Very High Contrast B&W Print Options: Film and Digital

As with all creative departures, manipulation done for its own sake may be interesting, but the true test of any applied technique is whether or not it serves the image. The goal should always be to use technique to enhance your thoughts and feelings about the moment. You may photograph with a certain end look in mind but change your approach and techniques later. Or you may come upon an image in your files that suddenly strikes you as apt for an approach radically different than when you first made the exposure. Following are some interpretive high contrast approaches and the techniques that you can use to achieve them. Note that some references are made to materials no longer available; scanning prints or negatives, or working with digital image files, and using digital processing can achieve the same ends.

High Contrast Processing

High contrast printing involves eliminating or subduing the middle tonal values, thus producing an image where the visual information is communicated in black and white, with little or no gray tonality. High contrast can be used to make near line-drawing renditions, or to create highly graphic interpretations of a scene. As it mutes information in the middle values it accentuates the lines and forms that define the subject.

Virtually every image can be printed in high contrast; critical decisions, however, will limit this technique to certain moods or scenes. Fashion, urban landscapes, portraits, architecture and winterscapes are the most common types of images to which high-contrast techniques are applied, but this list by no means limits the possibilities.

This high contrast image was made from a digital file of leaves and branches in the snow. The image was loaded in Photoshop into the Threshold Adjustment Layer. After merging the Layer and then creating a Duplicate Layer on which painting work was done, a white foreground brush was used to paint away certain areas and details, and a black foreground brush was used to paint into the darker areas where discontinuous glitches of white appeared. Similar work can be done on lith film using opaque dyes. The image was then printed on a slightly warm background layer.

For darkroom workers, the simplest way to achieve a high contrast effect is to work with a high-contrast paper or high-contrast filter when using VC paper, namely a #5 grade. With most negatives, this choice eliminates many of the middle gray values.

Unlike more commonly used grades, such as #2 or #3, grade #5 has a rather narrow exposure latitude, which means that critical testing is key. Expose too long and the whites will "gray up"; underexposure may yield a very weak image. (#5 can also be used to correct very underexposed negatives, and will often reveal details not seen by the untrained eye.)

If even a #5 grade fails to yield the desired result use of a "lith" film as an intermediary will do the trick. Lith (also called ortho) film is still available today from Freestyle (note: no commercial affiliation) in 8x10 sheets, mainly used by those who do platinum and palladium and other "alternative process" work. In the past it was available in formats from 35mm up. When developed in a special high-contrast developer no middle gray values will record. You could also have used Kodak Tech Pan film developed for high contrast. (Note: No longer available.)

You could make an intermediary lith negative from an original negative or slide. To make it from a slide, all you need to do was enlarge or contact print the slide onto the lith film, just as you would make a print. This creates a reversed, or negative image, which you then use to make a positive print. To make a lith negative from a negative, you first enlarge or contact print the negative onto the lith film, and then enlarged or contacted that positive onto another sheet of lith film, which creates a negative. (All film imaging, when done on film or paper, goes negative-positive-negative-positive, and so forth. This allows for some interesting image derivations.) Lith film can be processed under red safelight conditions, so you can inspect the negative as it developed to get it just right.

Once the lith negative is created, you can retouch it with dye to eliminate any gray values that may still exist; when you opaque a negative that opaqued area will print white. After you're satisfied with the negative you can print on virtually any grade paper to obtain a high-contrast image, though a #5 will guarantee the best effect.

You can also photograph with a high-contrast film in the camera, though experience shows that working from a full-tone negative and then converting it to high-contrast yields the most options.

The digital high-contrast conversion is quite simple. You can use presets in many programs; work with a Curve or Levels Adjustment Layer in Photoshop; or, my usual technique, work with the Threshold Adjustment Layer. The latter has slider control options that allow you to fine tune results. And, just like using dye on lith film, you can paint with black (or sometimes white) to remove any "flaws" or even eliminate details by covering them so they do not show through on the final image. 

High contrast does not always mean just black and white and no gray values: there may be an alteration of tonal values to accentuate a "hard" contrast with some gray values remaining. This effect can be used effectively for all manner of imaging where you don't want a line-drawing effect yet want the graphic appeal of a higher-than-normal contrast image.

Customizing Black-and-White Film Processing: The Ringaround Test

The processing instruction sheet packed with most film tells you to develop for, say, 8&1/2 minutes at 68-degrees F. It outlines an agitation schedule and advises on adjusting times for variations in temperature. Though following these guidelines should yield printable negatives, they don't necessarily result in optimum negatives for each person or more importantly for each type of scene. In some cases, the times and temperatures given are an average, and only through testing can you arrive at what's best for you. Also, everyone's in-camera meter or handheld meter--and way of reading light--is different. 

Coupled with idiosyncrasies in processing, such as faster or slower agitation, is the fact that some thermometers aren't totally accurate; also, chemical mixing may be off, with dilutions varying as much as +/- 10%. The result is that two people may shoot the same scene with the same film, and develop in essentially the same way, and still get slightly different looking negatives. Though following procedures strictly is one way out of this problem, you may also have to modify your developing technique to get the most printable negatives for your style of printing. Before we examine a way to gain this personal touch, let's get one thing straight: there's no sense getting involved with your own printing unless you handle your own negative developing.

Below: Hong Kong Market, 1976. Tri-X 400. Exposure: Spot reading on highlights, +1.5 stop compensation. Processing: D-76 1:1, 8 minutes (-25% recommended), 30 second agitation cycle.

