Shadows and highlights way out of the zones

Vaughn · Oct 13, 2022

Bleaching and intensification are good tools for increasing contrast...not so good for reducing contrast. I've bleached, rinced, then selenium toned negatives to bump them up a bit -- works well if one has enough exposure/development originally. Thin negs will remain thin. Bleaching the latent image (before developing the negative) will help control highlights effectively.

As I mentioned above, reducing the highlights significantly, significantly changes the character of the recorded light -- which is cool if that is what one wants.

Helge · Oct 13, 2022

Use fast film. It has greater dynamic range. TMAX 400 is probably king there.

Pull it. Overexpose and under-develop.

Flash it. A zone II or III flash will help get more shadow information, giving lower contrast and allowing you to place mid gray higher.

Or latensify. A long post exposure just below reciprocity failure, will lower contrast and boost speed for shadows.

Gentle, scarce agitation and long development.

MattKing · Oct 13, 2022

Helge said:
Use fast film. It has greater dynamic range. TMAX 400 is probably king there.

Pull it. Overexpose and under-develop.

Flash it. A zone II or III flash will help get more shadow information, giving lower contrast and allowing you to place mid gray higher.

Or latensify. A long post exposure just below reciprocity failure, will lower contrast and boost speed for shadows.

Gentle, scarce agitation and long development.

All of which will increase what you "capture", while usually making the mid-tones look really blah.
Techniques such as these are valuable tools, but you need to have a good understanding of their effects and consequences, because the resulting negatives may or may not satisfy your needs.
In the real world, there are subjects that have a wide range of illumination. When we see photographs of those subjects, we usually expect to see natural results, not unnatural results.

Helge · Oct 13, 2022

MattKing said:
All of which will increase what you "capture", while usually making the mid-tones look really blah.
Techniques such as these are valuable tools, but you need to have a good understanding of their effects and consequences, because the resulting negatives may or may not satisfy your needs.
In the real world, there are subjects that have a wide range of illumination. When we see photographs of those subjects, we usually expect to see natural results, not unnatural results.

Stretching dynamics is always a compromise. When you want something as extreme as this you generally want that and not great separation.

pentaxuser · Oct 13, 2022

Helge said:
Or latensify. A long post exposure just below reciprocity failure, will lower contrast and boost speed for shadows.

How does this latensifying work? Can you say specifically what hiroh needs to do to make this work?

Thanks

pentaxuser

Helge · Oct 13, 2022

pentaxuser said:
How does this latensifying work? Can you say specifically what hiroh needs to do to make this work?

Thanks

pentaxuser

latensification

I have recently been experimenting with latensification by use of low level light. It is neat...really neat. For those of you who are unfamillar with this technique I will explain what it is. Latensification in this context is not pre-exposure involving shadow support by adding density from...

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Shadows and highlights way out of the zones

Vaughn

Helge

MattKing

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Helge

pentaxuser

Helge

latensification

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