Split Grade Printing with VC Paper

[spacegoose]

I'm thinking about trying the technique to get better prints,

though I've read - prints from well exposed and processed negatives shouldn't require it ... might they still benefit from it?

One thing I haven't completely understood ... and that is, once you have the ideal shadow and highlight print exposures, and then expose the paper for the shadows,

won't exposing for the highlights affect the the earlier shadow exposure - e.g. add more to it - or do the filters somehow cancel this?

Thanks,
Bill

[vinny]

for me, it's easier. if you need to burn in a highlight, you use 00. If you want to burn in a shadow, you use grade 5.
Which the enlarger set at 00, I make the exposure for the highlights and any burning needed before switching to grade 5 to give the base exposure and any burning needed.
Does one grade exposure add to the other? yes, a little bit but you'll figure that out.

[Drew Wiley]

Forget about hypothetical grades. What you do need to know is that a deep blue or magenta filter will expose the high contrast emulsion of the paper, while a deep green or yellow, the low-contrast layer. There are all kinds of things you can do with this basic information, but not all VC papers are exactly the same; nor are all negs the same. But what I often personally do is punch and develop the blue filter test strip first, then supplement that with either a little bit of white light, or perhaps more selectively, a bit of green exposure, to fill in highlight detail, either overall or selectively thru burn-in. It is very easy to do with a little practice.

[cowanw]

Go to the library and get Way beyond Monochrome, there are some real aha moments there
http://www.waybeyondmonochrome.com/WBM2/Welcome.html

[Robert Bowring]

There was a very good article some years ago in, I think, Darkroom Techniques. It compared split filter printing with single VC filter printing and concluded that there was really no difference. You could make the same print either way. I have tried split filter printing and could never find the advantage. It may be just me but it just seems to be a lot of extra work. I would recommend that you give it a try and see if it makes a difference for you. I am sure there are some negatives that would probably benefit from split filter printing but it seems to me that if you have a properly exposed and developed negative there should be no difference.

[Colin Robertson]

"It compared split filter printing with single VC filter printing and concluded that there was really no difference. You could make the same print either way."
Yes, and no.
Multigrade (VC) papers come from the manufacturer capable of a certain range of contrast grades. That's inherent to the paper irrespective of how you print. A spilt-grade print made using equal exposures at grade 0 and grade 5 will look just like a print made through a grade 2.5 filter. Where split grade becomes useful is by introducing the possibility of burning and dodging different areas of the print at different grades.
Perhaps an area of shadow which is a little thin in the negative- you might hold back completely on the grade 0, and expose only at grade 5 to up the contrast. In the same print you might give an area of high contrast less 5, and burn in on 0. I have some recent negatives, long exposures of moving water and black rocks on Fomapan 100 which are challenging to print, and split grade makes them do-able. I also have plenty of lovely, flexible HP5/PMK negs where split grade is completely unnecessary.
Unfortunately, this is like the 'spot meter or incident' arguments which come up sometimes. People will defend the technique which works for them with a religious fervour, when really all tools have their own value in different circumstances.

[Drew Wiley]

I happen to work with three radically different kinds of light sources: a conventional CMY subtractive colorhead, a true RGB additive head, and a V54 coldlight which I often employ with hard blue and green separation filters. I can replicate results in any of these modes, regardless of split printing mode or mixed simultaneous (in the case of various colorheads). Strategically, I might prefer one method over another due to dodging and burning characteristics of a specific negative, or simply relative to the enlarger requirements of a particular format of film. 90% of the "heavy lifting" involves none of the above, because most of my negs print quite well just with basic "white" enlarging light. I'm more likely to employ splits or filtration tweaks just to fine tune the highlights, shadows, or resistant areas of a neg. So forgive me if I don't understand what all the fuss is about. There's more than one way to skin a cat.

[ic-racer]

Where split grade becomes useful is by introducing the possibility of burning and dodging different areas of the print at different grades.

If you do it in two exposures it is 'split grade' printing, but I find it is easier to do in one exposure of mixed filtration, in which case it is not 'split grade' printing.

