Dodging & Burning 8x10 Contact Prints

[neil poulsen]

Not wanting to hijack a parallel thread, what are ways to dodge and burn a contact print? I have trouble seeing details on the negative well enough dodge and burn, given that the darkroom is dimly lit with red filtered darkroom lights.

I did some contact printing recently. I finally gave up and finished with some edge burning.

[Greg]

Practice, practice, and more practice. Failures are teachers in disguise. It doesn't come easy in my experience. Keep detailed notes.

[Vaughn]

I have used a sharpie on the glass part way thru the exposure. Other types of masking are options, too.

If the exposures are long enough, you can do a lot of 'playing' around. Take the frame from under the light or turn it off...change the masking, turn the light back on. Might be habit forming. Use cut pieces of rubilith to dodge large areas, or shaded (pencil?) on frosted mylar.

There are (were) photographers who built masks for each negative on glass. Filed them away and used them if they needed another copy. Lots of possibilities.

add: inkjet masks is another possibility.

[Michael R]

Practice (obviously), yes, but also selective masking (contours, pencil shading etc. etc.) can help when things are intricate and/or too difficult to see properly.


Not wanting to hijack a parallel thread, what are ways to dodge and burn a contact print? I have trouble seeing details on the negative well enough dodge and burn, given that the darkroom is dimly lit with red filtered darkroom lights.

I did some contact printing recently. I finally gave up and finished with some edge burning.

[Eric Woodbury]

There are red dyes you can use to 'dodge'. Paint them on the back of the neg.

Morley Baer made 1:1 enlargements with 8x10 rather than contact print. This made dodge and burn easier.

[jmdavis]

it helps a lot to let your eyes get used to the darkroom. I also don't like a really bright darkroom when I am printing. I make contacts on enlarging paper using a cold light and under the lens filters (generally split filter with 00 and 4 or 4.5). It helps when I am used to the dark. It's easier with contact printing paper and brighter lights.

[Tin Can]

Useful tips!


There are red dyes you can use to 'dodge'. Paint them on the back of the neg.

Morley Baer made 1:1 enlargements with 8x10 rather than contact print. This made dodge and burn easier.

[Tracy Storer]

Yep/ I worked in a repro lab for Polaroid and we made "dodging masks" out of layers of frosted myar taped to the back of the white plexi diffuser. These got filed with the interpositives we were copying onto 40"x80" Polaroid film. (This was the Polaroid Museum Replicas project that I helped on part time during my Boston 20"x24" days.)


I have used a sharpie on the glass part way thru the exposure. Other types of masking are options, too.

If the exposures are long enough, you can do a lot of 'playing' around. Take the frame from under the light or turn it off...change the masking, turn the light back on. Might be habit forming. Use cut pieces of rubilith to dodge large areas, or shaded (pencil?) on frosted mylar.

There are (were) photographers who built masks for each negative on glass. Filed them away and used them if they needed another copy. Lots of possibilities.

add: inkjet masks is another possibility.

[Maris Rusis]

I use an enlarger as a controlled light source for contact printing.
As a guide to the eye I put a wet pilot print in a dry tray on the enlarger baseboard next to the contact frame so I have a visible "map" of where to dodge and burn.
And I get the impression that contact work needs less dodging and burning compared to projection printing.

[Alan9940]

In my experience, contact prints just seem to sort themselves out. IMO, burning is easier than dodging so I try to avoid the latter. I'll begin with a lighter print which effectively gives me a "dodge", then burn in areas I want darker. For burning, I lay a white card on top of the printing frame, then using another card I'll hit the foot switch as many times as necessary to work out the area to be burned. Then, while holding the "burn card" with one hand I remove the other card, switch on the light, and do the burn. Harder to write, than to do! ;)

[neil poulsen]

I have used a sharpie on the glass part way thru the exposure. Other types of masking are options, too.

If the exposures are long enough, you can do a lot of 'playing' around. Take the frame from under the light or turn it off...change the masking, turn the light back on. Might be habit forming. Use cut pieces of rubilith to dodge large areas, or shaded (pencil?) on frosted mylar.

There are (were) photographers who built masks for each negative on glass. Filed them away and used them if they needed another copy. Lots of possibilities.

add: inkjet masks is another possibility.

Great idea! I was thinking about this using a Mylar material and a green, water soluble ink Sharpie so that the ink could be removed with a damp cloth. (If needed.)

As it turns out, I have a masking set with a punch and a contact printer with registration pins. I could cut Mylar sheets to exactly the same size as the interior of the contact printer and sandwich these sheets in the frame. (See photos. I would sandwich them so that the glass was between the Mylar and the negative.) In bright light, i could outline areas to be dodged or burned using the green Sharpie. I enlarge with VC paper. I was thinking that green would be least likely to cast a shadow, since it would be a low contrast "shadow".

Anyway, since a punched negative would always be positioned in exactly the same position with respect to the printing frame, I could keep these Mylar sheets with the negative for future printing.

Inkjet masks opens up many possibilities, especially with pin registration. (Scary.)

[neil poulsen]

There are red dyes you can use to 'dodge'. Paint them on the back of the neg.

Morley Baer made 1:1 enlargements with 8x10 rather than contact print. This made dodge and burn easier.

I think that I like the look of an enlarged print as much as a contact print. So, this is a really interesting option.

[neil poulsen]

Thanks very much for all the suggestions. This thread opens up so many ideas in what can be done.

[LabRat]

Also, by printing on MG papers and using a colorhead or filter, one can exploit printing on the long scale of the (Y) channel of the head (grade 1 1/2 to grade 1) to even out the contrasts without burn/dodge... Then the exposure level can vary, and paper will need longer exposure with (Y), so more time/wiggle room during timed exposure...

