View Full Version : What do you do with your test strips?
IloveTLRs
03-05-2010, 04:58 PM
I keep mine .. they are my photos after all. Ones that are too blown out or completely black I throw out, all the others I keep. Maybe I'll make a collage.
What do you do?
Anon Ymous
03-05-2010, 05:02 PM
Usually thrown in the bin, unless I want to tone the print. In that case, it's sometimes good to do a test before toning the actual print.
I rinse them very well and keep them to season Hypo Alum toner. Why waste fresh good prints when I have old bad prints?
jnanian
03-05-2010, 05:26 PM
i made a collage out of them once , covered nearly a whole wall ...
Vincent Brady (TEX)
03-05-2010, 05:32 PM
I keep mine for that talk that I'll never give explaining how I arrived at my finished print. I'm bored even posting about it.
Rick A
03-05-2010, 05:37 PM
Depends--usually test toners on them before tossing.
Rick
2F/2F
03-05-2010, 05:38 PM
I throw them into the trash, unless they happen to look cool. I use work prints and reject prints for testing toners, bleaches, and such.
MattKing
03-05-2010, 05:39 PM
They can make excellent bookmarks.
Matt
jnanian
03-05-2010, 05:43 PM
They can make excellent bookmarks.
Matt
hmmm laminated, hole punched and tassel'd and sold for big bucks at a book store!
JNaetke
03-06-2010, 08:29 AM
They can make excellent bookmarks.
Matt
yep, just that.
it also causes people to start conversations with me about photography while I'm in the bus/train/etc.
other than that, I keep some that I fix and rinse well to test toning capabilities.
munz6869
03-06-2010, 07:11 PM
Bookmarks! What a GREAT idea. I'll start saving them now...
Now all I need are a "use" for 120 film spools.
Marc
Mike Wilde
03-08-2010, 09:22 AM
I save most 120 spools and backing paper. Have about 150 on hand at present. About 30 have been used to respool slit down 70mm bulk portra 160nc. It is a pain, but the price was right. The backing paper is handy along with a roll of masking tape, and a empty 11x14 paper liner bag to temporarily make motel/hotel bathrooms light tight when reloading 4x5 film holders on road trips. I loathe changing bags for this task, and the tents are more than I want to pay for.
Test strips get cut into a 1" by 4-5 inch strip and get pasted into printing record book if there is anything I think is worth noting about the print technique. I calibrate new aper packs to my dichroic head and analyser, so once that is done there are not really a whole ton of test strips.
I do often print a 5x7 in 1" wide strips in a 8/10.1/12.7/16/20.2/25.4/32 second sequence on the same part of the image using a neat litle jig I saw in 'Way Beyond Monochome'. The aperture is usally adjusted to make the analyse suggest a time somewhere around 12 seconds, and then the laer times give guidance of which ares will need burning in, and to what degree.
I do like Matt's bookmark idea.
Laurent
03-08-2010, 09:34 AM
They can make excellent bookmarks.
Matt
Same for me. At least the ones that look good. The other ones go directly to the bin (sometimes fix => bin, sometimes they are whashed if I want to see them dried)
Maitena
03-24-2010, 09:57 PM
I use the good ones as bookmarks too!
I started doing it because I hate throwing away pictures of people I know.
jamesgignac
03-24-2010, 10:49 PM
Bookmarks, YES! I have lots of them - also if I'm printing RC and have multiple test strips of the same image (and that's pretty much always) I tend to make the test strips from overlapping areas of the photo, then when they're still wet from the wash I let them rest against eachother and leave them on my gratuitously large wet bench to dry. I typically end up with an interesting shape of varying tonality - sketching out a jagged portion of the composition. And then I pitch it out. I only keep the REAL NICIES for bookmarks.
Depends--usually test toners on them before tossing. RickGreat idea.
paulie
03-25-2010, 05:23 AM
i usually under fix, selenium without washing , then burn them in the microwave. they usually end up looking a bit lithy (red line under that one , think ive discovered a new word)
Stephen Frizza
03-25-2010, 05:51 AM
some I keep for future printing reference, some i give to clients, many go in the bin.
pantelis adiavastos
03-27-2010, 05:52 PM
they should make great contact cards, if you mark your number on the back side ;p
Terrence Brennan
03-29-2010, 07:52 AM
i made a collage out of them once , covered nearly a whole wall ...
I have completely covered avery available square inch of my chipboard darkroom walls with test strips and pieces of reject prints, et cetera. I use a not-quite-good-enough-for-my-workshop stapler, with 1/4-inch staples. I am now going to start on the OUTSIDE of the darkroom!
And yes, I have a whole bunch of good test strips I use as book marks. When reading a book in a public place, like a bus stop or coffee shop, it is a sure-fire way to have people approach you and ask if you are a photographer, et cetera.
The rejects are shredded and discarded.