[Drew Wiley]

The two kinds of techniques can be combined and are not mutually exclusive. You can get a desirable overall effect using the appropriate color of mixed light on a
colorhead or with "grade" filters, and then fine-tune the shadows or highlights, or selectively burn-in discrete areas, using split-printing technique with hard filtration. I do this rather frequently. Whatever work, works. The more tools in the toolbox, the better.

[bob carnie]

"It compared split filter printing with single VC filter printing and concluded that there was really no difference. You could make the same print either way."
Yes, and no.

I have printed both ways for over 35 years, split prints for the last 15 years and IMHO there is no way a single filter print can be made that matches a multiple filter print.
There are many ways to do this and experience tells me that using two or three filters is a much better method than single filter.

[David R Munson]

When I was in college and doing an independent study in B&W printing, I found a lot of helpful ideas in Carson Graves' "Elements of Black and White Printing," including split grade printing. Once I got the hang of it, it became my default. Very versatile and it allowed me to make a lot of prints I don't think I could have gotten any other way.

[Drew Wiley]

Bob - with a cooperative decent neg, ordinary "white" light is, for all practical purposes, a multiple filter, and one simply treats the VC paper as if it were graded in
this respect. Then if needed one can go back in and tweak the highs or lows or whatever split-print mode. Personally, I'm more likely to do just the opposite because
I'm trying to optimize the toning color primarily of the high-contrast layer, so I'll dev my negs for printing mainly thru a deep 47 blue filter or direct blue in the additive colorhead. This is really a different topic, adjunct to mere contrast characteristics, but I'm very nitpicky about final image tone and this gives me another tool of expression. So I end up mostly using blue light, and maybe or maybe not tweaking things with a bit of green or white. But I only do this with large format sheet film, where I can carefully control specific neg dev in the first place. With roll film I tend to work more conventionally, and just use colorhead settings. So we make these rules, then learn how to break the rules. It's all fun.

[bob carnie]

I have never used the extreme low and High filter , I always start with a mid filter or a filter that is most appropriate for the scene, I then build up with usually the 5 filter to create the contrast overall I am looking for.

I have detailed my method here and on APUG , using a single filter IMHO is a compromise with dodging and burning that is insufficient. Remember the days of graded paper where the most you could hope for was a 1/2 grade boost or drop by doing split development.
Characteristic of graded paper were the compromises, either good shadow detail with heavy burned in highlights that eventually were soft and muddy, or brilliant midtone to highlight with massive clogging of the shadow.

By manipulating the negative with filters that compliment regions one can bring out the full tonal value. IMHO of course.

others may vary with their experiences.

[natelfo]

I have only been printing for about 5 years. Most of it has been with dichroic heads. About 2 years ago, I got a mint 23C VC head, which I like better than dichro. There have been several negatives that no matter what I tried, I was not able to get the contrast I wanted, regardless of filter(s) and exposure time combination. A few months ago, I tried my hand at split grade printing and, I have to say, it has really opened the door to getting good prints out of what I had thought to be useless negatives. It is so easy too, I don't know why I was so intimidated by it before. There is so much more control using split grade than single filter printing. I am definitely a convert!

[Paul Hoyt]

In the past few years I have used two techniques for contrast control. One is split printing; expose with the "soft" lamp, then expose with the "hard' lamp. This is a technique I use with a very high contrast negative. I also refine a print exposure by pseudo-split printing. My enlarger has both the soft and hard lamps on separate rheostats. If I have a good print at 30 seconds with both rheostats at 50%, I can get exactly the same print by exposing with the soft lamp only for 30 seconds, followed by the hard lamp only for 30 seconds; both on for 30 seconds or each on separately for 30 seconds results in the same exposure. If I have the highlights exposed correctly using both lamps together [30 seconds at 50% gain], I can make a pilot print with the soft lamp for 30 seconds @ 50% gain, then make a series of test strips over the first exposure with the hard lamp @ 50% gain to see what a little less or a little more hard exposure will do to the print. The test strips may be from 21 second to 36 seconds in 3 second increments with the hard exposure. My next print may be soft lamp only for 30 seconds followed by the hard lamp only for 24 seconds; the detail in the low values are better with the slightly less hard lamp exposure. I use the version of split printing to refine by prints.

