Contact Printing Without an Enlarger

[Jim Noel]

Edward Weston printed with a bare bulb. He had it mounted on a brass rod in order to vary its height above the negative/paper sandwich. Additionally he used toilet tissue to attenuate the light when necessary.

You can't get much simpler than that, or produce finer prints than those of E. Weston.

[ethylphenethylamine]

IIn general, these processes require substantially denser negs than you would use for enlarging paper, and somewhat denser than you would use for Azo.

Does this mean you would adjust you development time with the negs - or change your exposures?

[Jim Noel]

Development time should be somewhat, some would say absolutely, constant. Density is altered by changing exposure times.

[matt miller]

Most of the alt processes, however, require negative with a longer scale/more contrast. These would definitely require longer development times than negs destined for silver gelatin prints.

[ethylphenethylamine]

So to create more density you would under exposue by 1 or 2 stops and also increase your dev time by a minute or two for contact printing?

[matt miller]

How you expose and develop your negative all depends on what process you'll use for printing. What process do you plan to use?

[ethylphenethylamine]

Well, I need to get an 8x10 camera first mostly just thinking about this for future use. I am most interested in POP or Albumen Printing or just contact priniting the negs...