chassis
26-Aug-2011, 19:49
Starting up my darkroom after a bunch of years of inactivity. To my disappointment I learned that Kodak no longer makes B&W enlarging paper, so I am converting to Ilford Multigrade RC for the time being. I will be printing 4x5 TXP negatives.
The first question is do I gain anything from using a paper developer other than the Ilford Multigrade developer? My goals in the short term are to get my darkroom "game" back on, then I will explore other papers and chemicals. The Ilford MG paper + dev are simply to get me back in the swing of things.
Enlarging workflow: I would like to do 16x20 prints, but have only done 8x10s in the past. I want to use the most efficient method of test printing and finding exposure from a 4x5 contact print to the 16x20 final print. Here is an idea I had, let me know what you think:
1. 4x5 contact print to see the contrast range of the negative.
2. 4x5 test print in the highlight area at 16x20 enlargement to get exposure time and f-stop.
3. Adjust exposure and repeat step 2 until satisfactory highlights are obtained
4. 4x5 test print in the shadow area.
5. Change contrast filter and repeat steps 2-4 until the desired results are obtained.
6. 16x20 full sheet trial print.
7. Adjust contrast and exposure as needed based on the trial print.
Thanks for any input.
The first question is do I gain anything from using a paper developer other than the Ilford Multigrade developer? My goals in the short term are to get my darkroom "game" back on, then I will explore other papers and chemicals. The Ilford MG paper + dev are simply to get me back in the swing of things.
Enlarging workflow: I would like to do 16x20 prints, but have only done 8x10s in the past. I want to use the most efficient method of test printing and finding exposure from a 4x5 contact print to the 16x20 final print. Here is an idea I had, let me know what you think:
1. 4x5 contact print to see the contrast range of the negative.
2. 4x5 test print in the highlight area at 16x20 enlargement to get exposure time and f-stop.
3. Adjust exposure and repeat step 2 until satisfactory highlights are obtained
4. 4x5 test print in the shadow area.
5. Change contrast filter and repeat steps 2-4 until the desired results are obtained.
6. 16x20 full sheet trial print.
7. Adjust contrast and exposure as needed based on the trial print.
Thanks for any input.