Does the acetate mask work?

InExperience · Feb 20, 2022

Dear all,

I have a complex photography where the main subject it's underexposed. I found the correct exposure for it to appear clear enough but I have to burn around its contour.
Reading the book Master Printing Course by Tim Rudman, he suggests to use an acetate mask, where I can outline the required area with a fine-point pen suitable for the acetate mask. After I have to paint the marked area with photo-opaque paint, and to adoperate this mask when print the photo.
Would this technique create the same problem as when we try to dodge a cut card? I mean to be visible small part in white on the print.

Potential issues:

Solution

Thank you.

otto.f · Feb 20, 2022

I would make a mask where the rocks are smaller, so that you can move up and down without touching the sky. I don’t know about acetate and the way it would reflect light in unwanted directions, could cause flare?

RalphLambrecht · Feb 20, 2022

InExperience said:
Dear all,

I have a complex photography where the main subject it's underexposed. I found the correct exposure for it to appear clear enough but I have to burn around its contour.
Reading the book Master Printing Course by Tim Rudman, he suggests to use an acetate mask, where I can outline the required area with a fine-point pen suitable for the acetate mask. After I have to paint the marked area with photo-opaque paint, and to adoperate this mask when print the photo.
Would this technique create the same problem as when we try to dodge a cut card? I mean to be visible small part in white on the print.

Potential issues:
View attachment 298771

Solution

View attachment 298772 View attachment 298772

Thank you.

these masks do ork but the process takes care and time. The results are rewarding however.

InExperience · Feb 20, 2022

RalphLambrecht said:
these masks do ork but the process takes care and time. The results are rewarding however.

Thank you so much confirming this kind of technic. I will put attention and care into it.

RalphLambrecht · Feb 20, 2022

InExperience said:
Thank you so much confirming this kind of technic. I will put attention and care into it.

I used it successfully but I admit, the iPhone is only worth it for the occasional very good print.

Andrew O'Neill · Feb 20, 2022

When I was heavily into gelatin silver printing, I used frosted mylar and red acrylic paint (thinned out with water). Wearing +4 specs from the dollar store really helps painting edges. For contact printing LF negs, or enlargments, the mask would go directly on top of the negative. I had to make a registration system in the negative tray. Worked like a charm. Now, whenever I print LF negs for alt processes, I use this method, too.

Frank53 · Feb 20, 2022

Try burning grade 0 only. In most cases this hardly has any impact on the surrouding arreas. the book you mention is very interesting, but from another era. I understand mr Rudman is using split grade printing himself nowadays.

Don_ih · Feb 20, 2022

You can use lith film to make a positive mask. You could then paint on the lith film in a similar manner. Also, use a red filter over the enlarger lens to line up your mask when you put it on the paper to expose.

koraks · Feb 20, 2022

Frank53 said:
Try burning grade 0 only. In most cases this hardly has any impact on the surrouding arreas.

You must be using magic papers. Count yourself lucky.

Don_ih · Feb 20, 2022

koraks said:
You must be using magic papers. Count yourself lucky.

That was pretty funny - and I was thinking almost the same thing. Perhaps the surrounding areas are already black?
Split grade printing can't do what a dodging mask can do. Burning at grade 0 my help even out the transitions, though. The transitions are always what looks wonky.

Frank53 · Feb 20, 2022

Don Heisz said:
That was pretty funny - and I was thinking almost the same thing. Perhaps the surrounding areas are already black?
Split grade printing can't do what a dodging mask can do. Burning at grade 0 my help even out the transitions, though. The transitions are always what looks wonky.

Sorry, didn’t want to upset anyone, just tried to guide the man to something that might work.
Maybe try it sometime

Don_ih · Feb 20, 2022

Frank53 said:
Sorry, didn’t want to upset anyone, just tried to guide the man to something that might work.
Maybe try it sometime

I've tried it. I'm not upset. He's talking about adjacent parts of the same negative that have drastically different exposures. Split grade printing can't replace that kind of masking. Selective graded dodging and burning is useful, though.

Patrick Robert James · Feb 20, 2022

It is easy to cut a dodging card with precision. Just use a print. Easy peasy.

My preferred method of dodging areas like in the example is to tape a piece of frosted mylar over the neg holder and then use a pencil to add density where the dodging needs to occur. You'll never get a sharp line and the image stays looking natural since you are only holding back some of the light. I don't recall ever trying it with a condenser enlarger so if you use one your mileage may vary as they say.

MattKing · Feb 20, 2022

Patrick Robert James said:
It is easy to cut a dodging card with precision. Just use a print. Easy peasy.

This works well. I usually have the most success if the print is smaller than the print in the easel. Then I position the dodging print/card in the light colums, and move it up and down in the light.

Craig75 · Feb 20, 2022

I always struggled with the acetate mask with halos and gave up.

Lith film and registration or using matt's technique are easier imo. Obviously it depends on the shape Yr trying to block out too.

InExperience · Feb 21, 2022

Thank you for all the suggests.
I have bought the acetate mask, and as well I will try to cut a card in small shape of the area of interest dodging and burning.
I will let you know the results.

M Carter · Feb 21, 2022

I do a ton of sky replacements with masks; here in Texas, we often have dead-blue boring skies, and I like clouds. I usually shoot with a light blue filter on those days, to get more density in the neg for the sky, makes the meg almost "a mask" to start with; contact print the neg and you get the start of your mask for the clouds.

Here's a setup I did with baseboard registration using silkscreen pins.

Here's after moving up to pin-registered neg carriers, much nicer.

The neg carrier way is really the bomb, since you can re-print at any size, even years later - on the paper plane, you can't touch a damn thing, even changing aperture can throw it off.Whichever method you use is often going to require a little touch-up on the print though.

Lately I've been using it to combine human figures on life-sized sets, with small scale model backgrounds:

snusmumriken · Feb 22, 2022

Patrick Robert James said:
It is easy to cut a dodging card with precision. Just use a print. Easy peasy.

My preferred method of dodging areas like in the example is to tape a piece of frosted mylar over the neg holder and then use a pencil to add density where the dodging needs to occur. You'll never get a sharp line and the image stays looking natural since you are only holding back some of the light. I don't recall ever trying it with a condenser enlarger so if you use one your mileage may vary as they say.

I really like this! I was aware that the pencil was a favourite tool in the days of plate cameras (e.g. Frank Meadow Sutcliffe was a past master at it), and in pre-digital film photography. One could buy a special varnish to apply to the back of a film negative giving a bit of grip for lead pencil marks, but that always seemed too permanent. It never occurred to me to try a temporary version, but I think it could work with my enlarger. It could make a big difference to a couple of negatives that otherwise I find really frustrating to print. Thanks!

Does the acetate mask work?

InExperience

otto.f

RalphLambrecht

InExperience

RalphLambrecht

Andrew O'Neill

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Frank53

Don_ih

koraks

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Don_ih

Frank53

Don_ih

Patrick Robert James

MattKing

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Craig75

InExperience

M Carter

snusmumriken

Does the acetate mask work?

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