Choosing a camera.....
All cameras are made up of two components - a lens and a body. With some cameras the lens and body can be separated and recombined with other bodies and lenses.
Buying a digital camera is the cheapest way to get started in photography. Digital cameras are priced by how many megapixels the camera has. If you don't plan to make prints most cameras are suitable for your needs, although it is advisable that you check out the user rating on one or more of the online consumer rating sites before finalizing your choice. If you wish to make prints that are 8"x11.5" or larger and are of exhibit quality, choose your camera carefully. Until recently digital cameras offered many of the features seen on medium priced 35mm SLRs but did not offer the resolution available with film. Resolution is measured in megapixcls. 8 megapixels is equivalent to 35mm film, 20 megapixels is equivalent to 120 film, 108 megapixels is equivalent to 4x5 film. It is difficult to see a difference between a photograph made with a 5 megapixel digital camera and one made with a 35mm film based camera. Here is a list of recommended basic cameras
Canon Power shot Pro1
Nikon Coolpix 8800
Digital Single Lens Reflex cameras are very exciting, but even the most basic models are slightly over a thousand dollars. I recommend
Canon Rebel Digital
Nikon D70
The Canon Rebel Digital looks like it is a lower price with the packaged lens than the Nikon. This is a lower quality lens and should be avoided. Buy the body separately and get the good lens instead. Do not use old film camera lenses. These are lower quality than digital lenses. These are not professional cameras. They are very basic SLRs.
For a more detailed list of the best digital cameras see
http://www.steves-digicams.com/best_cameras.html
Film-based photography has become a secondary method of making photographs. Film is not for everyone, but might be worth a try. For the price of a very basic digital camera you can buy a Canon EOS Rebel or a Nikon N55 that uses film. These cameras let you explore working with manual aperture and shutter speeds for 1/4 the price of the digital Canon Rebel or Nikon D70, the digital equivalents.
There are cameras that shoot film larger than 35mm. These can be divided into two groups-medium format and large format. These cameras cost more. If possible, budget at least $2000, when shopping for these types of cameras. Used cameras are less, but it will take a lot of hunting to find a camera for less than $500. Medium format digital cameras are about $20, 000 making them impractical for most people.
Medium format cameras have some similarities to 35mm cameras. Some of these cameras look like oversized 35mm cameras. Like 35mm cameras, these cameras use a roll of film. Film is available in two lengths-120 and 220. A frame of film from a medium format camera is 4 times larger than a frame of film from a 35mm camera. This means that an 8''x10'' print from a 120 frame of film will have the same print quality as a 4''x6'' print from a 35mm frame of film. There are also an increasing number of cameras that have reshaped the frame. The size of these is referred to in centimeters making a traditional 2 1/4'' x 2 1/4'' frame of film into 6cm x 6cm or simply 6x6. Popular alternative frame sizes include 6x4.5, 6x7 and 6x17.
Large format cameras, also referred to as view cameras, are quite different than 35mm cameras. They use sheets of film instead of rolls. Each sheet can only be used for one exposure. The sheets of film come in many different sizes. Two of the most popular sizes are 4''x 5'' and 8''x10''.
Each film size requires a separate camera designed to shoot only one size sheet of film. Almost all large format cameras require the use of a tripod. A sheet of film from a 4x5 view camera is 4 times larger than a frame of film from a medium format camera. This means that an 16''x20'' print from a 4x5 sheet of film will have the same print quality as a 4''x6'' print from a 35mm frame of film. A sheet of film from an 8x10 view camera is 4 times larger than a sheet of film from a 4x5 view camera. This means that an 32''x40'' print from a 8x10 sheet of film will have the same print quality as a 4''x6'' print from a 35mm frame of film.
View cameras are generally cheaper than medium format cameras, but medium format cameras can be easily used in a wider variety of shooting situations than view cameras.
