Why not try B&W paper to create a paper negative then contact print it on to another sheet of paper? The exposure times will be long but time is cheap. You will fine low contrast paper will be best for capture and probably also for printing.
Printable View
Why not try B&W paper to create a paper negative then contact print it on to another sheet of paper? The exposure times will be long but time is cheap. You will fine low contrast paper will be best for capture and probably also for printing.
Well, the paper fibers introduce considerable image degradation, so if your goal is high quality imaging, this is not the way to go. For a complete discussion, see some posts by David Goldfarb and myself a few years back. However, Baryta paper is considerably better than any other paper support.
PE
I am in the process of researching and trying dry plates and ran across this thread. I never thought about trying b/w paper and using it as a paper negative. It makes total sense, just never thought about it I guess. I use Ilford MGIV FB and RC papers at this time. Any input or comments on using RC papers vs fiber? I assume I could read the Ilford data sheet and try and determine an ISO, but not sure if that would translate to using it as a paper negative or not. Any pointers or input to get me going in the right direction would be appreciated.
Tim
You could always try the Ilford positive papers, which means you get an image right away out the developer, not needing to do it in two steps, making a negative that you then need to contact copy on to another sheet.
I missed out on this discussion before, but it was great to be reminded of the New Light Farmer blog - those are some seriously big plates!
Good idea on the positive paper. I will have to give that a try as well during my testing process. Thanks!
I don't know why PE states that baryta papers should be considerable better than RC papers (he will properly explain)..
But as a beginners choise, just use RC papers.
They are political correct (don't curl - are easy and quick to process) and if you're using MG papers, you can place a filter in front (or back) of the lens to lower contrast.
Make a test to see about the iso. (I normally calculate around 10 iso)...
It is VERY easy - it is quick, and the results can be fascinating!
attached a couple of examples.
all from paper negatives - all RC
For even lower cost, you might want to try Arista Ultra EDU, grade 2 paper. I expose it as ASA 3. I use a yellow filter - helps a bit with the skies. These are 8x10 negatives taken with a 14" RR and a 12" meniscus.
Dan
gandolfi, your portraits are beautiful! On a side note I will be using traditional view cameras with a normal lens, etc. It appears to me you used a view camera on these portraits too and not pinhole, is that correct? Really excellent work. I love the softness, but also the definition is just perfect. I do have a question that you may be able to help with. I want to experiment today but all I have is VC paper. I am going to order a couple different papers today but they won't arrive for a few days. For the filters on the VC paper would it be best to use my Ilford VC filters that I use on the enlarger or do I use standard b/w filters (yellow, green, red, etc)? Also, two of your portraits were warn, did you use a warmtone paper and/or developer to achieve this or something else?
Thanks
Tim
Dan, thanks for the reply. I am in the process of ordering some Arista grade 2 paper from Freestyle at this very moment. I will give ASA 3 a try and also experiment with b/w filters. I will be using a regular view camera setup so I was thinking about using a graduated ND filter to help with the blown out skies a little bit, although I don't want to eliminate that all together because it is part of the Victorian era look that I am shooting for. Beautiful photos, thanks for sharing.
Tim
yes - just use the filters you'd use in the darkroom.Quote:
Originally Posted by timlayton
I prefer this method - papers have higher contrast than I want - even with grade 2 - that's why the filters come on handy.. You can make a negative with lots of grey tones, and it they prove too grey, you can highten the contrast when contact copying (which is - of course - always done on Baryta/fiber based papers...)..