Paper negatives

[DeBone75]

I've been a member on here for a long time but this is the first I've posted in a long time. I'm going to add my cheap two cents. There has been some discussion about enlarging a paper negative and how well or not it would work. I always thought that a contact print is just kinda a waste. Just my opinion. I like enlargements. So I thought I'd give it a try. Now most have said probably too long of an exposure and the contrast would be harsh yada yada yada. Well here's my "first" attempt. Not a particularly large enlargement but it worked ok. "Negative" shot on an old Japanese whole plate and enlarged just up to 8x10. Developed in old Zone VI at 1:3. Same with the positive. Shot at grade 3 on an Super Chromega F with dichroic head for 10 seconds at F11

[DeBone75]

Forget to mention dev Time for negative 1 minute and positive 2 min to get max black

[NedL]

Forget to mention dev Time for negative 1 minute and positive 2 min to get max black

Thanks for sharing that, nicely done! I like 8x10 or 7x11 contact prints from paper negatives. I don't really think the 5x7 or the 122 "postcard size" are a waste, but definitely admit liking larger prints is what made me go to larger negatives. If I had an enlarger could handle 5x7 or whole plate, I think I'd be right with you on that!

[nolindan]

Papers are ortho chromatic, so especially with portraits you can get some interesting results. (Reds get dark - a redhead will get black hair... lips tends to get dark - hints of freckles are "brought to life" - and on the other hand, the "white" in the eyes (which are more bluish naturally) tends to get whiter than "normal"....

That sounds like the results from wet plate. Both wet plate and paper have lots of UV sensitivity.

In wet plate a focusing adjustment was made to bring the "chemical focus" in line with the visual focus. I wonder if it would be worth it to incorporate such an adjustment when shooting paper negatives. Photographing a ruler at a 45 degree angle will how close the paper focus is to the visual focus.

[DeBone75]

I think one advantage of this enlarger it's output is 1000 watt. Makes a big difference in exposure time. This was just a I'm bored and want to try something. Lens is too soft so not as sharp as I'd like. I will do more testing. The negative was rated at ISO 12, lowest my meter will go. Paper Arista EDU Multi grade

[mpj01]

I used HC 110 b

[mpj01]

That was a scan, but I'm trying to learn to do contact printing

[NedL]

I used HC 110 b

Not seeing the scan but I'd like to. I've used hc110 a few times to develop paper negatives, it's very nice but it gets a bit expensive.

[jnantz]

Thank you James, I saw that video before but forgot he used concentrated hydrogen peroxide. I used the drug store one, probably a 3% solution.

Donkittle, I would love to chat with you in private but your knowledge will help others than me if we continue here.

I did the same as you but used white vinegar for the second bath. It did bleach a little after an hour but I ended up with a black paper after the second exposition. Do you use the 3% solution or a stronger solution ?

Hi T.Chabry
You can do it with 3%, it is much faster working with 40part ( 9% ) ( like minutes vs lots of minutes ) .. I've used white vinegar stop and I allow carry over from the vinegar bath to go into the peroxide bath. There is a "sweet spot" where the peroxide bath readily clears the print. you can take an eye dropper with straight vinegar and add it to the peroxide bath until it begins to clear. this same routine can be done with citric acid in a 10% solution .. I didn't do this with 13%, H2O2, I didn't want to deal with anything that strong. 40part was a bit stronger than I wanted to deal with too ... im not sure if you have any hairdresser supply shops where you are, we have "Sally Beauty Supply" and both the 40 part and stronger H2O2 are available there, at least around here you need a hair dresser license to get the really strong stuff..

[h2oman]

brutalist footbridge over the northeast corridor. || kodak paper, caffenol and plain hypo .. 4x5 box camera

Presentation is a great match for the subject! Well done.