Exposure Meters
An exposure meter is a device that determines how much light the film should receive to make a correctly exposed print that is neither too dark nor too light. You cannot actually touch the meter but in many cameras you can see what the meter is deciding through the viewfinder. In inexpensive cameras you cannot see what the meter is deciding through the viewfinder. It is best to have a camera that shows both what shutter speed and aperture are being considered as well as has the ability to override the shutter speed and aperture chosen by the meter. In inexpensive cameras the exposure meter is accurate about 60% of the time.
In the most expensive cameras the exposure meter is accurate almost100% of the time.
Shutter Speeds
The shutter is a mechanical shade in the back center of the camera directly in front of the frame of film you are shooting. When the button on the camera to take a picture is pressed this shade opens for a fraction of a second. If the shutter is open for too little time the photograph will be too dark. If the shutter is open for too long the photograph will be too light. Many cameras allow the photographer to choose a shutter speed. The advantage of this type of camera is that by varying the shutter speed the photographer can control how motion will appear in the finished photograph.
1/8000 will stop any motion
1/4000 high enough speed to take pictures while walking
1/2000 will stop most motion
1/1000 will stop bicyclists and runners
1/500 will freeze a person jumping in the air
1/250 will stop some motion
1/125 to avoid camera shake
Speeds that blur motion. Use a tripod for these speeds.
1/60 slight blurring of motion
1/30 very good speed to show a bit of blur when photographing dancers
1/15 the blurring of motion becomes clearly evident
1/8 the blurring motion becomes more pronounced
1/4 the blurring of motion becomes extreme
1/2 high speed motion begins to become invisible
1 medium speed motion begins to become invisible
2 all motion begins to become invisible
4 more motion begins to become invisible
8 motion develops a fog like quality
B this one allows you to keep the shutter open as long as you want
When choosing a shutter speed to control motion, it must also be a shutter speed that correctly exposes the film so that the photograph is neither too light nor too dark.
Aperture
The aperture is a circular opening inside of the lens. It's diameter is varied by a group of metal flower petal like parts. When the button on the camera to take a picture is pressed all of the petals move together to change the diameter of this opening so that it is set to correspond with the light. If it is a very sunny day the meter will set the aperture to a very small circle perhaps the size of the head of an average carpentry nail. If it is a very overcast day the meter will set the aperture to a very large circle perhaps half the size of the diameter of the lens. If the aperture is open too little the photograph will be too dark. If the aperture is open too much the photograph will be too light. Many cameras allow the photographer to choose an aperture. The advantage of this type of camera is that by varying the aperture the photographer can control how much will appear in focus in addition to what is seen in focus through the viewfinder in the finished photograph. Aperture settings are also called f stops. The term "stopping down" refers to setting the aperture to a smaller circle
45 maximum amount of focus
32
22
16
11
8
5.6
4
2.8
2
1.4 minimum amount of focus
This 1:1 relationship between shutter speed and aperture is the most difficult concept to understand of how to use a camera. You will only understand it by trying it over and over again a couple of hundred times. Fortunately most camera meters will let you ignore this concept. However if you plan to use the Zone System method of making photographs you must understand this relationship between shutter speed and aperture.
Cameras that allow no control of shutter speed or aperture choice will make this decision without your assistance. Cameras designed during the 1970s or earlier that allow control of shutter speed and aperture choice generally provide some type of meter indication as to when you have chosen a shutter speed and f stop combination that will also expose the film just the right amount.
Cameras designed during the early 1980s that provide control of shutter speed and aperture choice allow you to choose either the shutter speed or the aperture and then the meter automatically sets the other one. Cameras designed during the late 1980s that provide control of shutter speed and aperture choice allow you to have the meter set so that both the shutter speed and the aperture are set automatically. This is called a programmed setting. Programmed settings are a tremendous asset to both amateur and professional photographers. There are many situations that happen so quickly you don't want to have to think about the proper shutter speed and aperture. The quality of the photograph is in no way inferior to one made with manual settings. It is just a less controlled photograph in terms of motion and what is in focus.
