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Thread: Burning - Any Tips?

  1. #1
    Scott --'s Avatar
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    Burning - Any Tips?

    Hi, all -

    Ok, I'm trying to print this negative:


    Guessed at the reciprocity data; guessed wrong. Should've decreased my developing, but the scene really didn't seem that contrasty at the time...

    Anyway, I like the shot, but have that insane bright area. I'm trying to burn it in a bit to bring the contrast down to earth a bit, but - man - it seems like total guesswork. I've gotten close a couple times, but either the burn area is too dark, or the whole image darkens 'cause I was trying to feather it in too much...

    Ok, so what's the trick here? I'm using a flashlight with a cover that has a little pinhole in it to give me a controlled spot. That right? Is there any way to take some of the guesswork outta this?

    Thanks for any help.
    Scott

  2. #2
    おせわに なります! Andrew O'Neill's Avatar
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    Re: Burning - Any Tips?

    Why don't you try flashing that area of the print before you lay down your main exposure?

  3. #3
    Robert A. Zeichner's Avatar
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    Re: Burning - Any Tips?

    Assuming you are using Variable Contrast paper, why don't you do the burning with a soft filter like 0. Make an appropriate burning card with a hole in it of a size that will allow you to hold it halfway between the lens and the paper without being too large or too small. Tip: view the area to be burned on the card itself. With a 0 filter, you can afford to get a little sloppy near the adjacent dark areas as the 0 filter will result in little if any increase exposure to the blue sensitive (dark printer) layer of the paper.

    If your negative is super contrasty, you might consider making an unsharp mask for it. This will tame it down a bit and help restore some of the shadow detail.

  4. #4
    Jim Jones's Avatar
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    Re: Burning - Any Tips?

    I use a small flashlight with masking tape over the lens to reduce and diffuse the light to a managable degree. This provides a very soft-edged illuminated area.

  5. #5
    Retired Pirate
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    Re: Burning - Any Tips?

    Burning in a couple of leaky edges and corners I've used an A4 piece of black card over the 8x10 print ... if the exposure was 60 secs, say, then an extra 15 or 30 secs might do the corner. Trial and error, but feathering was a gentle continuous movement of maybe 1" backwards and forwards.

  6. #6

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    Re: Burning - Any Tips?

    I used to use two cards of about 8x10 size, maybe larger if you're making a larger print. Cut a hole in one of the cards around the center, leave the other with no hole. I kept maybe five or six cards around with holes of different sizes and placements, one would almost always work since the size of the area the hole covers on a print can be changed by raising or lowering the card. I used mat board that was white on one side and black on the other, with the white side facing up. Put the no hole card under the one with the hole. Move the card up, down, and sideways to get the hole roughly over the area you're trying to burn. Just make sure that as you're moving the card around light doesn't spill over an edge of the card onto the print. Once you have the hole properly positioned then slide the bottom card out of the way of the hole far enough so that the enlarger light shines through and keep the card moving randomly throughout the burn while you count the seconds in your head or with a timer.

    As for the time of the burn, think in terms of percentages of the main exposure, not in absolute numbers. That way you'll get a feel for the correct time from one print to another despite the fact that your base exposure times will vary. If you want to save on guess-work and paper, you could use the method John Sexton uses, which involves tearing a sheet of printing paper up into maybe four parts, number them 1 -4 on the back, then put each over the area you're trying to burn and expose them for different times, develop all four, see which looks best. I didn't use that method very much myself, it was kind of a pain and with experience I could usually get the burn time accurate on the first or second try but you might find it useful to save on paper as you gain experience.
    Brian Ellis
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  7. #7
    Greg Lockrey's Avatar
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    Re: Burning - Any Tips?

    I don't know if anyone still does this anymore but did you try to "bleach" the overexposed negative?
    Greg Lockrey

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  8. #8

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    Re: Burning - Any Tips?

    How about making a contrast mask? That way you might be able to save some detail in the dark portions of the rocks in the bright area.

  9. #9

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    Re: Burning - Any Tips?

    or dodge parts of the dark area
    Regards
    Bill

  10. #10

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    Re: Burning - Any Tips?

    Or if you are useing multigrade, Print first with a softer filter to tame the highlights and burn the darks with a #5.
    Regards
    Bil

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