Dealing with white to edge of frame

[RodinalDuchamp]

When composing let's say an area of the picture contains something very much white like a cloud for example, or snow covered ground. Something that will print white.

How do you deal with that in printing? My experiences with other photographers is that this is automatically a killing blow to the photograph. Consensus has been that the edge of the image must be clearly defined throughout.

I figure composition first and foremost is how this is dealt with, move so that no white touches the edge of the frame.

I personally do bit like when the edge of the frame bleeds into the white borders of the paper. How do you deal with these compositional problems? Is it a problem? Do you accept images that bleed white onto the borders?

[jp]

You seem too impressionable about a very subjective thing. I don't worry. If you have a background that blends into the mat, perhaps use a different color mat. You lose many great photos worrying about that concern.

[Preston]

I agree with JP. When composing your photograph, look carefully at those edges to see if they are truly working for you from a compositional standpoint.

Careful exposure, developing and printing may give just enough tonal difference between the edge and the paper white so that it is not an issue.

I am usually more concerned with those little gnomes that come out of nowhere and tend to hop onto the edges--bits of grass, a tree branch, or some such.

--P

[Drew Wiley]

The white of the mounting board is never exactly the same as the white in a print anyway. It just takes a little practice printing and mounting for you to decide what is appropriate. I always trim off the border before drymounting. Printing is not about subscribing to any straightjacket manifesto about what can or cannot
be done. Nor does consensus mean anything. Just do what looks right to you.

[RodinalDuchamp]

The white of the mounting board is never exactly the same as the white in a print anyway. It just takes a little practice printing and mounting for you to decide what is appropriate. I always trim off the border before drymounting. Printing is not about subscribing to any straightjacket manifesto about what can or cannot
be done. Nor does consensus mean anything. Just do what looks right to you.

See that's a clue. I've never trimmed off any edges on my prints. I usually leave the print intact and at say 16x20 I've left 1/4" of paper showing between the image and the mat.

Guys I get this is a personal choice, in asking because I'd like to expand my understanding of other people's practices.

Mainly because when we view images online its not clear what kind of consideration is given to the framing in these regards.

[Will Frostmill]

I've never worried about it. I don't usually leave paper showing between image and mat, but the bevel from the cut reflects light differently than the paper, and as mentioned before, the white of mat board is rarely as dark as the whitest white on the paper. I've often used double sided mat - white on one side, black on the other, (and considered experimenting with gray), so I've always had the option of using black when white won't do.

Black matboard isn't in style anymore, is it?

[Jac@stafford.net]

When composing let's say an area of the picture contains something very much white like a cloud for example, or snow covered ground. Something that will print white.

How do you deal with that in printing? [...]

First make the print with low to high-middle tones that are acceptable to you, then 'flash' the paper with a moment of light (removing the negative from the carrier.) The objective is to make the burnt-out highlights ever so slightly darker than paper pure white.

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[Lenny Eiger]

Don't overdevelop your film, and you will be able to print a line across the top, even if its very light...

Lenny

[RodinalDuchamp]

First make the print with low to high-middle tones that are acceptable to you, then 'flash' the paper with a moment of light (removing the negative from the carrier.) The objective is to make the burnt-out highlights ever so slightly darker than paper pure white.

.

Jac, thanks that's a great technique. I've read a few different strategies for flashing including even running exposure tests to figure out that precise moment when the paper"s threshold breaks.

[Jac@stafford.net]

Jac, thanks that's a great technique. I've read a few different strategies for flashing including even running exposure tests to figure out that precise moment when the paper"s threshold breaks.

In my long-lost earlier times, flashing was a very big deal. We thought it was the only means to modify the overall tonality at the printing stage. Oi! Then came Ansel Adams who regardless of his published Zone System (of which he was only 1/2 the source) cheated it all the time. The books written about pre/post flashing had not the ink-printing technology to demonstrate it properly. Then our popular communication was all ink and paper. It sucked. We have it so much better today.

Best of luck,
Jac
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