Help with printing an uneven negative

mekia02 · May 6, 2009

Hi I made the worst mistake I could have made. I was trying to be cheap and I did not fill my developing tank all of the way up. I think I did not have enough chemical and I was using a large tank with multiple 120 reels in it, so the reel at the top did not get even contact with the developer. As a result the top quarter of that roll of film, I believe was underdeveloped?. I love that roll though, it was of my niece and she just spontaneously started being cute when she was sitting on the dinner table, she is a year or two older now so I would really like to be able to find a way to print these negatives.

I have tried on my own exposing the image, covering the normal or nicely developed side then overexposing the problematic side. The print still comes out looking like two different exposures. Do any of you have suggestions? Can I make a decent print from these negatives?

rcoda · May 6, 2009

Sorry... D!g!t@l is the only way for something like this. And even then, might not be possible for mere mortals.

Christopher Walrath · May 6, 2009

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I am sorry. But I think you're gonna have a hard time burning the underdeveloped portion with out a visible density change on the print. Just kep playing with.

Nicholas Lindan · May 6, 2009

Taking your negative image into PS, inverting it and applying auto-levels results in an acceptable photograph. Just try making a straight print and see what happens.

Thomas Bertilsson · May 6, 2009

Crop it. The center of attention is clearly the child. The rest of the frame may not be necessary.

I apologize for the robbery, but I 'stole' your image, cropped it, inverted it, and adjusted the levels to make a lovely image.
If you crop it, it will print just fine!

- Thomas

keithwms · May 6, 2009

I am surprised that some of my colleagues are throwing in the towel so easily

Nicholas is probably right, it may be fine even as is. I'd make myself a simple dodge tool (=rough cut paper straight edge) and keep it moving about that boundary. Looks like one portion needs ~0.5-1 stops or so more exposure than the rest. That's definitely doable. You're very lucky that the line is so straight and well defined, it'll be easy to work with.

keithwms · May 6, 2009

P.S. Do you have a grad filter?

mekia02 · May 6, 2009

keithwms said:
P.S. Do you have a grad filter?

What type of filters? I have a filter pack that I haven't used, that goes with my Beseler 23C, and I have a dichroic head and a 2nd Beseler 23C that I plan on setting up this week. Is there a certain filter that I should use? The filters in my pack I believe have numbers on them.

keithwms · May 6, 2009

graduated neutral density filter...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graduated_ND_filter

You could deploy a hard GND strategically under your enlarger lens....

Vaughn · May 6, 2009

I dunno...looks like it was developed evenly, but not fixed evenly -- have you tried re-fixing the neg?

Vaughn

keithwms · May 6, 2009

Vaughan makes a good point, and maybe this is more an issue of mismatched contrast rather than mismatched density.

winger · May 6, 2009

Vaughn said:
I dunno...looks like it was developed evenly, but not fixed evenly -- have you tried re-fixing the neg?

Vaughn

I second this idea. And I also think cropping it will help the image.

nicefor88 · May 6, 2009

Just pretend it's a special effect you tried

Christopher Walrath · May 6, 2009

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nicefor88 said:
Just pretend it's a special effect you tried

That's just messed up. ;p

mekia02 · May 7, 2009

I thought I might have a ND filter, if it came in the black/white filter kit I bought a while ago, I'm not sure though. How would a camera filter help with a negative that I am trying to print anyway?

Re-Fixing
Ok, so do I re-wet the negative then put the entire negative in fixer and fix for the same amount of time as usual and do the same rinse as usual?

Thomas Bertilsson · May 8, 2009

Yes, that's how you re-fix. Re-wet the neg for a few minutes, and then go through a fixing/washing sequence again.
I have used a tray in the past to do it.

mekia02 · May 10, 2009

I re-fixed that roll and they came out wonderful, no discoloration on the negative at all. Thanks everyone!

Vaughn · May 10, 2009

Glad I guessed correctly -- it happens sometimes...

Good luck in printing them! Vaughn

Help with printing an uneven negative

mekia02

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Help with printing an uneven negative

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