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Message |
    
Dr. Elliot Puritz (Mahler_one)
New member (<5 postings)
Username: Mahler_one
Post Number: 3
Registered: 04-2007
| | Posted on Thursday, June 21, 2007 - 2:09 am: | 
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Let's see if we can resurrect some interest here.
I am new to LF photography, and have been using 4x5 film However, I have an 8x10 field camera, and enough lenses to get started. My enlarger will only handle 4x5 negatives. So....I want to try my hand at contact printing, starting with traditional black and white with perhaps some "alternate processing" if I get really motivated.
A few basic questions:
1. Anyone have a really good book that will take one through the process of contact printing? Is the process anything more then putting the negative and paper into the frame, and exposing the film to a light source-probably my enlarger? Anything different about processing the paper? How does one determine the correct exposure-are test strips used?
2. How important is a frame with "registration", and where would one get such a frame?
Any extemporaneous comments and advice would be very gladly recieved.
Ell |
Ted E. Felton (Ted)
Active Member ( <30 postings)
Username: Ted
Post Number: 25
Registered: 10-2004
| | Posted on Wednesday, June 27, 2007 - 10:56 pm: |
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As you mentioned in your post, contact printing is simply 'putting the negative and paper into the frame, and exposing the film to a light source.' Your enlarger should be fine. There used to be conact paper but I not sure if it's made any more. Any paper will work and you use the same process as with enlarging. Exposure is determnined by test strips.
This is a link for contact frames:
http://www.viewcamerastore.com/default.php?cPath=33_71
Frames are important in order to keep the negative in close contact with the paper. The people I know who use 8x10 for b&w contact printing use the platinum/palladium process. With that you need a UV light source. I believe Photographer's Formulary has one.
Ted |
Alexander Rosser (Lcl)
New member (<5 postings)
Username: Lcl
Post Number: 4
Registered: 10-2004
| | Posted on Thursday, July 05, 2007 - 8:33 am: |
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Many years ago I had some photographic print paper, but no chemicals. (I was a child, and living in a remote part of Papua)
If you make a contact print by exposing the paper through the negative in bright sunlight for a considerable time you will eventually get a soft brown image. Anyway that was my experience. I presume it can be fixed with fixer, I never tried. I used to use the process to generate proofs.
Try it for ten minutes, have a look, then expose longer. It may take some hours to get a dense image.
Alex |
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