Could you be arsed...?

I ruthlessly self edit when deciding what to print, the upshot being that the negs I print I really want to print. I suppose that's the way most of us work. At the moment I'm bang in the middle of printing some old negs from the 80's, mainly photo's of me and my mate climbing mountains etc. The problem is that in order to maintain some sort of coherent narrative I had to print this one neg which, to all intents and purposes, was a real PITA. It's under exposed and over developed; scenically shite and, taken out of context, not worth printing at all. However, not printing it would have left me with a gaping hole in a succession of images that tell a story. Has this happened to anyone else; have you had to make a print, either one of your own or someone else's, that really wasn't worth the effort?

mud

Sometimes you just have to muddle through.

Blighty said:

The problem is that in order to maintain some sort of coherent narrative I had to print this one neg which, to all intents and purposes, was a real PITA. It's under exposed and over developed; scenically shite and, taken out of context, not worth printing at all. However, not printing it would have left me with a gaping hole in a succession of images that tell a story.

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Forget about the technical qualities and print. It's part of your story.

I look at printing tough negs as a challenge to improve my skills. Often I'm curious what can be done with them.

Just print. It's all good.

S

Hatchetman said:

I look at printing tough negs as a challenge to improve my skills. Often I'm curious what can be done with them.

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+1 on that...every negative has its positives.

It's a narrative problem - I have this issue a lot on video editing of events, trying to make a "story" out of a pile of footage. Often the story makes more sense or has more impact if the final order of shots is different than what really happened... sometimes a shot I really need is poorly composed, out of focus, whatever. Often changing the speed or reversing the time (someone taking a baby from someone's lap becomes putting a baby in someone's lap... and yep, if you look close, there's someone walking backwards in the BG for a couple frames - nobody sees it...)

All that to say, what can you get away with? Can you double expose or mask something in the BG (a mountain, clouds, etc) that would bring the image together? Do something extreme like lith print it (or would it then be an even sore-er thumb?) Put the print on a tabletop with mementos or gear and re-photograph it, or aim a camera at it and shoot the ground glass as if someone shot you shooting it? Reframe it through trees or a rock ridge (masking, retouching, etc)? (Sore thumb-level applies of course).

If it's really needed to make a linear story, the person being told the story will - hopefully - be absorbed in the narrative enough to not notice any problems. Hell, we're all too harsh on our own stuff anyway.

If it is needed to tell the story, then it is worth the effort.


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Black Dog said:

+1 on that...every negative has its positives.

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+2 on that. I reckon some prints have to be made whether you like 'em or not! Regards, B.

ambaker said:

If it is needed to tell the story, then it is worth the effort.


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I agree.