What's the secret? eyes adjustment to dark

[bsdunek]

Do you know why pirates often wore eye patches?

They used one eye for dark vision and the other for bright light vision and they switched the patch back and forth.

Inside those old ship interieors, it was very dark so they had to adapt during daylight to dim and bright conditions.

Bottom line? Switch eyes.

That was the tip of the day.

PE

Pilots do this, sort of. An aircraft cockpit is bathed in red light because it doesn't affect our night vision, much like red safelights. If we have to look at something with white light, we close one eye so that eye maintains the night vision status. Works in the darkroom too.

 

[bsdunek]

I wonder if Adorama or B&H carries eye patches with logos of our favorite camera brand?

Ya, I want one of those!

 

[dancqu]

Too Much Contrast

In darkroom, it takes a while for eyes to adjust ...
That means bright - dark - bright and over and over, ...
How do you do this so the adjustment period is reasonably short?

Too bright - too dark. To reduce the contrast use only Graded
paper. Also do not make protracted evaluations under bright
light. Let those evaluations wait until the session is over. It
is the dry print which needs the evaluation.

For myself a combination of short four watt evaluations and
a high level of yellow to orange safe lighting brings my
adjustment time effectively to zero.

Adjust your workflow and switch to Graded. No more down
time due to light blinding. Dan

 

[Ronald Moravec]

Just as with toning, keep a normal print next to the one you are evaluating.

This gives a reference standard without you having to use your memory as a reference.

 

[RalphLambrecht]

Too bright - too dark. To reduce the contrast use only Graded
paper. Also do not make protracted evaluations under bright
light. Let those evaluations wait until the session is over. It
is the dry print which needs the evaluation.

For myself a combination of short four watt evaluations and
a high level of yellow to orange safe lighting brings my
adjustment time effectively to zero.

Adjust your workflow and switch to Graded. No more down
time due to light blinding. Dan

I find graded papers too limiting. I usually fine-tune image contrast to 1/4 grade and sometimes down to 1/8 grade. Also, the creative opportunities of variable-contrast paper is something I would not like to miss. Having available different grades of contrast in one sheet of paper opens a world of image manipulation.

As you state, print evaluation must be done on dry prints, which is something a microwave gives me within 60 seconds.

 

[tkamiya]

I just did a darkroom session and I think it is getting easier and easier (and quicker and quicker) for my eyes to adjust to darkness. I feel (although I never measured) the time it takes to adjust and readjust is shrinking. I got rid of a table lamp and when necessary, I use a small pen light and when absolutely necessary, use an overhead florescent lamp I *think* has a dual 10 watts bulb (or something).

You can MICROWAVE a print to dry??

 

[MattKing]

You can MICROWAVE a print to dry??

Yes - but Fibre based only!

For RC, a hand-held hair dryer works great for me.

Matt

 

[RalphLambrecht]

I just did a darkroom session and I think it is getting easier and easier (and quicker and quicker) for my eyes to adjust to darkness. I feel (although I never measured) the time it takes to adjust and readjust is shrinking. I got rid of a table lamp and when necessary, I use a small pen light and when absolutely necessary, use an overhead florescent lamp I *think* has a dual 10 watts bulb (or something).

You can MICROWAVE a print to dry??

As Matt said, and don't leave it unattended. If microwaved for too long, it will catch fire!!!

 

[Martin Aislabie]

As you state, print evaluation must be done on dry prints, which is something a microwave gives me within 60 seconds.

I find that microwaving an FB print does not give me the exact same tone as a fully dried print.

While microwaving a print until dry gets you 80~90% of the way there - it continues to dry down over the next couple of days.

I've tried extending the microwave time but ended up singeing the prints.

I don't think there is a quick and easy solution to dry down

Martin

 

[David Brown]

I don't think there is a quick and easy solution to dry down

No, but with some testing and experience, one can determine the "dry down factor" for a paper/developer combination and use that in making final prints.

Now, having said that, I find that when I am making "exhibition" or portfolio prints, I end up making 3 slightly different ones, and then choosing the best one the next day. If I need more prints, I then have to go back into the darkrom and duplicate the "one".

To the OP: I installed a fixture with a red bulb - NOT a safelight - in the darkroom for when I need to find something but don't want to turn on the white lights. I also have a small red LED flashlight for similar reasons. I think this has been mentioned earlier in the thread, but this is a trick I learned from the astronomy folks. The red lights don't effect your "night" vision. Just be sure your paper boxes are closed!

 

[keithwms]

Eat carrots.

Actually, I can tell you this recipe is quite good, although adding a bit of orange juice to sweeten it may be preferred to wine.

6 tbsp. (3/4 stick) unsalted butter
1 lg. yellow onion, chopped
1/4 c. finely chopped ginger root
3 cloves garlic, minced
7 c. chicken stock
1 c. dry white wine
1 1/2 lb. carrots, peeled, cut into 1/2" pieces
2 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
Pinch curry powder
Salt & ground pepper
Snipped fresh chives or parsley

1. Melt butter in large stock pot over medium heat. Add onion, ginger and garlic; saute for 15-20 minuts.
2. Add the stock, wine and carrots. Heat to boiling. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered over medium heat until the carrots are very tender, about 45 minutes.

3. Puree the soup in a blender or processor (fitted with steel blade). Season with lemon juice, curry powder, salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle with chives or parsley. Serve hot or cold.