Films
There are two types of film - negative film and transparency film. The color palettes vary intentionally between the different manufacturers. The principal manufacturers of color film are Agfa, Fuji, and Kodak. Negative film has a wider exposure latitude than transparency film. What this means is that if the picture is shot slightly too dark or slightly too light, it will still result in a good print. Negative film is easier to use and less expensive to use when making prints in a traditional chemical darkroom. Equally high quality darkroom prints can be made from a transparency. The cost of the printing paper for transparencies is considerably higher than for printing from negatives. For large prints, film is usually a better option than a digital camera. For 8"x10" prints a digital camera file is adequate, especially from higher end digital cameras like the Nikon 990. 8"x10" digital prints are generally indistinguishable from 8"x10" darkroom prints. If using an Inkjet process, such as, Epson, Iris or Roland, it is probably easier to work with a transparency. Not all scanners have quality lookup tables for scanning negatives, especially scanners under $1000. Whereas many film scanners in the $600-$1000 range can do a good enough job scanning a transparency to make an 17"x22" print. Transparency film has a narrow exposure latitude making it difficult to use in cameras that have lower quality exposure meters. It is almost impossible to use transparency film in point-and-shoot cameras priced below $150. Transparency film's principal advantage is that it allows you to preview approximately what the printed image will look like. It makes it possible to lay out on a light table or project several images and make a quick decision as to what to print. I have worked with both negatives and transparencies. I now work almost exclusively with transparencies since my end objective is a printed page, an Epson Inkjet print or an Iris Inkjet print. I like the speed of editing available from transparencies and the cost of working from negatives and transparencies is identical with Epson printing, which is my primary printing method.
Film is also available in black and white. Although not many people have used black and white since the 1970s, the two principal black and white film manufacturers, Kodak and Ilford, continue to make very exciting improvements on an almost yearly basis. The film is continually becoming finer grain and works well under a broader range of lighting conditions than previous film. There are 3 principal types of black and white film. They are panchromatic/conventional, panchromatic/chromogenic and Infrared. Most black and white is panchromatic. Chromogenic film is black and white film that is processed using C-41 chemistry which is what is used for color negatives. This means that you can shoot this film and simply drop it off at any one hour color lab rather than trying to find a special black and white lab. Kodak's Chromogenic film is t400 CN. Ilford's Chromogenic film is XP2 Super. XP2 Super prints better on black and white paper t400 CN. Infrared film when used with a 25A red filter turns the sky black and makes leaves on trees and blades of grass into a glowing white. This is difficult film to use, but the results are very exciting. This film is made only by Kodak and is sold as Kodak High Speed Infrared film.
Working with black and white transparencies remains an issue. The newest player in this arena is Aim Color (http://www.aimcolor.com). They offer a service called ".dr5". By shooting black and white negative film while carefully following Aim Color’s instructions, most black and white negative films can be converted to transparencies in the processing of the film. The exposure latitude using this process is very limited.
Although most people do not pay much attention to film speed and are perfectly happy with ISO 400 film (ISO is a technical designation for any given film speed), lower and higher speed films should be considered. Film speeds range from 25 to 3200. I generally use ISO 100 film. This requires more light so it sometimes makes it necessary to use a tripod. I like how the lower speed film shows more texture and makes background elements more visible. Higher speed film can be very useful when shooting indoors where the light is frequently much dimmer than sunlight. The lower the speed of the film, the finer the grain and the brighter the colors. The higher the speed of the film the coarser the grain and the softer the colors.
Film also comes in different sizes. The larger the film the easier it is to make a fine grained print. For prints larger than 17" x 22" or where no amount of lowering the speed of film used makes the print appear acceptable, it is generally best to work with 120 or larger film. 35mm film is 1"x1.5". 120 film is 2.25"x2.25". To change film size requires buying a new camera to accommodate the given film size choice.
