Dodging and burning - Ilford MG 500 with RH Designs Stopclock 500

I'm using the Stopclock 500 timer because I'm used to the f-stop sequences it uses and the way test strip function works.

However, the timer splits the exposure into separate green and blue exposures rather than varying the intensity of each colour like the original controller does. So it appears that dodging and burning at anything other than grades 00 or 5 would be pretty inaccurate as the position of the dodging / burning tool would shift between low and high contrast exposures.

Would it be better to just use the two extremes, or are there other tricks people use? I've had a go at split grade printing and I’m struggling to get acceptable results a lot of the time so don't think that’s going to be the answer.

I've been split printing for probably two decades now. I only ever use the softest and hardest grade. I have been doing it so long it has become second nature to me. I think it is a superior way of printing, but there are lots of ways to skin a cat.

I think if you state what you are struggling with you might get some answers.

You only need to dodge the blue and burn the green. Try it and see.

ic-racer said:

You only need to dodge the blue and burn the green. Try it and see.

Click to expand...

I'm intrigued by this idea, although I haven't been able to figure out the logic behind it. Are you able to tell me more about how this works?

Patrick Robert James said:

I've been split printing for probably two decades now. I only ever use the softest and hardest grade. I have been doing it so long it has become second nature to me. I think it is a superior way of printing, but there are lots of ways to skin a cat.

I think if you state what you are struggling with you might get some answers.

Click to expand...

A couple of things really. Firstly, the brightness of the filtered lights are not the same, so whereas on my previous enlarger (a Meopta) the starting point for testing would be equal times for low and high contrast exposures, that's not the case on the Ilford 500 head. This means that I spend a lot of time (and a number of test strips) just finding out where to start making meaningful tests.

Next, when I'm printing a negative with very little actual highlight I'm finding it difficult to judge the low contrast exposure, as anything but the brightest of highlights seems to get changed dramatically by the high contrast exposure. I'm wondering whether this means I should try testing for high contrast first then dial in the highlights afterwards for these sorts of prints...

ITD said:

Next, when I'm printing a negative with very little actual highlight I'm finding it difficult to judge the low contrast exposure, as anything but the brightest of highlights seems to get changed dramatically by the high contrast exposure. I'm wondering whether this means I should try testing for high contrast first then dial in the highlights afterwards for these sorts of prints...

Click to expand...

That is exactly what you should try.
In essence, the first test should result in a print that is almost final, while the second test is used to finalize the print.
A subject which has large (or at least important) areas of shadow and small areas of highlight will benefit most from carefully adjusting the contrast and density of the shadows. The high contrast filter has a much more direct affect on those shadows.
A subject which has large (or at least important) areas of highlight and small areas of shadow will benefit most from carefully adjusting the contrast and density of the highlights. The low contrast filter has a much more direct affect on those highlights.
Keep these factors in mind when you determine the order of your tests.
Also keep in mind though that you can often benefit from additional, localized, contrast adjusting burns and dodges. As an example, if you use a low contrast filter to bring out density in the otherwise white sky, consider also adding to the sky area a localized high contrast burn, to see if that adds wanted definition and detail.

ITD said:

I'm intrigued by this idea, although I haven't been able to figure out the logic behind it. Are you able to tell me more about how this works?

Click to expand...

That is the way split printing works. The green exposure affects the highlights and the blue exposure affects the shadows. Burning the blue into a highlight won't do much, but the green will darken the highlight better and quicker. Not dodging the green is fine, because it is the blue that is making your shadows dark, the green is not doing much to the shadows.

ic-racer said:

That is the way split printing works. The green exposure affects the highlights and the blue exposure affects the shadows. Burning the blue into a highlight won't do much, but the green will darken the highlight better and quicker. Not dodging the green is fine, because it is the blue that is making your shadows dark, the green is not doing much to the shadows.

Click to expand...

Thanks, makes sense now!