 

[stm]

If you need to turn on the lights, close one eye before doing it. That way when you again turn them off, one eye will still be reasonably dark-adapted

 

[dancqu]

One Paper - Many Grades

I find graded papers too limiting. I usually fine-tune image
contrast to 1/4 grade and sometimes down to 1/8 grade. Also,
the creative opportunities of variable-contrast paper is something
I would not like to miss. Having available different grades of
contrast in one sheet of paper opens a world of image
manipulation.

VC papers exist solely because of their ability to display a range
of contrasts. In my view though they do so in a faulting manor.
I know there are some darkroom work arounds used to
correct it's faults.

I went with VC back in the 50s. I was a strapped student at the
time and couldn't afford two or three 250 sheet boxes of Graded.
I know very good prints can be made from VC papers. Those that
are strapped for funds and willing to put up with less than a very
well lighted darkroom won't go wrong using VC.

Varying the contrast of any one grade of Graded paper is easy
to do via a few methods; contrast control developers, pull
processing, lith development, and David Kachel's SLIMT.
The later two allow for many grades of paper from
one grade.

David Kachel's paper Variable Contrast from Graded Paper
details the SLIMT method. I've found the method to yield
phenomenal results. He has termed it SLIMT but believe
PEPDB; Post Exposure Pre Development Bleach, to be
more descriptive. Dan

 

[RalphLambrecht]

I find that microwaving an FB print does not give me the exact same tone as a fully dried print.

While microwaving a print until dry gets you 80~90% of the way there - it continues to dry down over the next couple of days.

I've tried extending the microwave time but ended up singeing the prints.

I don't think there is a quick and easy solution to dry down

Martin

My small microwave (600W) dries a 5x7 test strip in 60 seconds. Whatever dampness is left, dries within 10 minutes, because the print is warm. No further dry-down is happening from that point onwards. Final print hue after microwaving is not identical to air drying, but the dry-down effect is. This is the quickest way to judge dry-down.

As is suggested, dry-down can also be tested. All papers, I've tested, have an average dry-down effect around 1/12 stop. In other words, if the highlights are just right on a wet print, I just back off the exposure by 1/12 stop for the final print, and after dry-down it will closely match the highlights of the wet print. A little selenium toning, and the shadows will be closer to the wet print as well.

 

[RalphLambrecht]

... I find that when I am making "exhibition" or portfolio prints, I end up making 3 slightly different ones, and then choosing the best one the next day. If I need more prints, I then have to go back into the darkrom and duplicate the "one"...

That's my experience too, but I think, this has more to do with the difference between the illumination to evaluate and to finally display the print.

 

[RalphLambrecht]

...Varying the contrast of any one grade of Graded paper is easy to do via a few methods; contrast control developers, pull
processing, lith development, and David Kachel's SLIMT.
The later two allow for many grades of paper from
one grade...

Dan

I enjoy getting many grades of contrast on ONE sheet of paper. Being able to vary the contrast of a graded paper is not sufficient. I want, for example, grade 5 in the sky, grade 1 in the some shadows and grade 2 in the midtones. Your proposed methods don't allow me to do that. They work on the entire sheet. But tell us more about David Kachel's method!

 

[David Brown]

That's my experience too, but I think, this has more to do with the difference between the illumination to evaluate and to finally display the print.

I agree.

 

[davidkachel]

Dan

I want, for example, grade 5 in the sky, grade 1 in the some shadows and grade 2 in the midtones. Your proposed methods don't allow me to do that. They work on the entire sheet. But tell us more about David Kachel's method!

You can read about it for yourself at: davidkachel.com/history/

And Selective Latent Image Manipulation Techniques for paper do exactly what you describe and anything in between.

dk

 

[archer]

Dear Ralph and David;
Ralph, I have used SLIMT for years and have never found an occasion where it could not produce the effect I required. I have used it in both color printing and black and white. Having said this, I must tell you that the majority of my work is in portraiture and most often in available light with and without reflectors, scrims and other light control devices but seldom flash. It may be that I do not encounter the extremes of contrast that a landscape photographer encounters however I have had some work that required every ounce of skill and technique I could muster, to control excessive lighting contrast and in these cases SLIMT has been a godsend.
David, I want to thank you for your work in the development of SLIMT and for the many articles you contributed to DCCT over the years I enjoyed all of them and found them very useful.
Denise Libby

 

[RalphLambrecht]

Thanks David

I will read it.

 

[RalphLambrecht]

You can read about it for yourself at: davidkachel.com/history/

And Selective Latent Image Manipulation Techniques for paper do exactly what you describe and anything in between.

dk

Dave

Your site and link don't work for me (Mac OSX and Safari). No matter what I select, I always get the same page and no images:

 

[dancqu]

Ralph, via Google, david kachel photography . Dan

 

[kompressor]

i always look at my print in the fixer with an small and dim light source (Cell phone/torch) before i switch on my main lights.

 

[RalphLambrecht]

Ralph, via Google, david kachel photography . Dan

Dan

Thanks that worked. Don't know why David's link did not.

I see the technique employs bleaching with ferri!

 

[davidkachel]

Dave

Your site and link don't work for me (Mac OSX and Safari). No matter what I select, I always get the same page and no images:

My mistake: davidkachel.com/history.html

Temporary brain spasm.