Good news fellas, there are some very knowledgable people in this thread for which I’m grateful.

First, I’ve seen first hand in dozens of prints that Bob Carnie has resurrected from mediocre and over processed negatives resulting in magnificent Silver prints . I consider Bob one of the five best printers on the planet, so I’m thrilled to pass along a Flashing technique I use most of the time. You can read about the entire evolution of this discovery if interested in an article I wrote for UnblinkingEye online magazine.

https://unblinkingeye.com/Articles/F.../flashing.html

Essentially the key is reducing the amount of Green ( 0 ) contrast light that is “projected” thru the negative. First hint of grey tone happens in the densest part of the negative. Therefore, the less dense (mid tones) get “contaminated” with unnecessary low contrast light. We all know, mid-tones and their respective contrast is the single most difficult area of a Silver print to affect.
It’s all laid out in the article but I have found that by Flashing the MC paper with Green light to just below threshold I can reduce the amount of “projected” soft contrast light the negative sees by 33 % and in some cases as much as 40 %. There is a noticeable gain in mid-tone contrast, even when the entire sheet of paper is flashed.

Lastly, my negatives by design are extremely flat, i.e. highlight density of no more than 1.00 above fog. So, many negative makers and I’m sure the negs Bob often gets to print are more dense. This Flashing technique may pay even greater dividends than I realize with my negative design. I’d love to hear your feedback.

Cheers