Recipe for Nostalgic B&W tones

[faberryman]

Well, are you saying what lith prints are bad prints? Just say it.

Lith prints bad? Hardly, I lith print myself.

You already admitted Junku prints are bad, aren't you?

I said nothing about Junku prints. I was commenting on your broad generalizations about the relative qualities of inkjet and wet prints.

 

[koraks]

Too bad this thread isn't about photography anymore.

 

[Ko.Fe.]

Lith prints bad? Hardly, I lith print myself.

I said nothing about Junku prints. I was commenting on your broad generalizations about the relative qualities of inkjet and wet prints.

The only person who started to generalize here is you with bad darkroom prints broad assumptions.
But here are mediocre inkjet prints as well .
Including piezo-shmezo ones.

 

[faberryman]

The only person who started to generalize here is you with bad darkroom prints broad assumptions.
But here are mediocre inkjet prints as well .
Including piezo-shmezo ones.

And your comment that "the king is naked"?

 

[BrianShaw]

Too bad this thread isn't about photography anymore.

So back on topic... I’m struggling to find the “nostalgic tones”.

 

[removed account4]

So back on topic... I’m struggling to find the “nostalgic tones”.

ditto
i wish the OP with explain a little better, even going to Junku Nishimura's website, im not really sure what nostalgic means
other than maybe contrasty and grainyish ( under exposed over developed ? ) and printed with a contrast filter for grit
split processing ? selenium and sepia split toning ?

IDK
Ko.Fe .. im note really sure what king or emperor you are talking about,
they usually don't wear any clothes, and usually people that try to prove points that put clothes on him/ her ..
human nature for people to believe what they want to believe and they construct their own reality around that
.. YMMV

Brooks Jensen (publishes Lenswork) has shared many times stories like yours, where expertly made digital prints on the wall have proven impossible to tell from darkroom ones when shared with experts side by side.

yup ..

 

[Peter Schrager]

ditto
i wish the OP with explain a little better, even going to Junku Nishimura's website, im not really sure what nostalgic means
other than maybe contrasty and grainyish ( under exposed over developed ? ) and printed with a contrast filter for grit
split processing ? selenium and sepia split toning ?

IDK
Ko.Fe .. im note really sure what king or emperor you are talking about,
they usually don't wear any clothes, and usually people that try to prove points that put clothes on him/ her ..
human nature for people to believe what they want to believe and they construct their own reality around that
.. YMMV



yup ..

Let's see what happens to digital prints in 10 or 15 years. Are collectors going to get burned?
Jury is still out

 

[Via Suksantinunt]

Oh, that escalated quickly. I thank you all for the comments. I think I get a better sense of printing.
I will, one day, learn to do both darkroom and digital printing to find which suits me best.

As for Junku, I did a little research on him and found that he used vintage Summarit & Summaron lens
coupled with a Fuji developer and an Ilford paper. So, for his tone, I think the lens and the printing play a role as many of you suggested.

Thanks for introducing me to Junku. I like the work he did for Lensculture and his images on Flickr are cool and have that Japanese noir look.

You didn't mention how you wanted to make this type of image - are you planning to expose film and then scan, or will you use the darkroom? Is your goal to make this type of image on paper or forego paper and share digitally online?

Sorry, yes, ideally it would be to expose the film and then scan. (I'm a little short on the budget and knowledge to build a Darkroom)
Right now, I own a Plustek 8200 scanner which I think it's decent but I haven't tried scanning B/W images yet


PS. Happy New Year all. Have a great photography year.

 

[Via Suksantinunt]

why not ask Junku Nishimura yourself ? he's on flickr..
you can go to his website and download his darkroom /film processing manual
maybe there are hints in there ? my guess is they are negative scans ( in color )
and he is good at burning and dodging and using the contrast slider .. or they are just stright prints
using ansco 130 developer or something else that gives tonality and contrast in the print..
but only he knows what he does .. ( have you read the interviews in lens culture &c ? )

JUST FOUND HIS WEBSITE. IT HAS HIS RECIPE!!!!
Thank you for pointing the way. I was so stupid.

 

[Ko.Fe.]

I have to find it as well

Let's see what happens to digital prints in 10 or 15 years. Are collectors going to get burned?
Jury is still out

Personally, I see zero value in ink prints. Those are not hand made.

Don't know about how long those will lasts, but APUG diminished quickly.
No respect for analog forum from too many here and now.

 

[warden]

JUST FOUND HIS WEBSITE. IT HAS HIS RECIPE!!!!
Thank you for pointing the way. I was so stupid.

He was very generous to share his approach. Nice! My favorite advice: "leaving street，take shower and clean your body & soul. don’t develop drunk!"

http://www.junkunishimura.com/img/workshoptext.pdf

As for your situation you could certainly follow his advice for film and development and then scan the result, or you could expose and develop for maximum dynamic range (expose Tri-X at iso 400 instead of iso1600 as he suggests for instance) and then use software tools to get the look you like. As someone above mentioned earlier that approach would allow flexibility for printing more information in years to come if your tastes change.