EnlargersThere are two types of film - negative film and transparency film. The color palettes vary intentionally between the different manufacturers. The principal manufacturers of color film are Agfa, Fuji, and Kodak. Negative film has a wider exposure latitude than transparency film. What this means is that if the picture is shot slightly too dark or slightly too light, it will still result in a good print. Negative film is easier to use and less expensive to use when making prints in a traditional chemical darkroom. Equally high quality darkroom prints can be made from a transparency. The cost of the printing paper for transparencies is considerably higher than for printing from negatives. For large prints, film is usually a better option than a digital camera. For 8"x10" prints a digital camera file is adequate, especially from higher end digital cameras like the Nikon 990. 8"x10" digital prints are generally indistinguishable from 8"x10" darkroom prints. If using an Inkjet process, such as, Epson, Iris or Roland, it is probably easier to work with a transparency. Not all scanners have quality lookup tables for scanning negatives, especially scanners under $1000. Whereas many film scanners in the $600-$1000 range can do a good enough job scanning a transparency to make an 17"x22" print. Transparency film has a narrow exposure latitude making it difficult to use in cameras that have lower quality exposure meters. It is almost impossible to use transparency film in point-and-shoot cameras priced below $150. Transparency film's principal advantage is that it allows you to preview approximately what the printed image will look like. It makes it possible to lay out on a light table or project several images and make a quick decision as to what to print. I have worked with both negatives and transparencies. I now work almost exclusively with transparencies since my end objective is a printed page, an Epson Inkjet print or an Iris Inkjet print. I like the speed of editing available from transparencies and the cost of working from negatives and transparencies is identical with Epson printing, which is my primary printing method.
Film is also available in black and white. Although not many people have used black and white since the 1970s, the two principal black and white film manufacturers, Kodak and Ilford, continue to make very exciting improvements on an almost yearly basis. The film is continually becoming finer grain and works well under a broader range of lighting conditions than previous film. There are 3 principal types of black and white film. They are panchromatic/conventional, panchromatic/chromogenic and Infrared. Most black and white is panchromatic. Chromogenic film is black and white film that is processed using C-41 chemistry which is what is used for color negatives. This means that you can shoot this film and simply drop it off at any one hour color lab rather than trying to find a special black and white lab. Kodak's Chromogenic film is t400 CN. Ilford's Chromogenic film is XP2 Super. XP2 Super prints better on black and white paper t400 CN. Infrared film when used with a 25A red filter turns the sky black and makes leaves on trees and blades of grass into a glowing white. This is difficult film to use, but the results are very exciting. This film is made only by Kodak and is sold as Kodak High Speed Infrared film.
Working with black and white transparencies remains an issue. The newest player in this arena is Aim Color (http://www.aimcolor.com). They offer a service called ".dr5". By shooting black and white negative film while carefully following Aim Color’s instructions, most black and white negative films can be converted to transparencies in the processing of the film. The exposure latitude using this process is very limited.
Although most people do not pay much attention to film speed and are perfectly happy with ISO 400 film (ISO is a technical designation for any given film speed), lower and higher speed films should be considered. Film speeds range from 25 to 3200. I generally use ISO 100 film. This requires more light so it sometimes makes it necessary to use a tripod. I like how the lower speed film shows more texture and makes background elements more visible. Higher speed film can be very useful when shooting indoors where the light is frequently much dimmer than sunlight. The lower the speed of the film, the finer the grain and the brighter the colors. The higher the speed of the film the coarser the grain and the softer the colors.
Film also comes in different sizes. The larger the film the easier it is to make a fine grained print. For prints larger than 17" x 22" or where no amount of lowering the speed of film used makes the print appear acceptable, it is generally best to work with 120 or larger film. 35mm film is 1"x1.5". 120 film is 2.25"x2.25". To change film size requires buying a new camera to accommodate the given film size choice.
An enlarger will not make you a professional photographer. Very few professional photographers use enlargers in their day to day work. But that doesn’t mean having a darkroom isn’t fun. It is very exciting to have a home darkroom.
