Ok, you have produced two useable test strips/prints – one of Grade 2 and another of Grade 3 equivalents on VC paper (or with graded paper if you use that). Now the real creative process begins!

Take your two wet prints and look at them under the viewing light. Really study them carefully! Sometimes this takes a while to get it right. You’re looking for good blacks, good shadow detail, proper tonality and whites that are not blown out.  Once you have determined which is the right print exposure time for each grade of paper you can now make a “pilot” print for each grade. I find it useful to write Grade 2 with its exposure time on the back of one print and Grade 3 with its exposure time on the other using a #2 pencil.  Note: Throughout the printing process I always write what I am doing on the back of my papers so I won’t get confused or loose track of what I am doing. So should you!  Now into the developer!

Again, look at both prints under the viewing light. I have two Zone VI Plexiglas print viewing stands that stand side by side and always are in the same spot in my sink. This arrangement allows me to compare prints in the same light.  I find it very useful to look at the two prints next to each other and again study them VERY CAREFULLY.  The goal is to pick what print/paper looks the best in terms of contrast and overall atmosphere and discard the one that doesn’t. You have to take your time!

Sometimes it’s obvious which grade is correct and which print is the one to toss. Other times after careful examination, I may discard one of them and then decide to make another pilot print using a higher contrast or lower contrast of the print grade I selected.  For example, if I chose to stick with Grade 2 but think it is a little too contrasty I might try a Grade 1.75 equivalent. It is easy to figure this out doing some quick math and I adjust my color head filtration accordingly. If Grade 2 needs some additional contrast I might try a Grade 2.25 or 2.5 equivalent. Now I will make that print, develop it and examine that against the original Grade 2 print. If still not happy with the contrast, I can make another. Get it right here and you will not be unhappy latter!  Once satisfied I discard the other pilot print(s) and I am ready to proceed knowing my proper exposure time and overall print contrast.

The final pilot print is your starting point to making a truly fine print. Given the effort you’ve put into it, it is likely better than most others finished product!

One final note here – I write everything I’ve done on my print recipe sheet. Then I cross out all the exposure/contrast combinations I didn’t like, leaving the one I chose to go forward with.

Now on to making the best print you can!

Stay safe,

Michael

Now the real creative process in the darkroom is about to begin!  You have carefully examined your proof sheet to determine if there is a negative(s) worthy of printing, and happily there is.  In determining basic exposure and contrast my approach is to use an entire 8×10 piece of paper rather than a small strip so I can get as much information as possible. I think this very important and definitely not the place to pinch pennies!

I use variable contrast paper but still think in terms of paper grades after many years of using graded paper.  So I start with a grade two “normal” contrast test strip/print (I use a color head but paper manufactures provide the color setting information you need for each grade).  I set my timer for 3 seconds and using a piece of mat board move from right to left, uncovering about an inch of the paper for each exposure.  If the paper is in landscape position in the easel the first exposure on the very right is 3 seconds, and the last exposure on the very left yields a cumulative of 30 seconds.

I then repeat this process and make a grade three strip/print to see what things look like with added contrast. Now into the developer, stop and fix, and finally onto the viewing stand illuminated by a 150W bulb. NOTE: It is essential that you examine print test strip/prints, pilot prints and working/final prints during various steps of the printing process while wet (because of paper drydown) and with the proper illumination … otherwise you will be disappointed later!!!!

I want at least a fifteen second exposure. This will give me enough time to comfortably do whatever dodging manipulations may be necessary to make the final fine print.  And even if the print turns out to be pretty straight forward, what’s the rush? If the print exposure is too short, then close down a stop on your enlarging lens and redo your test strip/prints. So, for example, if you have started using f/8, stop down to f/11 on your lens and repeat.

You are now about to embark on a journey that will end with a fine print!

Stay safe,

Michael

Now I have to rearrange my bookshelves where I keep my precious photography art books. I was already running out of space but now I am getting close to crisis alert. I’ve already had to move my other photography works down to my workroom in the basement. Now what?  So here’s the deal, as a particular candidate for president that I like would say … there are a lot of great books out there containing work we can admire, and most of all, learn from. They often can give us something to aspire to and even help us when we have hit a roadblock.

