Ansel's Winter Sunrise.

[Pfiltz]

I need some help understanding what he did, to achieve such a beautiful image in the darkroom.

I don't have a darkroom, however; hoping to change that. I have bought my first enlarger, but haven't gotten a chance to pick it up yet. But that's down the road.

I'm new to film and especially 4x5. I've only been shooting 6 months now [film].

I just bought the Ansel App and I see this small slide show showing "Winter Sunrise". It shows what the original negative produced, then through 3 addition variations, what the final image looked like, through Darkroom Manipulation.

How in the world does one change very defined areas of a print through dodging and burning. I mean, I can only relate this to using Photoshop and using mask to create such contrast in "certain" parts of the final image.

How does one do that in the Darkroom. I wish I could provide a visual as to what the iPad app shows, but it's quite amazing to me.

Sorry for the newb question to those veterans here. If this isn't in the proper forum, please move it where it should belong.

I would like as an experiment to create the great levels on contrast on possibly one of my images shown below.... My first outing shooting landscapes ever, using a 4x5.



Ansel's Winter Sunrise

[MDR]

Adams influenced the outcome at the picture taking stage in short he used a red filter. In the lab he used dodging and burning, maybe some local bleaching as well. The light is also very important the sun seems to have been lower close to sunset or sunrise
Make your print a little darker especially the sky, dodge the light parts of the prints (hills and trees). Use a red or orange filter the next time and the most important part look for the light.

Dominik

[Kevin J. Kolosky]

I'm sure many others will chime in with more detailed explanations, but at its simplest level, more light makes things darker on a piece of photographic paper, and less light makes things lighter.

So you might make a print that you are satisfied with overall, but you see areas that could be lighter and areas that could be darker.

For those areas that could be darker you add light by dodging everything else that you don't want darker during additional exposure. And for those areas that you want lighter you dodge those areas during the initial exposure.

Dodging involves blocking the light that is coming from the enlarger to the piece of photographic paper in your easel. You can do it with your hands, with pieces of cardboard, and even purchased "dodging" tools.

So, for example, you would like your sky a bit darker. You would make your initial work print until everything looked the way you wanted it to look otherwise. You would then add some additional exposure to the sky by adding exposure to the whole print but blocking or dodging the light hitting the print everywhere else but the sky. You would have to move the blocking or dodging tool around so as not to make it look like it had been dodged.

[Pfiltz]

Appreciate it folks. I've seen tutorials on Dodging / Burning in the darkroom, and also understand using red filters as shown in one of my earlier experiements.. What still escapes me, is how very "defined" the lines are between the two contrast within his image. No bleeding at all.

But I do understand as well, Time of Day playing a big factor in trying to achieve your final goal as well.

Of course, not knowing or having worked in a darkroom, I find that image of his just fascinating, if it was done totally in there, during the printing process.

A feeble attempt at a Red filter shot

[Kevin J. Kolosky]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCpZu6Y82XQ

[RichardSperry]

http://www.largeformatphotography.in...sel-Adams-quot

The free app in this thread shows a straight print and the finished print. With a short blurb on technique included.

[Pfiltz]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCpZu6Y82XQ

Amazing

[Brian Ellis]

If you're really interested in Adams and his techniques I'd suggest buying his book "Examples." It includes fairly detailed discussions by him of the thought-process and techniques he used to make forty of his most famous photographs including Winter Sunrise.

With respect to the lack of "bleeding," in his day that was mostly a matter of excellent technique in making the initial exposure, in developing the film, and in darkroom dodging and burning coupled perhaps with some flashing. Today those things are all still important in the darkroom but the use of variable contrast paper and filters (or a color/variable contrast enlarger head) can also help. With variable contrast paper if you have a light area adjacent to a dark area and wish to burn the light area without affecting the dark area, doing so with a low contrast filter (e.g. #1) while holding back the dark area will help prevent "bleeding." In the same situation, if you wish to burn the dark area without affecting the light area, doing so with a high contrast filter (e.g #4 or 5) while holding back the light area will help prevent "bleeding."

In the photograph of yours that you posted your use of a red filter is fine for what you used it for (presumably to make the sky black). On my monitor however it looks like you've lost all texture and detail in the area behind the silos or whatever they are and in the foreground. Assuming you wanted that information in the print, you could try dodging those areas if you were in a darkroom (and of course it would be a simple matter in Photoshop if the information is in the negative). But better yet you might have made a longer exposure in the camera to bring out that detail and then reduced the development time to prevent the highlights from being blown out by the longer exposure (which is the basic concept behind the zone system).

Your photograph may also show one of the problems of using a red filter, which is that it tends to turn green foliage black. I'm guessing there's some grass in the foreground of your photograph, which is mostly lost because it's black (on my monitor, maybe not so in the print). Maybe you wanted it black or maybe there's no grass there, I don't know. But if there was some green grass and you wanted to show its texture and detail it would be difficult to use a red filter to darken the sky without also unduly darkening the grass (which perhaps could be fixed in a darkroom by dodging that area, not having seen the negative it's hard to know for sure).

[Pfiltz]

But better yet you might have made a longer exposure in the camera to bring out that detail and then reduced the development time to prevent the highlights from being blown out by the longer exposure (which is the basic concept behind the zone system).

Something for me to remember. Thanks.

The red filter shot was nothing more than me playing with a red filter to see cause/effect. Yes there was grass in the foreground.

I may try this shot again, but changing up the exposure / development time.

To date, all the stuff I've shot, which isn't much, has been shot and developed based on the metered scene, and development times based on the developer...

I haven't tweaked either to see what happens, since I'm clueless

[RichardSperry]

I haven't tweaked either to see what happens, since I'm clueless

Get a copy of Adam's "The Negative"(then the other two in the series). It details dodging and burning technique.

Rolf Horn has this page with six examples of very intricate dodging and burning technique.
http://www.f45.com/html/tech/index.html

Both are very useful for the task that you are asking about.

The Adams app shows that Adam's printed Winter Sunrise at least two different ways. And did a major edit with spotting to remove white lettering from the midground hillside, in addition to blackening it.