Print Effect

[lofty]

Hi I am trying to print a B&W print with a soft grainy look as per a Robert
Farber picture without much success.
Could anyone put me in the right direction to achieve this effect please. :confused:

 

[Jon Shiu]

One method is to lay a sheet of paper over your enlarging paper. Kind of like a texture screen. Not familiar with Robert Farber, myself.

Jon

 

[Woolliscroft]

or a bit of stocking.

David.

 

[reellis67]

How about trying to get the grain in the negative?

- Randy

 

[Donald Miller]

I agree with having the grain in the negative and then using light diffusion at the printing stage.

 

[firecracker]

Or print large enough to see the grain.

 

[Allen Friday]

Farber has a technical section in the back of several of his books. He discusses the film used and development. A number of his grainy photographs were taken with 16mm film cameras and enlarged greatly. I also remember that he took a number of his shots on polaroid 35 mm slide film.

 

[Allen Friday]

Your question got me thinking. I had read Farber's books a few years ago, but didn't remember exactly how he achieved his look. Last night I looked back through "Farber Nudes" and "Natural Beauty." He describes several techniques for acheiveing the soft, grainy look of his photographs.

From "Farber Nudes"--

For grain, he states that he shot Agfa B/W 400 ASA, pushed 3 stops, processed in Rodinol; for golf ball size grain, he used "recording film" @1600, developed in Rodinol 1;25 for 12 minutes. Also, for one shot he used Agfa 100 pushed 3 stops in Rodinol.

From "Natural Beauty"--

A number of his photos were taken with Polopan 125, in 35mm format. Several of his grainy photographs were taken using an 8mm Minox camera. He states, "Using the Minox TLX, I was working with a miniature format that happens to be a fine-precision camera fitted with the best optics." p. 203, plate 72.

He also took several of the shots "with slight diffusion." I assume he used a diffusion filter or some cover over the lens like a stocking.

Hope that helps.

Allen