The black and white darkroom facility Today I had a morning in the darkroom where I printed two photographs from my previously developed negatives. The first photograph I printed was an image of a street in the fog, so it was quite difficult to decide on the appropriate tonal values that the print should have. As such I made several test strips narrowing down the range of exposure times until I decided on one I was happy with.
Focusing my image to the correct format on the enlarger
Test strips to determine the exposure time. I narrowed the range each time until settling on the time I preferred
Developing the test strips in a series of chemical baths
Test strips need to be taken outside into the light in order to properly assess them. I am looking for a value range that includes both the darkest and brightest values.
I make a full size print once I am happy with the settings
Once I got going, my second image was easier to set up, however I did find it difficult to choose between two different exposure times and couldn’t decide whether I wanted to increase the contrast (to contrast the sky with the dark branches), or instead emphasise the soft shadows on the ground. For me, the important part of the image was the pavement so I went with the latter, however looking back I’m not sure it was the right decision- I’ll need to consider it further once I’ve looked away from it for a while.
Test strip for second image. The contrast is low, making it difficult to determine the optimal settings.
Choice of two different exposure times. Both have their merits.