Paul

[Jerry Bodine]

won't exposing for the highlights affect the the earlier shadow exposure - e.g. add more to it - or do the filters somehow cancel this?

The suggestion in post #4 is an excellent one. WBM 2nd Ed. is available through Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Way-Beyond-Monochrome-Traditional-Photography/dp/0240816250/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1389917193&sr=1-1&keywords=way+beyond+monochrome

It will show you that, yes, the tone from the first exposure will be affected by the second exposure to some degree. It will also explain that the reduction needed in the first exposure depends on which of the two exposures was done first.

[natelfo]

The suggestion in post #4 is an excellent one. WBM 2nd Ed. is available through Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Way-Beyond-Monochrome-Traditional-Photography/dp/0240816250/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1389917193&sr=1-1&keywords=way+beyond+monochrome

It will show you that, yes, the tone from the first exposure will be affected by the second exposure to some degree. It will also explain that the reduction needed in the first exposure depends on which of the two exposures was done first.

I definitely agree. Way Beyond Monochrome is an excellent book, and should be required reading material for B/W film photographers, along with the Ansel Adams' trilogy. I have learned so much from it, and I still stand to learn a lot more. This book goes into such great detail about photographing, exposing, developing, printing, contrast control, etc., it is definitely a must read.

[sdynes]

I first gave split-grade a try a few years ago, and once I got the hang of it I've never gone back to single filter printing. I've found that the combination of split-grade printing and f-stop timing make me much more efficient in the darkroom. I find that with two test strips at (0 or 1/2) and 5 I am able to produce a viable workprint with the first full-size print. While this is very nice, as others have said the real win with split-grade printing is the ability to emphasize certain areas of the print with differing contrasts; this is a wonderful tool to have in your back pocket. The discussions and pics in WBM really make this point well. You should get this book - it has _way_ more stuff than just split-grade printing.

Why do I use grade 0 or 1/2 for the soft limit? I read somewhere that most modern VC papers don't have only two emulsions sensitive to different colors; they have three (or more), and each emulsion has the same characteristic curve. What the filters do is modify the effective exposure experienced by each emulsion: a grade 5 filter will make each emulsion experience the same exposure, and thus the resulting characteristic curve for the print will be characteristic curve of the emulsion. Other grades will decrease the effective exposure for different emulsions, separating the characteristic curves along the exposure axis. Thus, the density of the print (which is the sum of the densities of the individual emulsions) will have a longer scale.

From my reading it seems that at grade 00 the emulsion exposures could be so separated that the ~linear parts of the characteristic curve don't overlap, and there will be flat portions in the overall characteristic curve. IIRC, one of these flat portions (i.e. increased exposure does not significantly change print density) occurs around where we put skin tones. So, I use grade 0 or 1/2 to make sure there is an overlap.

This also makes me wonder about the design of LED light sources. LEDs tend to be pretty monochromatic, which would be fine if the peak intensity is at the peak sensitivity for the emulsion. This could work for 2 emulsion VC paper, but is there a thread about designing for the 3 or more emulsions that seem common with current VC papers?

[Drew Wiley]

What Jerry states is true, but only as a generalization. VC papers differ somewhat. I find that with some of them you need at least token exposure of "both" emulsions in order to achieve DMax. With certain others, that's not the case. What would probably takes me years to understand properly and correctly explain seems to take mere minutes to achieve in the darkroom. I don't even care what "grade" I'm allegedly aiming for, unless I happen to be shopping for true graded paper. But
regarding color of sensitivity - I print VC papers with three completely different kinds of light sources: A V54 blue-green coldlight (sometimes selectively used thru
deep green or blue separation filters), an ordinary CMY colorhead, and my relatively narrow-band true RGB additive colorheads. I can achieve the same result with
any of them. The various VC paper brands don't seem to be all that fussy. But I have no experience designing with LED sources.