Gene Nocon's book and drying time calculation.

Rmaydana · Jun 9, 2024

Sure, here is the more casual version in English:

Gene Nocon's book and drying time calculation.
1- There are two things I want to talk about: one to learn and the other to see if it's worth adding the book "F-stop Print" by Gene Nocon to my library. I live in South America, and every time I buy a physical book, I have to pay extra for shipping. If someone has or can send me some of the most interesting pages, that would help me decide if it's worth having in my collection.
2. The other topic is how to calculate drying time. I've only heard about this and want to start learning about it.

John Koehrer · Jun 13, 2024

Can't help with f stop printing but drying time method I've "used" with screen drying racks is overnight.
I'm sorry if this comes across as sarcastic but it's wht I've used for over thirty years.

Steve Goldstein · Jun 14, 2024

I’ve found the time needed to air-dry fiber prints on screens to be seasonal (it's faster in winter when the indoor humidity is much lower) and paper-dependent (Ilford Classic seems to dry faster than Multi-Grade Warm Tone). It also depends on how many prints I'm drying - it's faster if they all fit on a single screen and slower if I have to stack my Kostiner screens.

I'm not sure how you’d calculate this, or what the value in the attempt might be.

Rmaydana · Jun 14, 2024

Steve Goldstein said:
I’ve found the time needed to air-dry fiber prints on screens to be seasonal (it's faster in winter when the indoor humidity is much lower) and paper-dependent (Ilford Classic seems to dry faster than Multi-Grade Warm Tone). It also depends on how many prints I'm drying - it's faster if they all fit on a single screen and slower if I have to stack my Kostiner screens.

I'm not sure how you’d calculate this, or what the value in the attempt might be.

Yeah, it's true that RC and Fiber papers dry at different rates, and humidity plays a big role. I get the answer to my question, but what I'm really looking for is a way to speed up the drying time for fiber prints, especially if they're going to be toned. Hope this helps

Steve Goldstein · Jun 14, 2024

Rmaydana said:
Yeah, it's true that RC and Fiber papers dry at different rates, and humidity plays a big role. I get the answer to my question, but what I'm really looking for is a way to speed up the drying time for fiber prints, especially if they're going to be toned. Hope this helps

Got it. Improving air flow should help regardless of any other conditions. It doesn't have to be much, a low-speed fan should do.

Some people squeegee their prints before putting them on screens. I hang them by one corner and let them be for 20-30 minutes until there are no water drops on the surface, then lay them on the screens. There's much lower risk of surface damage that way, and it suits my lazy nature.

Rmaydana · Jun 14, 2024

Steve Goldstein said:
Got it. Improving air flow should help regardless of any other conditions. It doesn't have to be much, a low-speed fan should do.

Some people squeegee their prints before putting them on screens. I hang them by one corner and let them be for 20-30 minutes until there are no water drops on the surface, then lay them on the screens. There's much lower risk of surface damage that way, and it suits my lazy nature.

Rmaydana · Jun 14, 2024

Thanks a lot for the input, I'll keep it in mind

Charles O'Connor · Jun 15, 2024

To the FStop timing part of the question I can offer a little insight. I own Genes book and it is excellent. It covers FStop timing, and a number of other darkroom techniques to allow a very high quality print to be created with practice. Fstop timing is covered for free on multiple blogs, website, etc. “way beyond monochrome “ also covers and expands upon the topic So Genes book is no longer the only source. I will say however that Genes book has the simplest version of the timing tables and its the best version to follow absent a dedicated FStop timer.

ozphoto · Jun 16, 2024

Rmaydana said:
Sure, here is the more casual version in English:

Gene Nocon's book and drying time calculation.
1- There are two things I want to talk about: one to learn and the other to see if it's worth adding the book "F-stop Print" by Gene Nocon to my library. I live in South America, and every time I buy a physical book, I have to pay extra for shipping. If someone has or can send me some of the most interesting pages, that would help me decide if it's worth having in my collection.
2. The other topic is how to calculate drying time. I've only heard about this and want to start learning about it.

I have the book "Nocon on Photography" and really enjoyed reading. Is this the once you are looking at buying?
Happy to scan some pages for you - are you interested in anything in particular in addition to the f-stop printing he discusses?

