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Ari
15-Dec-2012, 22:28
Hi,
This may turn out to be a "d-uh" question, but I'll embarrass myself for the sake of a decent darkroom print.
I just made my first 8x10 contact prints in the darkroom using my enlarger as light source, and the dichroic head for filtration.
I placed the paper underneath the film emulsion, and the two were put in a Paterson contact printing device.

I was all set to dodge and burn as I would a projected print, but when the light came on, I realized I couldn't see where to place the dodging wand; the negative was opaque to me.
Is d&b only possible with a backlit contact printer?
Any tricks you can share to make it possible using my current set-up?

Thanks in advance.

Ari
15-Dec-2012, 22:53
I found some answers here:
http://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/showthread.php?22545-Burning-amp-dodging-when-making-contact-prints

I won't be making masks anytime soon, I just want to use my hands and a few dodging wands, so I'll have to figure out a way to make the negative more visible.

dsphotog
15-Dec-2012, 22:57
Most of my contacts are landscapes, when I need to burn in a sky, I mark the location of the horizon, using masking tape on the edges of my contact frame.

dsphotog
15-Dec-2012, 23:12
Slow contact speed paper and the use of a higher wattage light, allows better viewing of the negative during exposure, ala Edward Weston.

Brian Ellis
16-Dec-2012, 05:56
You can dodge and burn with a normal contact printing frame, you just need a brighter light.

However, it isn't as easy as with an enlarger. The main problem for me was dealing with reflections from the glass in the contact printing frame, they made it difficult to see where I was working. And with the light coming from above the negative and paper rather than in between I couldn't make the small, fine-tuned dodges and burns that are possible when enlarging. Fortunately with a properly exposed and processed negative you don't need to do nearly as much dodging and burning when contact printing as you do when enlarging.

Ari
16-Dec-2012, 06:20
Thanks for the responses.
I shoot only portraits, or photos with people in them, so D&B is vital, even in a properly exposed neg.
Maybe I should go the bare bulb route for this.

Brian Ellis
16-Dec-2012, 08:35
Thanks for the responses.
I shoot only portraits, or photos with people in them, so D&B is vital, even in a properly exposed neg.
Maybe I should go the bare bulb route for this.

A bright bare bulb (I put mine in a reflector - I think that's the term - to hopefully spread the light a little more evenly) would certainly help in seeing the negative. It wouldn't do anything for the reflections though, which for me was the main problem with dodging and burning contact prints. It's also nice if you can put the bulb on a pulley or some other arrangement that allows you to raise and lower it easily so that even with a thin negative you can raise the bulb to keep the exposures long enough for dodging and burning (or lower it to help see a denser negative better).

gliderbee
16-Dec-2012, 09:16
Fortunately with a properly exposed and processed negative you don't need to do nearly as much dodging and burning when contact printing as you do when enlarging.

I didn't know that makes a difference. How come you don't have to do as much dodging and burning when contact printing ?

Stefan.

tgtaylor
16-Dec-2012, 10:12
Here's an idea:

Place a piece of white board over the negative and with the dodge/burn tool in the other hand turn the light on and position the tool over the area on the white card that you want to D/B. Then remove the card and do your thing. I use a board that is black on one side and white on the other.

Thomas

Ari
16-Dec-2012, 12:18
Here's an idea:

Place a piece of white board over the negative and with the dodge/burn tool in the other hand turn the light on and position the tool over the area on the white card that you want to D/B. Then remove the card and do your thing. I use a board that is black on one side and white on the other.

Thomas

Hey, not bad; thanks Thomas.
Or if one has the opaque red filter on their enlarger, one could use that as well.