Selecting the proper negative to print

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When reviewing your developed black and white negative what criteria should I use to select the proper negative to print?

-- Howard Dvorin (HowardDvorin@cs.com), September 19, 2001

Answers

Send the negatives with a $50 review fee & I will look at them and give you a written recommendation as to which to print. If you photograph a lot I should do quite well this way and it will give you a very big incentive to learn to make your own decisions.

Yes, this is a smart alec answer. Only you can decide what you want to print. Asking others isn't going to get you any answers that are worth much. Make contact prints, look at them & decide. Paper isn't that expensive, trash cans are always available for those that don't work out & there is no other way to gain experience.

-- Dan Smith (shooter@brigham.net), September 19, 2001.


Howard, I look for a negative that has a good range of densities. A negative that's too thin will have large open areas, while one that is too dense has NO open areas to speak of, and looks somewhat muted. You want a good balance, because a print with a nice range of tones starts with a negative that has a nice range of tones. Does that help?

-- Brian Hinther (brianh@onewest.net), September 19, 2001.

the subject!

You then use your skills to present that how you want to.

-- Nigel Smith (nlandgl@unite.com.au), September 20, 2001.


Learn to make good contact print(s). This means developing a standard way (many recommandations are possible) to make a contact print that delivers a maximum of information. I use always this method: I use Ilfords multigrade RC paper with contrast filter 1, with an exposure that yields in a maximum black on the sprockets. Selection of the right negative is open due to interpretation.

-- Marc Leest (mmm@n2photography.com), September 20, 2001.

To expound on what Marc has said, you need to make contact prints using normal grade paper (this is usually grade 2 - 2 1/2 for most people). The exposure of the contact print should be the minimum enlarging time it takes to obtain maximum black on the film base (the edge of the negative where the image is not exposed). This should be the exposure time where you cannot see any difference on the contact print between the film base and an area of the print where no film is in the light path (maximum black). Then make all contact prints at the same exposure determined above (different film/developer combinations may yield different exposure times for minimum time to achieve maximum black). The best negative will usually be the one that is looks right (or a little lighter) in the contact print. If the contact print looks too dark (at minimum exposure time for maximum black) then it is usually not the best negative. This will not only help you determine which is the best negative, but will help you determine proper film exposure and development times.

-- Michael Feldman (mfeldman@qwest.net), September 20, 2001.


Howard it is simplest to say look for the best negative with a full range of tones, but 50 years of B&W printing has taught me that you cannot really decide until you have made a print. Many times I have regarded a negative as too dense or too thin to be any good only to find that excellent prints can be made. Even contact prints can mislead as when printed as a sheet there must inevitably be an average exposure - nearly right for some negs, completely wrong for others, and not exactly right for any.

-- Tony Brookes (gdz00@lineone.net), September 20, 2001.

Do what Tony says. He said it right.

Charlie

-- Charlie Strack (charlie_strack@sti.com), September 24, 2001.


Unless I am mistaken, he asked how to tell what is the best negative to print, assuming that there are different exposures of the same image. Obviously, if you only have one negative of the image, and the image is worthwhile printing, then it is by definition the best, and one can and should try a multitude of techniques to get the most of that one image. But if you have different exposures of the identical image, it helps to have some technique to decide which negative to start printing with, otherwise one can waste a lot of time in the darkroom.

-- Michael Feldman (mfeldman@qwest.net), September 24, 2001.

Thank you all for very informative answers.Michael has hit the target. I have made a strip of bracketed exposures and I am trying to pick out the best one to pick. All of you gave me a lot to think about and much help in improving my printing technique. Howard

-- Howard Dvorin (HowardDvorin@cs.com), September 25, 2001.

In that case, I'd be looking at the negatives, studying the shadows and highlights to make sure the neg I went to print had detail in both. If no neg has both, then depending on the scene you have to decide which one you want and which one you can go without.

Can you tell I rarely bracket exposures! If I bracket, I usually bracket filters!

-- Nigel Smith (nlandgl@unite.com.au), September 25, 2001.



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