print viewing light

chrisofwlp · Jan 30, 2007

currently the only darkroom/lab I have available is at the school im attending. when i am printing the images look great under the viewing light even after dry down. when i get home they have lost all their luminance and have almost no white.

My question is what intensity should a viewing light be?

I was thinking the best thing to do is to take a light meter into a few different galleries and museums and use those readings to set the intensity.

Christopher Breitenstein

Steve Sherman · Jan 30, 2007

Bear in mind these comments refer to black and white only, color has other issues.

When printed correctly black and white photographs should look great under any intensity of illumination.

I have a bullet safelight with a 40-watt white bulb 3 ft. over my fixer tray. The print comes out of the tray and while wet sticks to a piece of white Plexiglas, which BTW simulates a white mat board. When the print looks good under these conditions it will look terrific under any lighting conditions.

A little trick, hold the wet print so that it is back lit, if you see additional shadow detail then the print is printed too dark, unless of course you want that look.

BTW, I see you are from Prescott, AZ, do you know a local photograher named Jay Dusard, he is a friend and recipient of two Guggenheim fellowships, an extraordinary B&W photographer.

Hope this helps

chrisofwlp · Jan 31, 2007

The prints look great under the view light in the dark room. Under other light they seem to lose their pop, and appear slightly muddy.

I was lucky enough to meet Mr. Dusard last year. Hes a great guy and a really photographer.

Christopher Breitenstein

Vaughn · Jan 31, 2007

First about Jay -- the first workshop I ever attended had Jay as one of the instructors -- 1984 or 85. He's the real deal.

Second -- I don't know if this is the case with you, but one has to be careful about viewing prints immeadiately after getting out of the darkroom (or turning on a viewing light in the darkroom). One's eyes are dialated and the first impression one gets when looking at one's print is based on those overly dilated eyes (over-dilated for the new light conditions). Usually prints will look lighter under these conditions...and it is that first impression that lingers when one decides how to adjust the exposure for the next print. This first impression is strong and lingers even as one eyes have closed down to adjust to the new light levels.

I come out of the darkroom without looking at the print...I even look up at the ceiling lights...then after a couple minutes I put the print on the viewing board and start to examine it.

I suppose the same can happen if one flips on a bright viewing light in an otherwise normally lit room -- the eyes are still relatively dialated compared to the brighter viewing light.

Anyway, this is what I have observed...your mileage might differ.

I do the same for color prints -- I do not look at them until I get them under tunsten light (which is my normal display light). The main room has reddish flourecscents and I do not want my first impression to be under that color of light.

Vaughn

firecracker · Jan 31, 2007

Vaughn said:
First about Second -- I don't know if this is the case with you, but one has to be careful about viewing prints immeadiately after getting out of the darkroom (or turning on a viewing light in the darkroom). One's eyes are dialated and the first impression one gets when looking at one's print is based on those overly dilated eyes (over-dilated for the new light conditions). Usually prints will look lighter under these conditions...and it is that first impression that lingers when one decides how to adjust the exposure for the next print.

I always check my prints next day under different light sources (sun light, 40w florecent, 60w tungsten, etc). I always allow myself to reprint at least once, so that I can be more certain about what I was intending to do and what I'm actually getting as a result.

By the way, know how much dry down you have on your paper when you're priinting because some papers have far more drastic changes than others.

climbabout · Jan 31, 2007

VIEWING LIGHT/DRYDOWN

chrisofwlp said:
currently the only darkroom/lab I have available is at the school im attending. when i am printing the images look great under the viewing light even after dry down. when i get home they have lost all their luminance and have almost no white.

My question is what intensity should a viewing light be?

I was thinking the best thing to do is to take a light meter into a few different galleries and museums and use those readings to set the intensity.

Christopher Breitenstein

Being a close friend of Steve Sherman's, I echo his comments regarding his viewing method - I use a similar one myself. Also as a previous poster alluded to - you may not be adequately figuring in the drydown effect of the particular paper you are using. Delicate highlight areas darken or "drydown" considerably as the paper is drying out. At least for me, getting the highlights the proper density is sometimes the trickiest part of the whole printing process. When making my test prints, I always make several trips to the kitchen and quick dry them in the microwave to see this effect - 20-30 seconds does the trick for a 5x7 or 8x10. Someday I'll get smart and put the microwave in the darkroom. Since it sounds like you may not be able to do this in the facility you are using, some trial and error testing would work best - At least in my experience, the most luminous prints look a bit washed out when wet.

Sportera · Jan 31, 2007

I microwave my prints and view the dryed test print or work print under a 60w bulb. Ralph Lambrecht suggested in his book what EV a print should be viewed at, but I have forgotten what that was. You may want ask him.

Photo Engineer · Jan 31, 2007

Most B&W supports, both FB and Baryta contain optical brighteners which emit light under UV illumination and increase a prints brightness.

If the original viewing light is rich in UV and your home illumination is tungsten, then that might be the source of your problem. UV will perk up such prints considerably.