A good basic enlarger for 35mm black and white photography is the Omega C700 enlarger. It has a rigid steel girder and optical glass condensers. It also accepts 120 negatives. It cost ~$200
Printing Filters
Black and white printing filters make it possible to increase or decrease the number of gray tones in a print. This is referred to as changing the contrast of the print. They are manufactured by Kodak and Ilford. A set suitable for 35mm printing is ~$20. It is important to make sure to get the right size for the enlarger being used. For most 35mm enlargers the size is 3.5".
The filter is placed in the filter drawer. The filter drawer is above the negative carrier and above the condenser lens On an Omega C700; it is where the Omega name appears. Pull the tab and a small drawer pulls out. Place the filter in this drawer. With some enlargers it will be necessary to carefully cut the filter to reduce it to a size suitable for the filter drawer. Cut it very carefully since filters are sold only as full sets.
By carefully looking at a black and print, it can be seen that most black and white prints have a jet black area, a paper base white area and one or more gray areas of varying darkness.
1 Make a print without any filter.
2 Make a second print using a printing filter. Each new filter will require a new test strip.
Choose the filter as follows.
If the print is too gray try a #4 filter. If the print needs more gray try a #1 filter.
3 Carefully compare the first and second prints. This should be done slowly and in the brightest light available.
4 If the second print made with the #4 filter is still too gray try a #4 1/2 filter. If it has become less gray than desired try a #3 1/2 filter.
If the second print made with the #1 filter is still not gray enough, try a #1/2 filter. If it has become too gray try a #1 1/2 filter.
5 Compare all three and adjust accordingly in 1/2 step increments.
The Ilford filter set offers the following filters
#00
#0
#1/2
#1 1/2
#2
#2 1/2
#3
#3 1/2
#4
#4 1/2
#5
Occasionally the filters will not give the desired contrast range making it impossible to print the negative. Problem negatives are those that are extremely light or extremely dark. Film has a greater range of tones than paper making it impossible to print everything that is visible in the negative.
Black & White Film Developing
From 1990-2000 I worked with 3 film developers. They are Sprint Film Developer, Kodak HC-110 and Hutchings PMK Pyro. It should be noted there is no correct way to develop film or make prints other than the methods that you choose to work with in the darkroom should produce consistently high quality negatives and prints.
Sprint Film Developer
When working with Sprint Film Developer I always use a temperature of 75°. This chemistry can be used at temperatures as low as 65°. Whatever temperature you choose, it must carefully be maintained throughout the process with each chemical to produce optimum results.
We will be developing film using the following procedure.
To load film into a light tight tank the film must be loaded onto a film reel. We have 2 types of reels – plastic and metal. The plastic reels are easier to load. The metal reels are more reliable. Plastics reel production in 2006 became much lower quality than in previous years. The main mechanism for winding the film onto the reel breaks easily making it impossible to load onto the reel. Metal reels are difficult to get used to. If you can become patient enough to work with one, they are very reliable.
Loading film is done in total darkness, so it is best to have access to more than one reel when using a reel that has not been previously used just in case you have a bad reel. It is also a good idea to practice loading reels using practice film with the light on before actually loading the real film.
Once the film is loaded to the reel, it is placed in a light tight tank. The plastic tanks also have a light blocking spindle. The reels must be placed on the spindle to keep the tank light tight. The top of plastic tanks must be carefully closed and tested for closure before turning on the lights. When you are sure the tank is correctly loaded the lights can be turned on. The rest of the process is done in full room light.
Take 5 containers that can hold 32 ounces. How much chemistry you put in each tank varies with the size of the tank. Each container will have the exact same amount of liquid. Each container will be a mix of water and various photographic chemicals. Each mixture will be mostly water and a small amount of chemical. Most of the chemicals we will be using are manufactured by Sprint Systems. Here are chemicals. Lay them out in a line from left to right. Label each container to avoid any chance of mixing them up since some of them will look similar.
