Wasting paper in the darkroom?

Andrew O'Neill · Sep 5, 2023

Buzz-01 said:
It depends on the negative. Easy negatives require a single test strip and result in a good print right away, difficult ones may take several strips and full sheets. And sometimes I just can't get it right at all...
I scan all my negatives and try to work out the general idea of dodging and burning digitally on my phone. That usually gives me a decent plan for printing in the darkroom.

Difficult ones I work out on small paper (4x6 or 5x7) and only when I'm happy I'll make a larger print. My dr timer allows for working in F-stops and calculating enlargement factor based on current size and desired size and that works pretty accurate for me (as long as I use the same paper ofcourse).

MattKing said:
I was setting up to print a negative today and forgot to switch out the white light lever before doing my first test - that was a "wasted" 4"x5" sheet
But generally, I agree.
And if you do a fair amount of toning, even the properly made test strips are useful, because you can use them to gage the amount of toning you do.
The 8"x10" print I made today - sort of a refined work print incorporating what I intend to include in an 11"x14" print - took 3.5 8"x10" sheets of paper. That was one wasted 4"x5" grossly over-exposed test strip (the white light one), one useful 4"x5" test strip, one 8"x10" print that was too dark - reflecting a mis-read of the test strip, one 8"x10" print with good density and contrast but needing a small amount of burning and dodging and one final 8"x10" print incorporating that burning and dodging.
It was of a forest scene exposed with a 6x9 pinhole camera, so it isn't an "easy" negative to print.

One time in the darkroom, while teaching pinhole photography to high school students in Japan, I pulled the 4x5 paper negative out of the camera and said, "right!", and a kid flicked the light on. R's and L's have always been a bit of a challenge over there...

Don_ih · Sep 5, 2023

MattKing said:
the wastebasket is one of the most important accessories in the darkroom

Mine is at my feet when I'm standing at the developing tray. It's a very big wastebasket.

Doremus Scudder · Sep 5, 2023

There are a couple of things to consider here.

Some of us just want a print that doesn't have obvious defects. Those are pretty easy to hit on print number two or three after a test strip or two.

Some of us are perfectionists with a vision for each image and an emotional message to impart. Often, refining a print like this to get it just right takes many sheets of paper.

I count myself in the latter category. I routinely take four or five sheets of paper to arrive at a final print, but then make two or three "keepers." That gets my batting average up to 40% or so, which I'm more than happy with.

As mentioned above, my most useful piece of darkroom equipment is my wastebasket.

That said, I have a motto, "waste time, not paper," which slows me down. I spend time thinking about and planning the changes and manipulations for the next print rather than just trying what immediately leaps to mind.

Best,

Doremus

Buzz-01 · Sep 5, 2023

Andrew O'Neill said:
One time in the darkroom, while teaching pinhole photography to high school students in Japan, I pulled the 4x5 paper negative out of the camera and said, "right!", and a kid flicked the light on. R's and L's have always been a bit of a challenge over there...

Ouch!

Xylo · Sep 5, 2023

I use an old Paterson exposure meter, so that pretty much gets me in the ballpark.
And since I've been doing stop printing for what seems like forever, I can usually get it pretty darn good on the second try (it's actually pretty easy).
I use the first one to make a kind of roadmap of what I have to do, then I evaluate the dodging and burning in whole stops.
Lets just say that to avoid wasting paper I do an awful lot of looking before I decide to pull a sheet out.

Helinophoto · Dec 7, 2023

Using splitgrade and a sensible test-strip "book", to be able to make identical strips over the same area with varying exposures helps reduce quite a lot of waste. One strip for 00 and one for 05, using f-stop printing (half or full stops, depending on the situation) helps me get pretty close to what I want pretty fast.
I rarely do much burning and dodging, but if I really have to, the waste-basket tend to fill up

Carnie Bob · Dec 7, 2023

I have found that when I print for others and myself it takes me about 6-8 full sheets to get the image I think I like, so I end up with three very
good prints and the next day I can choose which one, but usually three are really good.
I find the Original Scene dictates the final outcome, if there is a great lighting range then it always seems to me that I need to do a few more sheets, this includes flashing, and split printing methods with a decent multigrade paper.

ic-racer · Dec 7, 2023

cerber0s said:
How many paper would you say you “waste” on average, making test strips or test prints before you have one print you’re happy with? It’s starting to get expensive…

Depends on what "happy with" means. I hope to have 100 prints I am happy with by the time I meet my end. I don't think I have that many yet. Maybe only 25 or so. This is after 45 years of work.

RalphLambrecht · Dec 7, 2023

Huub said:
Using a well-calibrated R&H Design Analyser pro, the first print is often pretty decent, the second print good enough in most cases and when I am in a perfectionist mood, a third print will be as perfect as my skills allow me.

I'm afraid, I'm on the opposite side of the spectrum. It will take me at least ten and often fifty, yes 50 prints until I'm 'there'! and that is over two weeks! I learned that from John Sexton who got his paper directly from Kodak.

Wasting paper in the darkroom?

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