PE

B&Wenthusiast · Jan 31, 2007

check your safelight and make sure there are no leaks.

Vaughn · Jan 31, 2007

Photo Engineer said:
Most B&W supports, both FB and Baryta contain optical brighteners which emit light under UV illumination and increase a prints brightness.

PE

Hey PE...I remember many years ago that the optical brighteners had a tendency to wash out of the papers during the normal archival processing times. Is it safe to assume that they have improved the brighteners' ability to stay in the papers?

vaughn

Photo Engineer · Jan 31, 2007

Brighteners are now ballasted and stay in the paper.

In RC paper, some are actually in the polyethylene under the emulsion, and cannot wash out as they are not water soluable. They have a secondary effect of decreasing the effect of UV on the polymers.

In my opinion, they make blacks turn bluish and this is why I loved the non-brightened tinted supports.

PE

Kilgallb · Feb 1, 2007

So, if i view the print in my Darkroom under a 60 watt incandescant (Little UV Radiation) then move to a room with a north facing window, the UV from the sun will change the brightness of the support material.

Or am I missing something here.

Photo Engineer · Feb 1, 2007

Kilgallb said:
So, if i view the print in my Darkroom under a 60 watt incandescant (Little UV Radiation) then move to a room with a north facing window, the UV from the sun will change the brightness of the support material.

Or am I missing something here.

No, you are not missing anything, provided the support contains a permanent brightener.

PE

Maris · Feb 2, 2007

My darkroom has a ceiling mounted viewing incandescent light positioned over a water bath tray next to the fixer tray. The light has a home-made snoot so that it throws a light patch into the tray but the filament does not shine in my eyes.

The intensity of this light is calibrated by wattage (25W clear) and baffles (white plastic diffuser) so that a gelatin silver photograph that looks tonally right when wet will dry down and look tonally right when (if?) it gets to the gallery wall. The same light and the same viewing angle and distance are used for all photograph so that the eye eventually gets practiced.

Surprisingly this "tone" inspection light is too dim to judge sharpness, dust spots, surface flaws and the like. For that I have a high intensity light over the fixer tray. One of the most magnificent sights in photography is the brilliance and richness of a slightly over exposed, soaking wet, gelatin silver photograph under a intense light. Unfortunately this same photograph when dry will be too dark and in the bin.

Making photographs to suit gallery lighting conditions is a good idea. The big art museum near here, the Queensland Art Gallery, tends to light photographic exhibitions dim and yellow. They are fixed on the idea that photographs are fugitive like old master drawings and to light them enough for a clear view is to kill them. I have measured light levels down to 50 lux in their exhibition rooms. What gallery security does to a lux-meter hound is another story.

Photo Engineer · Feb 2, 2007

You will find that the tone scale of any reflection print material is increased by increasing the intensity of the light shining on it.

Light is attenuated in reflection print materials due to internal reflections, but there is information stored in that flat dmax area that is revealed under very high intensity illumination.

We were shown a transparency on a screen and a print beside it illuminated by a duplicate projector such that the light was identical in both cases. The projectors were 'boxed' so that we could not tell which was which, the slide or the print. The group was divided 50:50.

Yours is a perfect example of this, but to achieve it, the print will appear darker under normal (dim) room illumination. That is why knowing the display illuminant is so important when making a print for a display.

PE

Vaughn · Feb 2, 2007

Maris said:
The same light and the same viewing angle and distance are used for all photograph so that the eye eventually gets practiced.

I think this is the main point...be consistant in one's viewing parameters and thru experience, one's eye learns how to best judge a wet print under those conditions and predict what it will look like dry. There is not one "best" set of conditions...mircrowaving, light in the darkroom, light outside the darkroom, or whatever all work.

My 30 years of photography has all been done in a university darkroom -- I have to carry the print out of the dark to inspect it. I have used the same viewing board under the same lights the entire time...I know what to expect from a wet print if I am doing silver, platinum or carbon printing. If I see a "perfect" wet platinum print I am really bummed -- got to print it again. At least with a carbon print I can toss it is a bath of slightly alkaline water and develop it a little more to lighten it up.

Vaughn

Photo Engineer · Feb 2, 2007

For critical work, Macbeth made a standard print viewing cabinet. We used that and a spot photometer to measure densities and 'calibrate' prints. We did this all at a standard viewing distance and a standard angle between the light, the print, and the viewer.

After a while we began to get reasonably well calibrated eyeballs.

PE

MattKing · Feb 3, 2007

I know I aspire to a "reasonably well calibrated eyeball".

This is a great thread, especially from one who is currently printing in a bathroom, and developing in the kitchen.

Matt

Kilgallb · Feb 3, 2007

I checked Ansel Adams book "The Print". He mentioned using a densitometer but also suggested taking a look at the lighting at the place you exhibit prints. Mention was also made of adjusting print density depending on the color of Matte board used.

So eyeballs worked for the master too. I imagine Ansel Adams eyeballs were well calibrated.

print viewing light

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