Many printers have not explored the many ranges possible on that end of the scale... Takes practice and much testing, but an interesting long scale print... Take notes!!!


Steve K

[Mike in NY]

If I've done a test print to determine my exposure time, then I can use scissors to cut out the parts of the test print that I want to use as a mask overlay, or to attach to a thin stiff wire. I can either use the test print paper itself, or use the cutouts as a template to trace them on frosted mylar and cut the mylar as needed.

[Andrew O'Neill]

I use frosted mylar sheets and a soft pencil to dodge/burn areas. The mylar is laid on top of the negative, then covered with heavy glass. I also do this for kallitypes.

[Vaughn]

For some of my alt processes, exposure times can range up to a hour. I do not like the idea of trying to hand dodge under 750W of light. Plus a 50% burn for 30 minutes? in several different areas? No thank you! Masks...yes.

[Carl J]

Out of curiosity, for dodging why frosted mylar instead of clear? Preference, easier to work with (less chance of artifacts, smoother transitions)?

[Vaughn]

The tooth of the frosting takes pencil easier.

[William Whitaker]

The tooth of the frosting takes pencil easier.

I think it was Alan Ross who wrote of masking using pencil shading on frosted plastic several years ago (like 20?). I recall at that time I was in California with my first darkroom and found his technique to be very useful. Seems it was written up in View Camera, but I'm not sure.

I just found it online: https://alan-ross-photography.myshopify.com/collections/products/products/selective-masking
It ain't free. But the author is beyond reproach. My recollection of reading it prompts me to believe that the technique would be useful for contact printing as well as enlarging.
I hope so.

This is a great thread. I have enjoyed the many contributions!

[freecitizen]

In the old days …. a little red lipstick was used on the back of the negative to dodge ...…. still works

[Drew Wiley]

Red creosin dye is a lot less messy than pencil smudge and can be used as a permanent mask on frosted mylar, or even applied to the back of the sheet film itself, though I don't recommend doing that because it can be difficult to remove. A tiny bottle of Kodak red dye powder will last you a lifetime. It's used highly dilute and gradually built up to the degree of light blockage you need. Being red, it inhibits both blue and green light. If you want to be selective just one or the other for sake of VC papers, then something like Alan Ross' method would be recommended. Whenever anything complex gets involved, I defer to optical unsharp masking on actual pan film. To do any of this kind of technique accurately, except when painting dye directly on the back of your original neg, you need precise punch and pin-registration equipment. My masking registration frames are excellent for contact printing too, though I mostly enlarge my images.

[Michael R]

Yup, "selective masking" (as Alan calls it) is exactly what I was referring to earlier. It encompasses basically anything from pencil shading to layering of mylar (aka contour masking) etc etc all the way to inkjet masks.

I still have Alan's written material on this from years ago. Well worth the price if people are interested.

One of the reasons he started putting together these various techniques is that he has to repeatedly print the Special Edition prints from Adams's negatives. Since they need to be consistent and readily reproducible, for some negatives, over the years he ended up creating/building up these mask "packets" which when put on top of the negative, virtually automate all the print controls he would otherwise need to apply manually.

For example, the well known Early Morning, Merced River by Adams. Here's the mask:

213925



I think it was Alan Ross who wrote of masking using pencil shading on frosted plastic several years ago (like 20?). I recall at that time I was in California with my first darkroom and found his technique to be very useful. Seems it was written up in View Camera, but I'm not sure.

I just found it online: https://alan-ross-photography.myshopify.com/collections/products/products/selective-masking
It ain't free. But the author is beyond reproach. My recollection of reading it prompts me to believe that the technique would be useful for contact printing as well as enlarging.
I hope so.

This is a great thread. I have enjoyed the many contributions!

[Drew Wiley]

It's amazing how many "new techniques" can be found in 1930's Kodak literature, or just about any basic darkroom textbook over a fifty year span. It took the arrival of Photoshop to convince people that it can't be done the easy old-fashioned way anymore. Even selective VC tweaks can be done with frosted lighting gel cutouts taped atop the contact frame glass. No need for a scan and inkjet printer. Many once-routine techniques have been forgotten. All Alan did is revive about 2% of it.

[Neal Chaves]

"Morley Baer made 1:1 enlargements with 8x10 rather than contact print. This made dodge and burn easier."

Once I had an 8X10 enlarger capable of making a 1:1 print, I seldom made contacts again. There is a subtle difference that can only be seen in a side by side comparison, but gone are the problems associated with frequent handling of the negative, Newton's rings, etc. One can make multiple prints very quickly.

[Tin Can]

That is a very good idea, I never thought of

Will do

Thank you!


"Morley Baer made 1:1 enlargements with 8x10 rather than contact print. This made dodge and burn easier."

Once I had an 8X10 enlarger capable of making a 1:1 print, I seldom made contacts again. There is a subtle difference that can only be seen in a side by side comparison, but gone are the problems associated with frequent handling of the negative, Newton's rings, etc. One can make multiple prints very quickly.

[Drew Wiley]

Just use Anti-Newton glass for the contact printing glass itself - and there go your ring problems! Lest I sound like a hypocrite, I prefer to use an enlarger myself. But there are times a contact print has a special quality of tonality difficult to achieve otherwise. Yes, I know how to reach and even exceed that by means of unsharp masking of enlarger projections; but the same mask can be used for a contact print itself. However, I lean toward the greater detail that can be brought out and visibly seen in a larger print. Afterwards, I might pick out a few special negs for sake of contact printing per se, the one or two times a year I do that. It's all fun.

[Bertha DeCool]

This thread is fantastic, most useful I've seen since I joined.
Thank you all for sharing for thoughts and advice.