Container 1 – Presoak
This one is simple it’s just 75.0°F water. The temperature is very important. You can use a lower temperature if necessary. This temperature is suggested because it gives you the fastest processing time without compromising the quality of the process.
Container 2 – Developer
1:9 Mix 1 part Sprint Film Developer with 9 parts of 75.0°F water. This might be 2 oz. of developer to 18 oz. of water in a 20 oz. tank. The amount varies with the tank. The proportions remain the same – 1:9. Be very careful to use film developer not print developer. Print developer will destroy your film. The temperature should not be below 73.0°F or above 77.0°F. If you must use a lower temperature see the Sprint time chart. If you must use a higher temperature contact Sprint.
Container 3 – Stop Bath
1:9 Mix 1 part Sprint Stop Bath with 9 parts of 75.0°F water. This might be 2 oz. of developer to 18 oz. of water in a 20 oz. tank. The amount varies with the tank. The proportions remain the same – 1:9.
Container 4 – Fixer
2:8 Mix 2 parts Sprint Speed Fixer with 9 parts of 75.0°F water. This might be 4 oz. of developer to 16 oz. of water in a 20 oz. tank. The amount varies with the tank. The proportions are different than the two previous chemicals – 2:8.
Container 5 – Perma Wash
There should be a 1 gallon brown container of this on the wooden bench between the 2 sinks. It has been mixed up, so just pour the needed amount in container 5.
You are almost ready to start. You will next need times and agitation patterns.
1. Presoak 65-75° 1m
Constant agitation
2. Developer 65-75° variable
Constant agitation for the first 15s, then one figure 8 every 30s
3. Stop bath 65-75° 1m
Constant agitation
4. Fixer 65-75° 2m (4m for Kodak T-Max films )
Constant agitation for the first 30s, then one figure 8 every 30s
5. Fixer remover 65-75° 2m (4m for Kodak T-Max films )
Constant agitation for the first 30s, then one figure 8 every 30s
Constant agitation for the first 30s, then one figure 8 every 30s
6. Wash 50-86° 4m
7. Photo-Flo 65-75° 10sDo not wipe this off.
Developing your own film is a slow process. The first time takes about 2 hours. With practice this time can quickly be reduced to 1 hour. There are 2 advantages to developing your own film. One is that the quality can be controlled, reducing the amount of paper needed to make a print. The second advantage is time. Good negatives print much faster than bad negatives. If you choose to have a lab develop your film, basic processing is available from Image Inn and Bedford Photo and Digital. For premium processing try Cox B&W Lab or Color Services.
Hutchings PMK Pyro
Step 1. Mix 2.5 ml. of stock solution A with 5 ml. of stock solution B and 250 ml of water. It does not matter whether A or B is added first. When the pyro working solution is mixed together, it will immediately proceed through color changes from gray-green to pale amber. If there is no color change, something is wrong! At the end of the development time saves the developer. Do not throw it away. It will be reused in step 4.
Step 2. Fill the tank with 70° tap water and continuously agitate for 30 sec. Do not use stop bath. This will ruin the film.
Step 3. Fill the tank with 70° TF-4 fixer and continuously agitate for 6 min. Do not use any other type of fixer.
Step 4. Fill the tank with the used developer and continuously agitate for 2 min. Do not wash the film after step 3. Go directly to the used developer. After using throw the used developer away.
Step 5. The film will not look like normal film. This is due to the image staining process. Wash the film at 68° to 75° for 25 min.
Step 6. Photo-flo and dry.
Black & White Printing
Once you have exposed paper under an enlarger, it must be processed through some chemical baths. If you are using 8x10 trays you will need 3 trays and each tray should be filled with 60 oz. of the following chemicals that should be 65°F to 85°F . If you are using 11x14 trays you will need 3 trays and each tray should be filled with 120 oz . of the following chemicals that should be 65°F to 85°F. Each print should be processed for the following times in the following order when using Sprint chemistry. Each chemical should be diluted 1:9 (6 oz. of concentrate to 54 oz. of water for 8x10 trays and 12 oz. of concentrate to 108 oz. of water for 11x14 trays).