Rmaydana · Jun 18, 2024

ozphoto said:
I have the book "Nocon on Photography" and really enjoyed reading. Is this the once you are looking at buying?
Happy to scan some pages for you - are you interested in anything in particular in addition to the f-stop printing he discusses?

Thank you very much for your response. I am in Paraguay, and the book's value is not high; there are second-hand copies available. Everything becomes more expensive with taxes and extra charges due to weight. Regarding the scanning of pages, yes, the F-Stop method interests me. As for the rest of the book, I am not familiar with the table of contents. If you can share the contents, I can see which other topics might be of interest. I should mention that the way I print is by dividing time between grade 0 and 5. Thanks.

ozphoto · Jul 8, 2024

I shall scan these for you ASAP. I'm currently working interstate, so won't be able to do so until the weekend.

Rmaydana · Jul 8, 2024

ozphoto said:
I shall scan these for you ASAP. I'm currently working interstate, so won't be able to do so until the weekend.

Thank you for the update, and there is no problem with the time. Thank you in advance for the time dedicated.

ozphoto · Jul 22, 2024

Rmaydana said:
Thank you for the update, and there is no problem with the time. Thank you in advance for the time dedicated.

Apologies for my tardiness - this slipped my mind, and I've after grabbing the book from my bookcase last night, have realised that the square size won't fit my scanner. Will be taking to work tomorrow to scan on a larger flatbed & should be ready to upload for you tomorrow.

Rmaydana · Jul 22, 2024

ozphoto said:
Apologies for my tardiness - this slipped my mind, and I've after grabbing the book from my bookcase last night, have realised that the square size won't fit my scanner. Will be taking to work tomorrow to scan on a larger flatbed & should be ready to upload for you tomorrow.

"Thanks for the update. I really appreciate the effort. If it becomes too complicated, a photo from your cellphone will be enough. Thanks!"

ozphoto · Jul 27, 2024

@Rmaydana Here you go - paper was too shiny to photograph, so scanned instead for you. Hope it answers your questions, and feel free to ask for anything else that catches your eye.

Rmaydana · Aug 3, 2024

"Thank you so much for sharing the information; it was very helpful. It improved my lab times and, above all, guided my work in discovering the correct association of filter 0 and filter 5. I was performing test strips with total times, for example: first 5" and covering the rest of the sheet, then covering the 5" and only uncovering the part that received 10", and so on for the rest of the sheet. The book mentions that this method is not correct, and a base time should be applied, followed by covering until the end of the sheet, respecting the F-Stop increment (1/4 or 1/2 or F-stop point) that has been selected. I am already grateful and wish you all the best. At some point, I will have the budget to purchase the book. Apparently, the split printing technique has gained relevance in recent years. In my case, having been enthusiastic about photography for about 20 years, I discovered it no more than 5 years ago. A big hug."

ozphoto · Aug 31, 2024

Great to hear it helped you out!

It helped me out too, and I changed to f-stop printing after reading this book. The only problem I (still) have, is that I haven't been able to get myself an F-Stop timer; been lusting over one of these since I bought that book back in the mid 80s!

I have tinkered with the split printing, and it does work, I just need to be more invested in it and do more testing to get the most out of it.

Rmaydana · Sep 1, 2024

ozphoto said:
Great to hear it helped you out!

It helped me out too, and I changed to f-stop printing after reading this book. The only problem I (still) have, is that I haven't been able to get myself an F-Stop timer; been lusting over one of these since I bought that book back in the mid 80s!

I have tinkered with the split printing, and it does work, I just need to be more invested in it and do more testing to get the most out of it.

Using F-Stop is such an easy way to tweak densities. Back in the 90s, I worked in a photo studio doing enlargements, and we used percentages to reduce or increase exposure time. Years went by until I took a course where I learned about F-Stop printing and split-grade methods. It totally changed how I approached photography. With the sheets from the book they shared, I was able to make even better corrections. In short, F-Stop is awesome. I used to print without adjusting additional times, but the book explains that you first make a base print and then add the F-Stop value. Really good stuff... Let’s keep in touch!

Gene Nocon's book and drying time calculation.

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