cant think of many other solutions. Perhaps the color spectrum of the night light doesn't match the sensitivity of the paper. If your negative has good density then use a regular household light bulb placed 3-4 from the paper & negative sandwich should produce beautiful prints.

Best of luck, don't give up!!!

Yours;

[Christopher Breitenstein]

If that is Multi grade paper you will need filters otherwise its as though you are always printing with about a number two filter, which requires quite a bit of contrast in the neg. If you are not using filters that would partially explain the flat prints.

Yours;

[David A. Goldfarb]

It's fog of some sort, but there could be a few possible causes. One is that the paper has been exposed to light.

Another could be that the developer and paper don't work together well and produce a high level of base fog. There are some papers, for instance, that will do this in a soft or warmtone developer. To test this, try another developer like Dektol.

Another possibility is aerial fog. It might be that this paper isn't suited to roller processing. To test this, try developing part of an unexposed sheet in the roller, and part in a tray, and see if there is a difference in the base fog level.

[Scott --]

Thanks for the help, everyone.

Ok, ran an unexposed sheet through the drum. Came out completely gray. I mixed new developer first, so I don't suspect that. Would concentration matter? Maybe I need to mix stronger than the 1:9?

The paper's brand new - just broke the seal last night. I wouldn't think sending through the mail would ruin it, would it?

I don't suspect my roller drum, 'cause I've never had a problem developing film in it. Unless the paper's just way more sensitive. On that note, I kind of wonder if my dark room isn't appropriately dark - the water heater's in there, maybe the pilot's fogging the film?

I have no feel for this. How sensitive is the paper?

This is frustrating.

[Nick_3536]

Paper is fairly slow. Plus light travels in a straight line. You can have light leaks in a room and not have any problems. I print colour in a room with light leaks. The leak is at one end I'm at the other.

[David A. Goldfarb]

Not all fog comes from light.

It might be that the developer is good, but just not good for this particular paper.

The drum may have no light leaks, but this particular paper may be more sensitive to aerial fog, which comes from excessive exposure to air during the development time. Try developing a sheet in a tray and see if it makes a difference.

A stronger dilution of developer will allow you to reduce the development time, and that may reduce aerial fog, if that is the problem.

Another solution might just be reducing development time in general. Try a longer exposure and 2 minutes development time, and see if that improves things.