new t-max400 in d76 1:1

[rich caramadre]

Anyone have a starting point for this combo? I'll be tray processing 4x5 and 8x10 sheet film.

[Richard Wasserman]

Kodak suggests 9.5 minutes at 68F/20C. I find their times to be a good place to start.

[venchka]

Sandy King's articles in recent issues of View Camera magazine will help too. Sandy used D-76 1:1 for his tests. Somewhere on the interent you can find John Sexton's time for the new film and D-76 1:1.

I have a friend who loves the new Tmax 400 in Diafine.

[Lenny Eiger]

Somewhere on the interent you can find John Sexton's time for the new film and D-76 1:1.


Of course, that's if you want to print like John Sexton.

Lenny

[venchka]

In my case, that would be a zillion times better than I can print now.

[Lenny Eiger]

In my case, that would be a zillion times better than I can print now.

Great to acknowledge where one is. We all have to start somewhere. It's also important to set a target. Look at different printing styles to see which one you would like to emulate. John's printing is at one end of the spectrum, he is very good at it. But there is a wide range and when one is going on a journey is great to have a destination, at least one that is planned. At thee other end, one could look at Frederick Evans, Emerson and Sutcliffe. There are a lot of folks in the middle, Paul Strand, Walker Evans, Paul Caponigro, etc.

Lenny

[D. Bryant]

Great to acknowledge where one is. We all have to start somewhere. It's also important to set a target. Look at different printing styles to see which one you would like to emulate. John's printing is at one end of the spectrum, he is very good at it. But there is a wide range and when one is going on a journey is great to have a destination, at least one that is planned. At thee other end, one could look at Frederick Evans, Emerson and Sutcliffe. There are a lot of folks in the middle, Paul Strand, Walker Evans, Paul Caponigro, etc.

Lenny

Lenny,

From what I've read, Walker Evans didn't do much of his own printing, was never regarded as a prestigious darkroom worker, and admonished his printers not to waste there time trying to make perfect prints. And I've never thought of his work as having any notable style of printing though I like his work immensely.

Don Bryant

[Lenny Eiger]

Lenny,

From what I've read, Walker Evans didn't do much of his own printing, was never regarded as a prestigious darkroom worker, and admonished his printers not to waste there time trying to make perfect prints. And I've never thought of his work as having any notable style of printing though I like his work immensely.

Don Bryant

You very well may know more about this than I do. I would agree that he didn't have a printing style that was different from others, as someone like Minor White might. However, I think that there are images that did rely on the print quality, or at least heavily draw on it, to create their full effect.

Love Before Breakfast has a real chalky feel to the whitewash paint on the fence and on the tree. There is a well known one of a church in a storm, where the clouds and sun intersect. It's an amazing print, regardless of if they weren't trying... The one with the kids holding the watermelons retains a great deal of detail inside the fruit store. The

There are a few others that I think are exceptional. Of course, the original point was that the prints were in the mid range between a contrasty outlook and a softer one. I would think that we could agree on that...

Lenny

[D. Bryant]

You very well may know more about this than I do. I would agree that he didn't have a printing style that was different from others, as someone like Minor White might. However, I think that there are images that did rely on the print quality, or at least heavily draw on it, to create their full effect.

Love Before Breakfast has a real chalky feel to the whitewash paint on the fence and on the tree. There is a well known one of a church in a storm, where the clouds and sun intersect. It's an amazing print, regardless of if they weren't trying... The one with the kids holding the watermelons retains a great deal of detail inside the fruit store. The

There are a few others that I think are exceptional. Of course, the original point was that the prints were in the mid range between a contrasty outlook and a softer one. I would think that we could agree on that...

Lenny
Well I wonder if the paper(s) available at the time may have something to do with the way the prints look. My hunch is that B&W papers of that era may have made printing
easier and B&W printers by and large were generally better at their craft than these days. IOW, the golden days of gelatin silver.

Two of the complaints David Plowden mentioned in his latest retrospective book is that he can't find the paper he likes and people qualified to work as a competent darkroom assistant.

Don

[Tyler Boley]

May I just add, to the OP, that gathering and pondering advice about a starting point for film/developement procedures will NOT dictate your print esthetic?
Rich, perhaps you will share the results of your testing here.

Tyler
http://www.custom-digital.com/

[D. Bryant]

May I just add, to the OP, that gathering and pondering advice about a starting point for film/developement procedures will NOT dictate your print esthetic?
Rich, perhaps you will share the results of your testing here.

Tyler
http://www.custom-digital.com/
Great point Tyler!

Don Bryant