View Full Version : Paper Negs Only
Jim Galli
11-Apr-2008, 14:02
We've got some great threads going that show different lens types, different subjects, I thought it might be fun to show off what you can do with paper negatives. The one I'll start with took about 40 minutes from inception when I clipped the blossums to completion. Great fun and you get to see your results about as quick as you can get the paper into some Dektol.
http://tonopahpictures.0catch.com/ApricotBlossums12Petzval_ss.jpg
apricot blossums
12" Wollensak f5 Petzval. Kodak RC paper. Yellow aerial recon filter. Wide open, 4 sec.
Show us what ya got. Better yet, go make something.
Daniel_Buck
11-Apr-2008, 14:17
I'm looking forward to doing some of this with the Efke Positive paper! Should arrive to me in a few days :-D
Stephanie Brim
11-Apr-2008, 14:42
I don't have a credit card and therefore haven't ordered yet, but I plan to. About 50 sheets of it. I figure I'll shoot at ISO 6 and develop in Rodinal 1+25 and/or Liquidol.
Jim, thank you for the inspiration. What ISO did you use?
Jim Galli
11-Apr-2008, 15:35
Tlar and Swag seemed to indicate about asa 2-3. Have fun!
Geary Lyons
11-Apr-2008, 15:58
Tlar and Swag seemed to indicate about asa 2-3. Have fun!
Just curious. Did you validate that EI range with your Biocular densitometer? I think mine needs recalibrating!
Nice image, as usual!
Cheers,
Geary
Flexnib
11-Apr-2008, 16:07
Here is a pinhole paper negative.http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c393/flexnib/DSCN2742.jpghttp://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c393/flexnib/DSCN2697.jpg
Arthur
Jim Galli
11-Apr-2008, 16:49
Just curious. Did you validate that EI range with your Biocular densitometer? I think mine needs recalibrating!
Nice image, as usual!
Cheers,
Geary
Hi Geary! No, I pulled it out of my monocular teleportalscop. As usual. Jim
i have been planning to use paper negs fro my 7x11....just to make it easy on me.
PViapiano
11-Apr-2008, 17:35
OK...never done this before...so tell me, please!
Put thin RC photo paper in your film holder, expose as if ISO 2-6 -ish, and then contact print under your enlarger? Is that it?
How long is the contact exposure approximately? I know everyone's enlarger is different ;-)
Anyone using an Omega D5 with the 250w halogen? I'd love to get some approx starting points...
I've never done it either, but IMHO you expose the paper in film holder and then directly develop it as a negative print. What/why would you contact print? There's no film negative to print.
OK...never done this before...so tell me, please!
Put thin RC photo paper in your film holder, expose as if ISO 2-6 -ish, and then contact print under your enlarger? Is that it?
How long is the contact exposure approximately? I know everyone's enlarger is different ;-)
Anyone using an Omega D5 with the 250w halogen? I'd love to get some approx starting points...
Geary Lyons
11-Apr-2008, 18:42
OK...never done this before...so tell me, please!
Put thin RC photo paper in your film holder, expose as if ISO 2-6 -ish, and then contact print under your enlarger? Is that it?
How long is the contact exposure approximately? I know everyone's enlarger is different ;-)
Anyone using an Omega D5 with the 250w halogen? I'd love to get some approx starting points...
Paul,
You've got the basics. For dry printing, set the enlarger height at your contact printing standard. Put the paper, emulsion-to-emulsion with the paper neg toward the light source, and do a test strip. Then pick the exposure that you like.
You can also do them wet with a light source over the sink. The emulsion-to-emulsion paper "sandwich" needs to be held flat and in close contact with a sheet of glass. Do be careful with the emulsion.
Have fun!
Geary
Geary Lyons
11-Apr-2008, 18:45
I' What/why would you contact print? There's no film negative to print.
You contact print to get a positive. The original paper image is the "paper negative"
Cheers,
Geary
Jim Galli
11-Apr-2008, 19:18
My approach is to put the paper neg together with the print paper in a contact printer and flip the room lights on for 7 - 15 seconds. Forget the enlarger. You need a lot of light going through the paper to the other paper. Do a test strip just like normal with 3 - 6 - 9 - 12 - 15 - 18 seconds with normal room light and see which one looks good.