1. Print Developer 1m
2. Stop Bath 5s
3. Fixer 2m
Fixer can never be too fresh. It is not visible when it is exhausted. Prints that are inadequately fixed will show stains when they dry. Test strips should be given 10s and full prints should be given one minute. Anything you wish to save at the end of your printing should be given one more minute in fresh fixer.
When the stop bath changes color, your chemicals are exhausted and they should be thrown out, You will able to process about 90 prints before this happens.
4. Storage
This is just water. You can leave prints in this tray for several hours. After you have fixed the print put in here. At the end of class we will wash all of the prints together. Do not hang up unwashed prints.
5. Wash 5m
You cannot over wash a print.
Color Printing
The principal processes for printing color today are
1 RA-4
2 Ilfochome
3 Ultra Stable
RA-4 is the process used to make color prints from color negatives.
Ilfochome is the first process where a reasonably good print can be made directly from a slide in less than 8 hours. Although the finished print is rarely comparable to a UltraStable print, it is generally better than a print where a 4x5 internegative was made and the cost is a somewhat lower than an Ultra Stable print.
Ultra Stable is a truly remarkable process. The colors are brilliant and the prints have a three dimensional quality that is more apparent than in most other printing processes. The process has two major drawbacks. (1)It is very expensive to set up for it-about $3000 and (2) even a mediocre print takes 8 hours or more. This is not a process for the casual printer and does require too much work for most people and even most labs. All color prints fade over time regardless of how they are stored. Ultra Stable prints don’t fade.
Starting Filter Pack
for most color films>>>40M+50Y
for Kodak Ektar films>>>50M+90Y
always include a UV filter in any filter pack to protect your negative
Processing
105°F
1 Pre-soak 60s
2 Developer 50s
3 Stop Bath 30s
4 Rinse 30s
5 Blix 50s
wash prints for 90s at 90-110°F
Mixing Unicolor RA-4 Color Developer (2 liters)
105° water 1562.5 ml
Developer A 125 ml
Developer B 62.5 ml
Developer C 250 ml
Mixing Unicolor RA-4 Color Developer (4 liters)
105° water 3125 ml
Developer A 250 ml
Developer B 125 ml
Developer C 500 ml
Mixing Unicolor RA-4 Blix (2 liters)
105° water 985 ml
Blix A 500 ml
Blix B 500 ml
Blix C 15 ml
Mixing Unicolor RA-4 Blix (4 liters)
105° water 1970 ml
Blix A 1000 ml
Blix B 1000 ml
Blix C 30 ml
Correcting Filtration after first print
prints must be completely dry before changing your filtration
too blue>>> subtract yellow
too green>>>subtract magenta
too red>>>add equal amounts of yellow and magenta
too cyan>>>subtract equal amounts of yellow and magenta
too yellow>>>add yellow
too magenta>>>add magenta
amount of change approximate exposure
color variation in filter pack for new filter pack*
from normal (in seconds)
too blue slight subtract 10Y 10
moderate subtract 20Y 9
great subtract 40Y 9
too green slight subtract 10M 8
moderate subtract 20M 7
great subtract 40M 7
too red slight add 10M+10Y 13
moderate add 20M+20Y 15
great add 40M+40Y 17
too cyan slight subtract 10M+10Y 8
moderate subtract 20M+20Y 7
great subtract 40M+40Y 6
too yellow slight add 10Y 11
moderate add 20Y 11
great add 40Y 11
too magenta slight add 10M 12
moderate add 20M 14
great add 40M 15
* Based on an original exposure time of 10 seconds
Photoshop....
Adobe Photoshop is an exciting but difficult computer graphics software program. Combined with a drum scanner and an Iris printer, you will enter a world that rivals any darkroom. Using Photoshop instead of an inexpensive editing program is like going from a $50 camera to a $400 camera. It's an expensive program, but well worth it. The list price is $900, the street price is $600 and the student/teacher price is $300.