So this week I found out about someone that was moving and had a tone of classical vinyl records they wanted to get rid of.  Naturally I wanted to get over there as quickly as possible. Seventeen boxes later it turned out to be a pretty good haul! On a hunch I decided to ask if there were any photography books. I’ve learned that audiophile/music lovers also tend to have cameras, which means they may have photography books (note: they also seem to collect fountain pens and watches, but that’s another discussion all together!).

Bingo! I was directed to an entire shelf of books. Most were the standard how to books that are pretty common, but there were also some photo art books. Now were talking! Here are a few from the large boxful I snagged for seventy five dollars: Paul Strand, Sixty Years of Photographs; Walker Evans, Metropolitan Museum of Art; Ansel Adams and Nancy Newhall, This Is The American Earth; Ansel Adams, In Color, and Eliot Porter, Appalachian Wilderness.  I know the last two books are color work, but they’re Adams and Porter …OK?  I can gladly live with that! But perhaps the crown jewel of my excellent treasure hunt … Alfred Stieglitz, National Gallery of Art. It’s a massive two-volume box set containing the so-called “key set” of over 1600 photographs given to the museum by Stieglitz’s wife Georgia O’Keeffe.

I am truly looking forward to the many hours I will be spending with these and the other books I brought home.  Every serious photographer should have library of wonderful books like these. We all have different tastes and there are enough quality books out there to satisfy all of them. Some to be had for peanuts if you’re lucky like I was. Be on the lookout and you may find some!

Make it a point to build your own library. That’s a far better investment than that uber wide angle or big honker telephoto you really don’t need … you’ll be a better photographer for it!

Stay safe,

Michael

So I was out photographing during Labor Day weekend and had an interesting experience with a couple of women.  I wrote about this but failed to mention while driving back home I saw a fascinating scene in the front yard of someone’s house. Signs for a presidential candidate and some strange items placed around them. The guy putting together this strange photographic scene was out there digging or doing something. He was about half my age, tattooed and about twice my size. I slowed down a little more to take a look but he gave me one back that was not very inviting. Another time, with other circumstances I would have got out, tried to engage and hopefully would have made the picture, but I have been to this rodeo before and know when to back off.  So I kept on driving. About a half a mile down the road I executed an important photographic maneuver – the all-important illegal u-turn. I drove back and slowly took a long look.  The glare I got convinced me that the picture was meant to be … just not that day!

So I did another u-turn, drove a little ways down the road, pulled off to the side and wrote down the coordinates so I would know how to get back another time to make that photograph.  It turned out to be a beautiful fall day this past Friday (I know its technically not fall but it sure feels that way here in Bucks County) so I carved out some time around work and headed back hoping the scene remained as I remembered it, minus the unfriendly looking fellow.

As I drove by I quickly noticed one of the most important elements of the picture was missing. Nevertheless I drove around the location several times and finally found a somewhat precarious location to ditch the car. I grabbed my camera and light meter and proceeded to walk. As I was getting closer, the chap from the last go around hops out of his pickup truck and walks up to me … but this time he has a friend with him.

$#@%^&*(!

“What are you doing here?”

NOTE: I’m not as young or as fast as I used to be, but better not to panic — “Hey man, how you doing? Where’s the mannequin?  I was driving by last time and now it’s gone! I take pictures; do you mind?  This is really cool but where’s the mannequin?”

“It fell down; you want me to get it?”

“Yah, that would be great; I’m just going to take a few snaps, OK?”

“No problem, I need to go to work now … take as many as you want but don’t let my wife see you out here!”

“Hey man … really appreciate it … thanks!”

So I hung out awhile, walked around and made a few pictures. The other good news was my car was still where I left it.  I look forward to developing the negatives soon and seeing how things look on the proof sheet.  So all in all a very nice outcome, and one that would not have been possible if had given up on the picture … if had not gone back for it.  Things were a little dicey for a brief moment, but we talked.

We live in strange and difficult times, and we’re not very good right now at communicating with those with whom we may disagree.  We need to get beyond that, and fast, if we are to move forward and make things better.

Oh … and don’t give up on your picture … not if it means something to you.

Stay safe,

Michael