For making the negs I've found that MCRC paper works the best and I put a yellow filter in the light path to soften the contrast that the paper neg is seeing just like using a #1 or 1/2 filter while printing.
john(anian):
That must have been a long exposure - she fell asleep.
Silly me, why have not I thought of that? Thanks guys. My film workflow ends with a scan in 99% of cases, that's probably why. I have to try the positive Efke papers.
Jim Galli
11-Apr-2008, 21:07
Silly me, why have not I thought of that? Thanks guys. My film workflow ends with a scan in 99% of cases, that's probably why. I have to try the positive Efke papers.
For lack of time my workflow has ended with a scan on these also until I get time to play in the darkroom. In photoshop you hit control + I and wheeee, an instant positive.
http://tonopahpictures.0catch.com/Apricot_Blossums/ApricotBlossums14PSbiQuality_ssI.jpg
This is what they look like when they come out of the fixer. BTW this one is Pinkham & Smith and just ROCKS!!!! I'll do one of my comparison pages when I get them all scanned and sorted out. I did eight today. I was supposed to be cleaning the garage :rolleyes:
Darryl Baird
11-Apr-2008, 21:37
Three different papers, for three images.
Kodabromide #3, Kodak Polycontrast III RC, Ilford Warmtone Multi-Grade (FB)
Images 1& 2 - Wista 4x5, 135mm Tessar, Image 3 - Cambo 8x10. 240 G-Claron
Jim Galli
11-Apr-2008, 21:41
Three different papers, for three images.
Kodabromide #3, Kodak Polycontrast III RC, Ilford Warmtone Multi-Grade (FB)
Images 1& 2 - Wista 4x5, 135mm Tessar, Image 3 - Cambo 8x10. 240 G-Claron
Gorgeous. Especially the flower.
Darryl Baird
11-Apr-2008, 21:45
During the school's semester I only have a small amount of time (on weekends mostly) to make images, so paper negs allow me to shoot and process quickly... better than a polaroid proof, especially with 8x10. I hope to make contact prints, but like Jim it's wonderful to scan and invert them for visual gratification.
http://artistsimageresource.net/blog/2008/2008-04-11nanette.jpg
This was shot shortly after I bought a Century or Kodak 8x10, way back in the late 80's. Single weight paper used as a negative, then contact printed, and scanned. I love the film noir feel and the textures coming thru the fibers of the neg. Makes me think I'd like to do this again!
Ted
john(anian):
That must have been a long exposure - she fell asleep.
yes, she was pretty tired, but awake once in a while ... ;)
John Kasaian
12-Apr-2008, 07:33
...
Beautiful image, john!
rwyoung
12-Apr-2008, 08:46
8x10 RC paper neg (Arista EDU.Ultra) in Dektol 1+4, probably 3 minutes.
Seneca Improved View camera, Home made lens, single element 400mm. Lots and lots of extension on the camera! Single light source. Exposure unrecorded.
This is the negative and I like it better than the way the positive print looks. This totem pole came Alaska in the 30's I think. My grandparents brought it back. Used to scare the dickens out of me as a little kid. :)
Jim Galli
12-Apr-2008, 09:08
8x10 RC paper neg (Arista EDU.Ultra) in Dektol 1+4, probably 3 minutes.
Seneca Improved View camera, Home made lens, single element 400mm. Lots and lots of extension on the camera! Single light source. Exposure unrecorded.
This is the negative and I like it better than the way the positive print looks. This totem pole came Alaska in the 30's I think. My grandparents brought it back. Used to scare the dickens out of me as a little kid. :)
Neat image. I agree it's perfect as a neg.
Very good-
I wouldn't have seen it as a neg at all, if you hadn't told me-
Looks like a nice lens too-
though it is very small here, of course...
j
wfwhitaker
12-Apr-2008, 09:39
I love the film noir feel...
Maybe it should be called "paper noir".
