So you expose film or paper negatives and you don’t really have a full darkroom with an enlarger, or reflective enlarger or a 300 watt light bulb, what do you do?
The answer is either your film or paper negative becomes the final product, or you the unimaginable: you rephotograph with your phone or scan the negative into your computer.
This intermediary step, making a digital facsimile of the negative allows you to remove dust spots, burn, dodge, maybe do parallax adjustments (if the converging and diverging lines weren’t on purpose), in short you can do what you would have done in the darkroom, but on the screen of your phone, or laptop, tablet or desktop, it’s OK.
with 35mm or medium format or smaller than 35mm formats this might be a task unless you have a scanner that is able to scan film, or you have a light tablet and do your capture with your phone. some use a DSLR to do this and a one of the setups sold online or in freestanding brick and mortar photo shops ( they do still exist ). to be honest I’ve come to realize I get great results just using my phone. I tape the film or paper to a north facing window and just rephotograph it, you might not like the results for what you do, but they work fine for me.
If you want to do more than just dust and invert and burn and dodge just do what you want. if you want to blast the contrast or saturation or make the image totally grey, or paint it, It’s OK.
using paper instead of film might be an option for you whether you use a 35mm camera or you just bought a 11×14 beast. film is getting expensive these days so either photo paper that is fresh, or some with a tiny bit of fog might work for you. or you could get some bottled emulsion ( or make your own ) and coat your own paper, glass, plastic, metal or something else your fun, your coat. http://www.thelightfarm.com has everything you need to know about making emulsion. it’s not as hard as you might think. Denise Ross is a wonderful teacher and she has several books on the subject.
I mention a little bit of fog because it might be helpful to reduce the contrast of photo paper. often times newcomers with a large format camera are told to get their feet wet with paper negatives and they might become frustrated. they don’t realize it can be tricky to expose paper because its exposure latitude is slim, and the folks who suggest paper negatives might be so used to the problems of paper, they forgot it’s tricky.
if you have shot “slide film” ( E-6, Chromes ) or a digital camera you probably know it’s easy to blow out your exposure if there’s too much darkness or brightness in the subject. like chromes or digital sometimes flat light, overcast days can be the best time to make photographs. some people use a yellow darkroom filter to cut the contrast, but keep in mind this will increase your exposure by maybe 2x, graded paper might be a choice but it can be really slow. so do a test or two before you photographs something that matters.
do the test on different types of days, bright, overcast, gloomy, open shade shade, get to know your paper like you would get to know your film, it’s all about knowing what works and what doesn’t work, and sometimes what doesn’t work in a certain situation would be perfect in a different situation. photo paper sometimes is said to have a sliding iso because it seems like it changes depending on the amount of blue light entering the atmosphere. just make mental notes and get used to your materials. if you screw up, it’s OK, that’s how you learn.
make sure you get a handle on your development. I’ve read some folks like to use Xtol, or HC110 as their go-to developer for paper negatives. others like old standbys like Dektol or Formulary 130 or Sprint. learn to use what you have, just develop to completion when you do your tests. that’s 2 minutes for fiber paper 1minute for RC paper, and make sure you agitate so your negative isn’t splotchy and uneven, and do the same thing in real life that you did in your tests.
for a long time my stand by was having a fresh batch of regular dilute Dektol ( or PF / Ansco 130 ) 1:2, and some that was partially exhausted but saved. I’d develop the paper between the two developers, the fresh developer was fast on the contrast, the used developer helped with the mid tones. I learned this trick and use it often with caffenol, I start in the strong developer and let it finish in the caffenol. I do something similar with film, it might not work for you but it works for me. do something that works for you.
it’s OK, in the end it really doesn’t matter how you got your image, just be able to do it again and again and understand the relationship between your materials. that way when you feel like using paper instead of film you can actually have a good time and know what to expect. its about having a good time and doing something fun.
