Dodge/Burn

CMoore · Oct 2, 2015

I did my first burn job last night. I enrolled at our local college, and they (fortunately) still have a very nice darkroom and some good/dedicated instructors.
Anyway.......I was working with a fairly high-contrast negative.....outside, lots of sun, white building with an overhang that created Nice/Interesting shadows. The left side of the frame looked like it was just the virgin paper (under exposed), that is how white it was. The sun was blasting a white column, I thought nothing could be there. But, 15 seconds of burning brought out an amazing amount of detail (specs, lines, stains) in the stone column.
If I had not seen it with my own eyes.........quite a revelation for a beginner.
I am not Ansel Adams, and I have very little artistic talent/ability, but.....it is still enjoyable to "master" the Techniques/Mechanics of photography.

MattKing · Oct 2, 2015

CMoore said:
I did my first burn job last night. I enrolled at our local college, and they (fortunately) still have a very nice darkroom and some good/dedicated instructors.
Anyway.......I was working with a fairly high-contrast negative.....outside, lots of sun, white building with an overhang that created Nice/Interesting shadows. The left side of the frame looked like it was just the virgin paper (under exposed), that is how white it was. The sun was blasting a white column, I thought nothing could be there. But, 15 seconds of burning brought out an amazing amount of detail (specs, lines, stains) in the stone column.
If I had not seen it with my own eyes.........quite a revelation for a beginner.
I am not Ansel Adams, and I have very little artistic talent/ability, but.....it is still enjoyable to "master" the Techniques/Mechanics of photography.

Welcome to a whole bunch of fun.

I've loved darkroom work since I started at age eleven.

jeffreythree · Oct 2, 2015

I have also just started trying to dodge and burn as well, and started with negatives that just need a little work. It really is amazing what can be done by adding or taking away a little light, and I already have a couple that look better than I ever managed in a non analog manner.

Rich Ullsmith · Oct 2, 2015

Ah, the hook has been set! This is sure to lead to apprenticeships in plumbing, electrical and carpentry. Have fun!

ParkerSmithPhoto · Oct 2, 2015

If you think about dodging and burning in f-stops, it makes it much easier.

Easier still, buy an f-stop timer!

Sirius Glass · Oct 2, 2015

ParkerSmithPhoto said:
If you think about dodging and burning in f-stops, it makes it much easier.

Easier still, buy an f-stop timer!

This is discussed fully in Ralph's book Way Beyond Monochrome. http://www.waybeyondmonochrome.com/WBM2/Welcome.html You should purchase the book which is worth much more than its price. Ralph regularly posts on APUG.

jimjm · Oct 2, 2015

The great thing is that you never stop learning how to improve. There are lots of other techniques like split-grade printing, toning and bleaching ( among many others) than can bring your final print closer to what you want. B/W film can retain a broad range of detail, if exposed correctly for the lighting conditions. The trick to printing is pulling out all of the information you need from the negative to get the final print you want.

Get some good books on darkroom technique and this will help to inspire you and show what's possible. Two books I am using a lot right now are "The Art of Photography" by Bruce Barnbaum, and "The Photographer's Master Printing Course" by Tim Rudman.

CMoore · Oct 2, 2015

Some great comments and info.
Thank You

HowieP · Oct 3, 2015

Also, as you gain more experience and acquire the techniques described above, you will discover that you always can improve a print. If you've done ten versions of a negative, you'll think that there is an eleventh that will do the trick. The you will train yourself to stop.

CMoore · Oct 4, 2015

HowieP said:
Also, as you gain more experience and acquire the techniques described above, you will discover that you always can improve a print. If you've done ten versions of a negative, you'll think that there is an eleventh that will do the trick. The you will train yourself to stop.

I can see The Darkroom becoming a virtual "Heroin Addiction" of the photography game.....

Sirius Glass · Oct 4, 2015

HowieP said:
Also, as you gain more experience and acquire the techniques described above, you will discover that you always can improve a print. If you've done ten versions of a negative, you'll think that there is an eleventh that will do the trick. The you will train yourself to stop.

CMoore said:
I can see The Darkroom becoming a virtual "Heroin Addiction" of the photography game.....

Do not stop there. One must make the twelfth version in order to get into a twelve step program.

Dodge/Burn

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