Have fun!

 

[NB23]

The secret?

Effing simple. Use a blue filter.

 

[removed account4]

JUST FOUND HIS WEBSITE. IT HAS HIS RECIPE!!!!
Thank you for pointing the way. I was so stupid.

glad you found it,
naah not stupid, you just didn't see it ..
have a great new year !
john

 

[Peter Schrager]

I have to say it's nearly an impossible feat to duplicate someone else's work or workflow
No 2 darkroom sessions are alike..temperatures humidity papers all vary
Yesterday's papers are gone...maybe one can do more in photoshop and digital printing
I do wish you luck but learn basics and find your own "tune" to play!

 

[abruzzi]

He was very generous to share his approach. Nice! My favorite advice: "leaving street，take shower and clean your body & soul. don’t develop drunk!"

http://www.junkunishimura.com/img/workshoptext.pdf

The PDF shows using Fuji Super Prodol. Is that available in the US, or is there any similar developer?

 

[Via Suksantinunt]

The PDF shows using Fuji Super Prodol. Is that available in the US, or is there any similar developer?

I found this : http://www.japanexposures.com/shop/film-analog/super-prodolfilm-developer-1l.html
hope it helps!

 

[Raghu Kuvempunagar]

Now how about a long thread on intelligently guessing the formula of Fuji Super Prodol?

 

[removed account4]

Now how about a long thread on intelligently guessing the formula of Fuji Super Prodol?

formula already backwards engineered/figured out by a photo chemist
https://www.photrio.com/forum/threads/japanese-developer-help.76000/

 

[koraks]

formular already figured out by a photo chemist

If by 'figured out' you mean qualifications like 'probably', 'likely' and 'possibly' when discussing the ingredients, then yes...
In other words: it's not a published formula, it could be reverse engineered as a rough approximation, but it would be costly and likely technically illegal to do it accurately.

The more sensible answer would of course be to not fuss too much about the specifics of the developer used. It's a quite common, no-thrills PQ incarnation without any outrageously special or magical influence on the images developed with it.

 

[removed account4]

If by 'figured out' you mean qualifications like 'probably', 'likely' and 'possibly' when discussing the ingredients, then yes...
In other words: it's not a published formula, it could be reverse engineered as a rough approximation, but it would be costly and likely technically illegal to do it accurately.

The more sensible answer would of course be to not fuss too much about the specifics of the developer used. It's a quite common, no-thrills PQ incarnation without any outrageously special or magical influence on the images developed with it.

yes an educated guess type thing.
its too bad people don't realize the developer, lens
paper camera are just fluff and have very little to do
with the photography.
oh well ...

 

[abruzzi]

yes an educated guess type thing.
its too bad people don't realize the developer, lens
paper camera are just fluff and have very little to do
with the photography.
oh well ...

Yes, but Photography is both an art and a science. It is important to gain some understanding of the mechanics of the process to allow us to bend the process to suit our artistic whims.

 

[removed account4]

Yes, but Photography is both an art and a science. It is important to gain some understanding of the mechanics of the process to allow us to bend the process to suit our artistic whims.

maybe, but ... not really .... i guess as long as you are enjoying yourself

 

[abruzzi]

maybe, but ... not really .... i guess as long as you are enjoying yourself

So you don't bother with exposure? After all, figuring out the way to get the correct amount of light on the film is part of the science. Just point the camera a press the button?

 

[removed account4]

So you don't bother with exposure? After all, figuring out the way to get the correct amount of light on the film is part of the science. Just point the camera a press the button?

i shoot everything no matter the film and camera around 1/15 and wide open. if it is a paper negative i shoot wide open and count to 10..
i focus, sure, unless i am shooting a 4x5 box or falling plate camera then i can't even see in the milk glass what is being recorded... sure, i point and press...
i process every film i have, color or black and white together in a mixture of water, caffenol c ( made with sumatra coffee i roast myself in a wok ) and ansco130
for about 8 mins more or less ... i don't measure my chemicals i don't measure my light i just expose and print or scan .. photography isn't rocket science
people dwell too much on the technical aspect of everything like if they should use stop bath or not .. or if magenta is a color or which developer is better instead of just
you know ... making photographs... but it makes them happy and is fun so more power to them. i just find
dwelling on inconsequential ( to me ) stuff as tedius as can be ... so i "opt out" ... no need to make the crying sad emoji nothing really to cry about ...

 

[koraks]

Yes, but Photography is both an art and a science. It is important to gain some understanding of the mechanics of the process to allow us to bend the process to suit our artistic whims.

To an extent, yes. However, if someone comes along saying something like "I really like photographyer-such-and-so's work, I want to make something like that", then I would warn them not to waste too much time mulling over what developer they use. It's easy to get lost in the science and forget about the art.