Photography self taught

Printing is perhaps the most interesting of all the phases of photographic work. While correct lighting, exposure, and negative making cannot be too strongly emphasized, it is after all the finished print that has been the end in view through each successive step.

PRINTING PAPERS

PRINTING-OUT PAPERS. The earliest printing paper, plain silver paper, was introduced by Fox Talbot about 1840. This was followed by albumen papers, examples being found in the family albums of a generation ago. Later came the silver chloride papers of the collodion and gelatin types. In addition to these printing-out papers are others such as platinum, and carbon, both of which are used quite largely by pictorial workers. Blue-prints, which are now mainly used for architect’s drawings, are made by one of the simplest of processes. After exposure to sunlight through the negative until the image is visible except in the highlights, washing in water completes the process, as development and fixing are not required.

DEVELOPING PAPERS. These are used almost exclusively at the present time. They are very similar to films except in regard to the kind of support and in the speed. Papers for contact printing usually have silver chloride for the sensitive silver salt. These are not as fast papers as those used for enlarging, which more often have silver bromide for the sensitive compound.

SELECTION OF PAPER. The multiplicity of papers available presents a valuable means of producing not only distinctive work but also getting out that which is best technically and artistically from every negative. Photographic papers are made in both single and double weight, the former being well suited to small prints and those which are to be mounted flat; the latter being more desirable for post cards, for prints with borders that are to be left unmounted and for professional work that is to be placed in folders.

Emulsions are usually coated on a white or buff stock though occasionally on a cream or ivory base. Printing papers are made in many surfaces—glossy, semi-gloss, semi-matte, velvet, smooth-matte, slightly rough, rough lustre, rough matte and others. If something out of the ordinary is wanted there are papers with silk, linen and canvas surfaces as well as emulsions on tissue, parchment and canvas. The semi-matte, and velvet surfaces are preferred by many, although the brilliant glossy prints are best for reproduction. Matte papers are used for a large proportion of portraits.

Contrast. As the print is made by allowing light to shine through the negative on to a piece of sensitive paper with which it is placed in contact it follows that a very thin portion of the negative will result in dark shadows in the print. Similarly over-dense highlights of the negative will hold back so much of the light that the lightest parts of the print will be perfectly white. The professional photographer produces negatives of reasonable uniformity and therefore professional papers are usually made with only one degree of contrast. The amateur on the other hand works under such widely varying conditions that it is almost impossible to secure uniform negatives. So his printing papers are made in several degrees of contrast, usually three or four, to take care of the different types of negatives. In the case of papers such as Velox or Azo, having contrasts numbered from one (the softest) to four (the most contrasty), the following table should be of help:

A print to be technically perfect must correctly reproduce the variations in light and shade of the original subject in their proper relation and depth. In other words, a paper should be selected which is of such contrast that when printed, no portion of the picture will be absolutely white without detail and none will be completely black, obliterating detail. However, the scale of tones should be as long as possible without losing this detail.

PRINTING PROCESS

The necessary materials for making prints are few in number and simple in character. Developing and fixing solutions as well as a short stop bath, and water for washing and prints are of course essential and should be ready before starting. As the printing papers are sensitive to white light the work must be done in a very subdued light or in a dark room lighted by a safelight lamp fitted with a yellow safelight.

EXPOSURE. The negative is placed upon the glass of the printing frame or printing machine with the back or shiny side down. Over this is placed a piece of sensitive paper with the sensitized side in contact with the dull side of the negative and then the back of the frame is replaced or the top of the printing machine pushed down. With the frame the exposure is accomplished by holding it a few inches from an electric light bulb or other light source for a few seconds. The time of the exposure will have to be found by experiment. With amateur papers such as Velox, the time of exposure must be such that the print will develop up to the proper depth in about 45 seconds in the developer designed for it at a temperature of 70 degrees. Portrait papers usually require about 1½ minutes for full development and enlarging papers may require still longer, in certain cases. If it is found that upon development for the proper time that the print is too light, it is evident that the exposure has been insufficient and must be increased for the next print. On the other hand if the print develops up to the proper depth too quickly, the exposure has been too great and the print will be mottled and muddy. When making the exposures, there is of course a good opportunity for dodging or holding back certain parts of the picture. Also, there is endless opportunity for making vignettes, borders, combination prints and other types that are not especially difficult but which cannot be described in a book of this size. The reader is urged to consult some more comprehensive work.⁠[8]

DEVELOPMENT. The function of the developer and the chemistry of development are the same as for negatives and need not be repeated. A Metol (Elon)—hydroquinone combination (MQ) is now almost universally used. Sodium carbonate has the same function as in the negative developer but the sodium sulphite here largely acts as a preservative. Potassium bromide is the chemical in the print developer that controls the color. Enough bromide must be used to prevent fog or development of the unexposed grains of silver salts, and this gives a print of a blue-black color which if sepia-toned will tend to be purple. A larger quantity under similar conditions of development gives an olive toned black and white print which is likely to tone to a yellow sepia.

The formula recommended by the manufacturer should always be used. A specimen formula (Velox) is given:

For use, take Stock Solution 1 part, water 1 part. Develop 45 seconds at 70° F.

If placed in bottles filled to the neck and tightly corked it will keep for several weeks.

Method of Development. Four trays containing respectively developer, short stop bath, fixing bath, and water, arranged in that order should be ready before starting to print. The same type of fixing bath as recommended for negatives should be used. The short stop bath consists of water 16 ounces and acetic acid (28%) ¾ ounce.

