Wednesday 20 January 2016

On the wall

So when I was in the darkroom the other day I printed out Missy with cello which you might have seen earlier.  I did a few prints, as I suspected The Grandmas might like one for their walls...

I spli-grade printed it onto Kentmere VC paper.  Although the lighting wasn't great on Missy's face, the highlight on the cello came out well:


So that was my starting point and to be quite honest I didn't do anything else in the darkroom with it.  Looking at it now perhaps I could have darkened down the tiles in the next room (behind the glass doors), as the light there does catch your eye, but since the whole print is on the dark side I'm not sure that would work.  I'd like Missy's face to have a little more contrast, but I didn't fancy trying to do anything in the darkroom with that - too small an area, I reckon.

Anyway, armed with a few prints like the one above, I tried my hand at sepia-toning.  This was the first effort:


It all looks a bit washed out.  I think I left it too long in the bleach.  I tried again, taking the next print out of the bleach earlier:


Better - the contrast is coming back.  Only one left to try, with even less time in the bleach stage:


OK so there's not a lot to choose between the last two prints but I think the last one just has it.  Compared to the first, non-toned print the face is much better defined and the whole print has a bit more life about it.

And now the last two are in their wee frames, hanging on walls - or at least they will be soon, once I hammer a nail or two in...

4 comments:

  1. Very good job done inside that darkroom, Michael. And a fine snap it is, for sure! Me to think the two last ones in the series seems to be a tad better than the others. The toning certainly did the trick of getting all the important stuff to stand out in a good way. What type of toner do you use?

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    1. Hi Roy - it's just Fotospeed's ST20 Sepia Toner kit. When I first made it up I made to too strong, so I added a splosh of water before I toned these prints and it seemed to be better. Still getting the hang of it, but it's very enjoyable.

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    2. Thanks! Looks good from here, anyway, and a scan is a scan which don't tell the truth in any way... so I keep that in mind as well :))
      I seriously need to get some of that toner. A shame I did not think of it a couple of days ago, before I ordered that ten-pack of film...

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  2. Love them - especially the last one.

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