My B & W prints are dead, flat & dark . . . . Help! Please

[Brian Ellis]

Consistently "flat" prints is a classic sympton of fogged paper and the cause often is the safelight as others have mentioned. So the first thing I'd do is a good safelight test. The test shouldn't be the "put a quarter on the paper" thing which is useless but a test as described in Ansel Adams' "The Print" or that is (or at least used to be) described in the Kodak literature and on their web site.

[Heroique]

Contact proper proof prints on Grade 2 paper look fine with a full tonal range.

I think (regular) safelight tests are important even if one doesn't suspect a problem. What's interesting here is that contact prints aren't showing the symptoms, which I presume are being prepared under the same safelight. Or is it just this particular grade 2 paper that works well, but not others? Perhaps it has a different sensitivity? Let us know if you run further tests and what you discover. I'm enjoying all the helpful ideas here.

[Richard M. Coda]

All good answers. IF your paper is fogged, try adding Benzatriazole, 1-oz per liter to your developer.

From my personal experience, Ilford warmtone needs at least 10% reduction in exposure due to dry down. This in comparison to my cold tone paper, Oriental, which requires virtually no adjustment.

[Keith Tapscott.]

There could be many reasons as already suggested in the replies. Dry down might also be a causing problems.
http://www.lesmcleanphotography.com/...ull&article=28

[Steve Feldman]

Thank you to all who have made comments. I'll seriously investigate each suggestion and make the appropriate testing.
~Steve

[Steve Feldman]

Many thanks to all respondents. As most (Gem, dsphotog, David, Matt5791, Donald and Brian) suggested, the problem was the safelight. I had been using a Thomas Duplex for many years that uses the yellow light panels. I performed my personal variation of the safelight test. A test strip placed on the enlarger easel with a lens cap in the center. Left there for 5 minutes and developed for 3 minutes. At the same time I developed another test strip that had no safelight exposure. As y’all expected, one strip showed a very noticeable overall grey background tint on the paper with a pure white circle where the lens cap had been. The second strip that had never been under the safelight developed out to pure white. This was an “Aha moment” (that’s when you say, “Aha”). I then mounted a 10x12 Kodak safelight with a #1A filter on the ceiling over the developing tray. A 25 watt bulb inside the box at 4 feet over the tray. I performed the same testing procedure as previously done. Both test strips developed out as pure white. “Aha again” (that’s when you say, “Aha” again). We have a winner.
To be certain, I proceeded ahead and made a real world print from a 4x5 neg that previously had not printed well. As ya’ll probably have guessed by now, it printed just fine.
Thanks again for all of your suggestions.

[Bruce Watson]

When you get that good print that's been elusive, that's an "Ah moment" (when you say "ahhhh..." with a feeling of both relief and accomplishment).

You just gotta love it when it all comes together! Good luck and happy printing.

[Brian Ellis]

Many thanks to all respondents. As most (Gem, dsphotog, David, Matt5791, Donald and Brian) suggested, the problem was the safelight. I had been using a Thomas Duplex for many years that uses the yellow light panels. I performed my personal variation of the safelight test. A test strip placed on the enlarger easel with a lens cap in the center. Left there for 5 minutes and developed for 3 minutes. At the same time I developed another test strip that had no safelight exposure. As y’all expected, one strip showed a very noticeable overall grey background tint on the paper with a pure white circle where the lens cap had been. The second strip that had never been under the safelight developed out to pure white. This was an “Aha moment” (that’s when you say, “Aha”). I then mounted a 10x12 Kodak safelight with a #1A filter on the ceiling over the developing tray. A 25 watt bulb inside the box at 4 feet over the tray. I performed the same testing procedure as previously done. Both test strips developed out as pure white. “Aha again” (that’s when you say, “Aha” again). We have a winner.
To be certain, I proceeded ahead and made a real world print from a 4x5 neg that previously had not printed well. As ya’ll probably have guessed by now, it printed just fine.
Thanks again for all of your suggestions.

I'm glad you've found the problem but if I understand your methodology correctly, your safelight test wasn't very good and you should do a better one periodically. The problem with the way you did it is that it doesn't take the exposure from the enlarger into account. In other words, when you make a print the paper is exposed to two sources of light, the safelight and the light from the enlarger. When you test the way you did you're ignoring the exposure from the enlarger that you're going to get when you make real prints. So you could still be getting some subtle fogging even with your new safelight. Fogged paper doesn't always look as extreme as the grayish look you used to get. It can result in very subtle degradation of the highlights that you don't even notice until you use some unfogged paper and make a comparison.

Here's the methodology for a proper safelight test as described by Ansel Adams in his book "The Print."

1. Pre-expose the paper under the enlarger to a point where, when developed, the paper is a very light gray, the equivalent of roughly Zone VII if you're familiar with the zone system.
2. Then put a coin or any other opaque object over a part of the paper and let it sit in a normal place with the safelight on for two minutes.
3. Develop the paper. If you can detect where the coin was you're getting safelight fog.
4. If you can't detect the coin's location repeat the test, adding two minutes to the time under the safelight, until you reach a point where you can see an outline of the coin. The longest exposure that shows no sign of the coin is the maximum safe exposure to the safelight.

This isn't the only way, there are others. Kodak used to describe another way in its literature and I think on its web site. But whatever test method you use, make sure it takes the enlarger exposure into account.

[David Karp]

Related to Brian's post.

Also check your enlarger for light leaks. Most enlargers emit light from many sources other than the lens. You can usually use black tape, black construction paper, etc. to mask off these sources of fogging.

[Steve Feldman]

David & Brian,

Thanks again for your comments. I'll further improve on my safelight testing and leaking lights.

~Steve