Pretty good prints can now be made using a basic computer, Photoshop, an Epson color printer and Epson Photo Paper. Epson prints are of a high enough quality that this option should be carefully considered as a possible alternative to a darkroom.
These notes were composed using a Macintosh computer and Photoshop 6. If you are using a different version of Photoshop or Windows you will have to make some modifications.
Make a copy of the scan
To copy a scan, click on the image. The title should appear highlighted. Do not double-click. Double-clicking will open the file which is an unnecessary step. (If you do not see a little version [this is called an icon] of your photograph, go to the View menu and choose "By Icon." ) Go to the File Menu and choose "Duplicate." After doing this, a second image appears slightly overlapping the first one with the same name followed by the word copy. Put the copy image aside and in the event you accidentally ruin the original image in the editing you have an absolutely identical image to edit.
Rotate image
If your scan is turned on its side or is upside down, it is simple to turn it right side up. Go to the Image menu and choose "Rotate Canvas". The submenu gives you a variety of options. The first option of 180° is for an upside down image. The second option of 90° CW stands for 90° clockwise and the option below it, 90° CCW stands for 90° counter clockwise. Both of these options are for images that appear on their side, a common problem with 35mm vertical images. As in a darkroom, most people can work with the image more easily if the orientation is the same as what it will be when completed.
Adjust tones and colors
To adjust the brightness and contrast of a black and white image, or to adjust the brightness and color balance of a color image, go to the Image menu and choose "Adjust." A submenu appears with 15 options.
The first option "Levels" opens a complex window with several buttons and a graph. The graph is called a histogram and is showing the tonal range of the image with the shadows on the left, the midtones in the middle and the highlights on the right. The 3 little triangles running along the line below the histogram are referred to as the input sliders. The color of each one (black, gray and white) shows what part of the tonal range that each one represents. There are 3 boxes above the histogram showing the numerical representations of every tone in the image. 0 is jet black and 255 is paper white.
To the right of the input slider bar appear 3 eyedroppers. Notice once again that they are colored black, gray and white. Click on the white one which is the one on the right. When you move the cursor into the image you will notice it has changed from an arrow (or whatever else was the previous cursor shape) to an eyedropper. Click on the lightest area of significance. In other words, don't choose something like a bright white reflection off of a mirror or something similar. The image should look somewhat different after doing this and the histogram should change. Do the same with the shadows using the eye dropper on the left. For the midtones move the midtone input slider to the left to lower the contrast and to the right to increase the contrast. Ignore the midtone eye dropper. Click on the OK button to complete the procedure and then save the image.
Crop
To crop the image, go to the vertical tool bar and click on the top left icon. A sub-icon menu of five icons appears. Choose the one on the right. Take the cursor and place it in the corner of the image. Click and slowly drag to the opposite corner eliminating areas on each side that you no longer want. Click on return to complete the operation.
Sharpen the image
If your image is somewhat soft, and this often happens during scanning, it can be made sharper with the unsharp mask. Sharpening can change colors, so when working with a color scan, do the following to minimize color shifts. Convert the color file to Lab by going to the Image menu, choose Mode, than Lab Color. Activate the Lightness channel by going to Window manual and choosing Show Channels. Click on the Lightness Channel. It will appear highlighted. The other channels will not appear highlighted.
Go the Filters, choose Sharpen, and choose Unsharp Mask. A dialog box appears. For Amount try 70, for Radius try 2.0 and for Threshold try 1. Switch the Mode back to RGB from Lab Color.
You can preview the sharpening effect. Be careful not to over sharpen. When you over sharpen you will often see a strange grainy dot pattern somewhere in the image. It is better to run the Unsharp Mask twice for half of the total amount of sharpening than just once. Running it twice results in a smoother sharpening. Sharpening should always be your very last step in the editing process because it magnifies any image editing that has been done.