After the exposure is made, the tray containing the developer is tipped to one side and the print slid in face up from the high side of the tray which is immediately tipped the other way causing the solution to quickly cover the entire print. The print should be left in the tray which is rocked slowly to secure evenness of development until within about 5 seconds or so of the completion of the process. Then while the print is held up to drain it can easily be seen when the proper depth is reached. It should immediately be transferred to the short stop bath.

Development should be carried on for the length of time indicated as correct by the manufacturer of the printing paper and at the temperature recommended. After some experience it is perhaps better to learn to develop by inspection. Correctly exposed prints are properly developed to the correct depth when all the light affected particles have been reduced or when the light action seems to stop. If the print becomes too dark before it seems to pause in development, then it has been overexposed. If it must remain in the developer for some time in an attempt to force up the image, the print will become discolored.

The print when placed in the short stop bath should be moved about for two or three seconds and should then be transferred to the fixing bath, or it may remain until a few more prints are made. A short stop bath will stop development immediately and will also prevent the alkali and carbonate from being carried over into the fixing bath. After the fingers have been in the short stop bath or fixing bath, they must be washed and dried before being placed back in the developer.

FIXATION. The prints should be fixed in 15 minutes. A long immersion may cause bleaching, or discoloration if the bath is too warm. The prints must be turned over and separated a number of times during the process of fixation to be sure that all the silver salts are eliminated. If they are not thoroughly fixed they may turn pink and gradually fade. If the rinse bath has been used, 64 ounces of the fixing bath should properly fix 200 3¼ × 5½ prints. Should the fixing bath become milky in appearance it should be discarded at once.

WASHING. Washing prints by hand is perhaps the most certain method of eliminating chemicals from the paper and emulsion. Prints are placed in a tray of clear water and after four or five minutes are transferred one at a time to another tray of clear water of similar temperature; the first tray is again filled with clear water and the process is repeated until the prints have been passed through 10 or 12 changes of water. If the change in temperature from one wash water to another or from the developer to fixing bath or from the fixing bath to the wash water, is very considerable, blisters are likely to result. If running water is available and the prints are kept separated, they should properly wash in about one hour.

DRYING. Prints except those having a glossy surface should be dried face down on photo lintless blotters or on cheese cloth stretchers. Glossy prints are rolled into contact on ferrotype tins and when dry have a very smooth shiny surface. Drying machines are used in commercial photo finishing establishments where it is necessary to turn out hundreds or even thousands of prints a day.

After the prints are dry they are likely to have a decided curl inward. They can be straightened by drawing them sharply over the back of a table, although there is danger of cracking the emulsion. A better way is to dampen the backs slightly with a wet sponge or cotton and then place them between heavy lintless cardboards under a few pounds pressure until dry again.

ENLARGING

Enlargements are in no way materially different from ordinary prints except that a faster paper is used and the image is formed by projection through a lens as when being made in the camera, instead of by contact. With the advent of the modern fast enlarging papers of contact quality, this method of printing has become so simplified that beautiful enlargements of any reasonable size can easily and quickly be made from small negatives of good quality. Thus the ambitious worker with his ever present Vest Pocket Kodak fitted with an anastigmat lens is always ready for any emergency, knowing that whenever a worthy negative is secured it may be used to produce a large picture the equal of a contact print from a larger camera.

For a long time fixed focus enlarging machines or focusing machines were used. However, the Automatic Focusing machines are so much more convenient that they are coming into general use. Being automatic in focus much time is saved over the kind where it is necessary to attend to getting the proper sized image and the correct focus at the same time. Some of these cameras have supplementary lenses which may be used over the regular lens when softness and diffusion are wanted. The process of development, fixing, washing and drying is similar to that of making contact prints.

TONING⁠[9]

For most photographic subjects nothing is more satisfactory than a good black and white print. Occasionally, however, such a subject as an autumn landscape is more truthfully rendered in a warmer tone while pictures of people are often preferred in sepia tones as being more true to life. Of the two principal methods of producing sepia tones, the redevelopment and the hypo-alum, the former is usually preferred for amateur work as it is more simple.

FINISHING THE PICTURE⁠[10]

Keeping prints loose in a box or drawer is a most unsatisfactory method of preservation, as they soon become dirty or lost. Mounting them in folders or on card mounts is better but for average amateur work this is not so good as keeping them in albums.

When selecting mounts, it is well to remember that a light mount will make a picture appear darker and consequently should be used for a print that is too light. Similarly a dark print should be placed in a still darker mount. Black and white prints generally look best on gray mounts and sepia on brown ones.

Nearly all prints are improved by judicious trimming. Anything that does not help center the interest should be eliminated. Vertical and horizontal lines that are not true should be corrected whenever possible. A good, clean cut edge along with square corners can be secured by the use of a regular trimming board.

If prints are to be dry mounted, they should not be trimmed until after the mounting tissue is attached to the print. Dry mounting has the decided advantage that prints can be mounted perfectly flat on thin mounts or album leaves. It is very easily done and does not get the print or mount soiled and the print is protected from possible moisture and injurious chemicals in the mount. A piece of dry mounting tissue is attached to the back of the print by touching it in a couple of places with a hot iron. The print is now turned face up and with the adhering tissue is trimmed to the proper size. Next it is placed in position on the mount, covered with a thin card and put under pressure for a few seconds in a dry mounting press, or a flat iron may be used.

After the print is mounted it is often necessary to do some spotting. Any small white spots are filled up using a No. 1 sable brush and a card of spotting colors.

Many prints are made more effective by hand coloring. Tinting with water colors is perhaps the most popular method, although studio work is often done with oil or pastel colors.