Adobe Lightroom edit options and the darkroom

[Manuel Madeira]

Hi guys!! So, Im planing on creating my own begginers lab soon, but right now the majority of photography I do is digital and I use lightroom to "develop" the photos, and recenlty i've been wondering how lightroom edit options reflect the darkroom developing process. For example, I would like to know how to increase contrast in the darkroom. But the options I am most interested on are the texture and dehaze options. How do youincrease texture in an analogic photo?? (if thats even possible). Or change the haze levels because thats my favourite option of all. I hope you guys understand what I'm asking .

 

[MurrayMinchin]

I don't know if sharp and unsharp darkroom masking techniques are possible with 35mm film, but that's what I used with 4x5 and I've heard people have used it with medium format film.

With theses masks you can have near miraculous control over a print. We've all seen photographs where the photographer has burned in the sky to get some definition in the clouds, and the top half of a tree standing against the sky is burned down to pitch black in the process.

With masking techniques you can darken and/or bump contrast in the sky while not affecting local contrast of the ground, and make what is effectively a grain for grain dodge of the undersides of the tree branches so that there is texture everywhere.

It is crazy complex, hard to learn, even harder to become fluid/intuitive with the process, and can produce garish, ugly results if taken too far.

It would be a good idea to use your darkroom for at least a couple years learning how to use different paper grades, developers, and dodging/burning techniques, then look into masking techniques...if you need them.

Here are a couple links to give you an idea:

https://www.maskingkits.com/maskingexamples.htm

https://www.freestylephoto.biz/contrast-masking-the-traditional-print

 

[Alan Edward Klein]

Are you asking is what we do after we scan film and then use Lightroom to edit it? That's what I do. You use the features of Lightroom to get the results you want. Obviously, the scans of film provide different results than a digital camera. So you'll be using the sliders somewhat different but also the same in most cases. You'll have to experiment to see what works best for you. The main adjustment I use when scanning film is to first set the clipping points - the black and white points. The I go on to adjust contrast, exposure, etc etc.

 

[Paul Howell]

For the beginner start with learning a few basic tech, burn and dodge, lighting and darkening selected areas of the negative, and contrast control by changing the variable contrast filter, or learning how to spilt print in which 2 filters are used, not at the same time, to control contrast. Once you've mastered the basics you can learn to mask. Adding texture, some of the older how to books on darkroom tech show how to use KY jelly on clear glass to defuse areas of a print, how to make a paper negative to create a bit of texture or softness. The bottom line is that there things you can do in PS/LR that may not be possible or practicable with a darkroom print. Look in Thrift Books or Amazon for books on darkroom techs.

 

[jvo]

6 months ago i had to close down my darkroom and move to the digital world. in the beginning i thought like i did in the darkroom, exposure, burning, dodging, and on.

then i started to learn the digital workflow and not bend it to my will.

the 2 path's to an image are dissimilar. they each have some similarities to the other and they each have some tools and techniques that are unique to the process.

it is easier to approach each process without trying to replicate what you do in the other. you then get to view the expanse of techniques available in each.

 

[MattKing]

As I understand the OP, he/she is looking for advice on how to do things in the darkroom that he/she has done digitally in the past.
For that reason, it is appropriate that the thread is in an analog sub-forum.
For texture and haze, I expect that those are adjustments related to contrast and accutance, so I would suggest exploring contrast control, as well as perhaps experimenting with the options available with different enlarger light sources.
The work with contrast is important basic work. Light sources are probably best experimented with after you have gained some more general experience.

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

Many of the Lightroom and Photoshop controls imitate darkroom procedures, but some of them are fairly advanced. Increasing texture is a masking technique, which is pretty advanced, but first learn to control contrast, which is more straightforward. There are also film development techniques that can increase edge sharpness and bring out texture, which is good if you want that all the time, but once it's on the film, it's not reversible.

Haze effects are best achieved in the camera, because natural looking haze involves the highlights diffusing into the shadows, but if you use a diffuser under the enlarging lens, you're diffusing the shadows into the highlights. Sometimes that can work, if you only want a small amount of diffusion, say to soften up wrinkles in a portrait, but you've got more options with diffusion in the camera. If you're shooting B&W, you can also increase the amount of haze in a landscape by using a blue filter.