Beautiful image, john!
thanks john
-john
That was fun! The paper's reciprocity failure gave me a hard time, but here is my first demonstrable result. 8 min @ ~f/8 (an old brass lens from Simon Benton), 8x10 Ilford Multigrade Warmtone RC, 2 min rotary in Dektol.
High Voltage
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2261/2412646626_e784e546bb.jpg
(http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2261/2412646626_e784e546bb_b.jpg)
Darryl Baird
13-Apr-2008, 21:09
as long as were naming processes, might as well go full out -- "papier noir" or "papel negro" (sorry, those are the only two language I can mangle besides English):p
Maybe it should be called "paper noir".
Darryl Baird
13-Apr-2008, 21:12
great shot, the "Marshall" looks electric... is this with available light, indoors?
That was fun! The paper's reciprocity failure gave me a hard time, but here is my first demonstrable result. 8 min @ ~f/8 (an old brass lens from Simon Benton), 8x10 Ilford Multigrade Warmtone RC, 2 min rotary in Dektol.
High Voltage
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2261/2412646626_e784e546bb.jpg
(http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2261/2412646626_e784e546bb_b.jpg)
great shot, the "Marshall" looks electric... is this with available light, indoors?
Thank you, Darryl. The scene was lit with fluorescent light. I have a "vertical light desk" standing next to the amp, I used a large sheet of paper as a reflector. The logo is made of very bright white plastic.
Emmanuel BIGLER
14-Apr-2008, 06:54
Hello from France
It is my pleasure to point you to a nice paper negative work by Alain Gayster.
The sensitive paper is home-made by the photographer himself.
The work is done in the spirit of the French Mission Héliographique of the XIX-st century.
See page 5 of this pdf document : right, the original paper negative, left, a positive contact copy.
http://www.editionsgaud.com/download/noirlac.pdf
The images are an extract of book about Noirlac abbey (France) just published, text bi-lingual French & English
Noirlac(s) Réel(s) photographique(s) / Photographic realities
March 2008, 26 x 27 cm , 216 pages, 170 photographs B&W + colour, Éditions Gaud, France ISBN: 978-2-84080-178-8
Helen Bach
14-Apr-2008, 09:21
This has probably been mentioned before by someone much more knowledgable than me, but here goes anyway.
Right at the end of Burden of Dreams (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083702/), Les Blank's documentary of the making of Herzog's Fitzcarraldo (one of my favourite films of all time) there is a charming sequence showing a street photographer taking a photo of Werner Herzog. He uses a paper negative, developed in the back of the camera, and withdrawn through a small light trap in the side. Then he frames the negative in a (negative) decorated surround and rephotographs that with the same camera. I'm going from memory, so I could have made a few errors.
Best,
Helen
Daniel_Buck
15-Apr-2008, 00:07
my first test on the Efke positive paper. I've brightened it up in the scan, the print is darker. I metered for ISO 6, I'll try the opposite end of their suggested ISO next, ISO 1. Since we're on the topic of shooting paper, anyone know what kind of reciprocity this positive paper might have? This shot was f6.8 for 25 seconds, developed in Dektol.
It's strange seeing the paper be a positive image developed right out of the camera, and it's also strange seeing the print be mirrored! It doesn't look like my kitchen, haha! :D
http://www.buckshotsblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/positive_paper_01.jpg
my first test on the Efke positive paper. I've brightened it up in the scan, the print is darker. I metered for ISO 6, I'll try the opposite end of their suggested ISO next, ISO 1. Since we're on the topic of shooting paper, anyone know what kind of reciprocity this positive paper might have? This shot was f6.8 for 25 seconds, developed in Dektol.
I found this post quite useful when dealing with reciprocity failure of Ilford Multigrade RC: http://spitbite.org/pinhole-discussion/2000/0012/0792.html
I have no idea how different the positive paper is.
Jim Galli
15-Apr-2008, 10:46
... I like it John. But I like it even better at APUG with the story attached. :)
i woke up one morning and the sky was grey
the sun was bright, summer sun
i wasn't sure where i was, the trucks passing woke me
the barn in the distance, falling down, gave me a clue
my head still hurt and as i began to look around
i sort of remembered bits and pieces
a late night scuffle
the club
and the trunk
i watched the box trucks pass me by
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