Finny
Member
Be Safe and Godspeed.
no, never done! In fact, it depends on film, developers, papers... you just have to learn to see and to feel
Be Safe and Godspeed.
I recall years ago someone describing keeping a reference print and submerging it in a tray of water to use for comparison. I'd think that poor defenseless print might not hold up too well, but maybe for a one or two time small series it would help in getting a consistent result.Reference print? First I've heard of it. Interesting idea but....not sure how useful it would be. Wouldn't dry down be an issue?
Using a toned print as an example for printing in the darkroom would be a little odd...taking into the tonal changes that can happen during toning. Having a toned print next to one's toning tray makes sense -- but one would have to pull the print out of the toner before it starts to look like the example, since toning usually continues some after removal from the tray.
We did keep a piece of photopaper, about 4x5, in the darkroom that was pure black on one half and white on the other. Holes were punched on both halves and you could put it over your print to see if you had a good white and a good black on your print.
The last thing we wanted was to tell students what their prints should look like, such as some arbitrary image on FB paper. As a starting point, I'd ask is what they wanted their image to look like.That's a good idea. Better than a reference print I think.
The last thing we wanted was to tell students what their prints should look like, such as some arbitrary image on FB paper. As a starting point, I'd ask is what they wanted their image to look like.
The other thing I said a lot was, "No, this is Humboldt County...no one at this university is that tan in the winter -- lighten em up a bit."
I think that's a good approach. Time in developer is not a variable for me either. Time under the enlarger light is. Removing one variable helps me.No, and now that I use Dektol and time for 2 minutes I do not develop by guessing while the print is developing. I look at the result after fixing and turn on the light, if necessary.
I use the same method. I use RC paper exclusively so two minutes or three minutes makes no difference to the blacks and minuscule difference to peak whites.No, and now that I use Dektol and time for 2 minutes I do not develop by guessing while the print is developing. I look at the result after fixing and turn on the light, if necessary.
I remember the Fred Picker reference print... I bought one ... waited in anguish until it could arrive so I would have the reference I needed to improve my work... Turned out it was one of the worst prints I have ever seen.... so the answer is No..
Unless you are doing edition prints and need a wet reference to match too.
For b/w I think a reference print would be useful only if it came with a reference negative.
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