Blotch? Visual distortions at stop bath

snusmumriken said:

This might help. For film, which will go on developing far beyond the ideal contrast, the stop bath does indeed stop development swiftly and cleanly. But for prints, ‘stop bath’ is arguably a misleading term, because - as others have said above - if you have correctly exposed the print, not much will change as a result of prolonged development. Instead the greater importance of the stop bath for prints is to protect your fixer by preventing developer carry-over.

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cramej said:

All of your answers are in the posts above.

#1 problem - not developing fully. 1'30" in the developer will solve the swirlies.

#2 problem - short exposure time.

• Enlarger bulb too bright.
  • Find the correct bulb if it's not
  • Use an inline dimmer
  • Stop down more
• Negatives too thin. Under exposed and/or under developed
  • Use better exposed negatives
  • Check your film developing process to be sure you're developing for the right time
  • Check your camera and metering to be sure exposure is correct

#3 problem - Consistency.

• Only change one variable at a time.
  • First, don't use fingers and keep your tongs separate. Wash and dry hands if you get developer or fixer on them before handling any paper.
  • Second, solve the swirlies. You don't need to use full sheets of paper for this, cut one into fourths
  • Third, work with the exposure time.
  • Etc....

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