                                   

 Personalizing Negatives

The first step in gaining control over your negatives is knowing the look of the negative you want to produce. Some printers like dense negatives (slightly overdeveloped and/or overexposed), while others prefer thin negatives (slightly underexposed and/or underdeveloped.) This preference has to do with a number of factors, including the type of light source you print with (generally, printing with a condenser type head means you'll go for thinner negatives, while denser negatives are preferred by those using a cold light head); what a favorite negative looks like (by accident, one negative prints perfectly for you; though you can't put your finger on what made it happen, you know you want to have it happen again); and the feeling a negative imparts to a print (this may have to do with contrast, but it also can be the grain or the amount of detail in shadow areas.)

All these preferences are valid, but they are too often a subjective matter, one that can't be quantified or qualified by graphs and charts. The point is to be able to reach your goal consistently, and be able to produce the kind of negative you want without having to resort to luck. This can be accomplished by running a few tests, and then sticking to a technique you'll follow again and again.

Givens: Stick to the Plan

The first given in this procedure is that you'll stay with a set time and temperature: we do this to cut down on the number of variables in film development. Then we'll use a certain way of reading exposures. For example, if you read through-the-lens (TTL), with a handheld incident meter, or with a spot meter, stick with it; if you meter highlights and shadows and average, spot meter shadow or highlight readings and compensate, or allow your in-camera autoexposure meter to average readings, keep it the same throughout.

Once you've set up your “house” rules you can begin to make subtle changes in film processing. 

Agitation, Pours, and Dilution

While it's known that agitation can have an effect on film development, it's not generally understood that the fashion in which film is agitated can result in thinner or denser negatives. Some agitate gently, while others shake film cans as if they're mixing a martini. Some may use drums mounted on electric rollers, while others agitate every 30 seconds or once a minute. Again, stick to your method, but understand that changing it slightly can have an effect on results.

Removing chemistry from a film developing tank after each step is done in various ways--some people start their pour 15 seconds before the end of each step, others wait until the total developing time is elapsed. If you wait until time is expired you're actually adding from 10 to 30 seconds developing time. There's no right or wrong here--we're just interested in controlling the process. Be consistent.

The same goes for developer dilution--some dilute 1:1 for more even tones (or whatever your developer solution requires), while others use a lower dilution ratio than suggested for the added "punch" it gives negatives. Stick with a dilution time after time until you find out how it alters the look of the image; try another if you're dissatisfied.

Once you've lined up all your procedures, and made sure that you follow them consistently, you're ready to begin a test that will help you determine how to apply your personal disciplines to getting the best results from your film. You'll need three rolls of film and developing tools and chemicals.

Below: White Sands, 1982, Kodak Plus-X, shot at ISO 100. Exposure: f/11 at 1/500 second, spot reading on highlight with +1 exposure compensation. Developed in D-76 1:1 for 8 minutes, 30 second agitation cycle.

Film Test: Ringarounds

Load your preferred film in your camera and set the meter at the film's rated speed--ISO 400, for example. Find a scene, or set one up, that has a 5-stop brightness range. For example, use a scene with f/4 for a shadow reading and f/16 for a highlight, with all tones in between. Don't pick a high-contrast scene where you have a bright highlight and deep shadow. Set the shutter speed so that the "correct" (or averaged) exposure is f/8. (Thus, if the meter reads f/5.6 at 1/500 sec, alter the balance to get a reading of f/8 at 1/250 sec.) Do this with three rolls of film. On each roll make three five-stop brackets of the scene; shoot one set at ISO 100, one at the normal setting of ISO 400 and the last at ISO 1600. In other words, shoot a series at f/4, f/5.6, f/8, f/11 and f/16 at ISO 100, 400 and 1600. This is your exposure ringaround.

Load each onto a separate reel. Develop one roll in your normal fashion, with whatever time, temperature and dilution you normally use. Develop the next roll at 50% over your normal developing time, then the last roll at 30% less than your normal time. Keep time, temperature and agitation cycle constant throughout. In other words, if your normal time is 10 min, develop roll #2 at 15 min and roll #3 at 7 min. After the negatives are dry, make contact sheets (on a “normal” or #2 grade paper or by using a variable contrast #2 filter) of each set or simply check the negatives with a loupe.

Study the negatives and/or contact sheet; find the negative that has the richest tonal range, with detail in the shadow areas and controlled, printable highlights. Once you've chosen the negative, note where it appears on the ringaround and see how it was obtained.

Judging Results and Making Adjustments

If the prime negative was of the averaged reading developed normally, then your technique is right on target and you can go on your merry way. But if the prime negative is, say, the averaged reading negative developed plus 50%, then you've got some adjusting to do. Adjustments can be made in either your camera meter setting or your developing time. Let's say that the best negative is obtained at the f/5.6 setting with normal developing time--in this case, you can rate the ISO 400 film at EI 200 when using your metering system. Don't be afraid of "fooling" the camera--all you're doing is recalibrating your system for optimum results.

Or, if your best results were obtained with the plus 50% developing time at the f/11 setting you can adjust your meter to EI 800 for an ISO 400 film and adjust developing times accordingly. After you've made the necessary adjustments, refine the test even further by shooting a few rolls of everyday scenes at the new settings and developing times. You may end up clipping a few seconds of the time, or changing your meter setting by 1/3 or 1/2-stop (changing ISO is the easiest way to do this.)

Each camera/metering system you own should be subjected to this test, as each one represents a variable. However, if your results are really out of whack have the unit serviced. No amount of fine tuning can make up for a truly faulty system. Also, you can change results somewhat by going from a once a minute to a 30 sec agitation cycle (this increases developer activity); adding a degree or two to solution temperature; or switching to a different dilution. Whatever you do, be consistent.

Below: West River, 1982, Tri-X at ISO 320. Exposure: f/8 at 1/125 second, CWA metering, no exposure compensation. Developed in D-76 1:1 for 8 minutes, 1 minute agitation cycle.

                             

One side benefit of this test is that it can open your eyes to how negatives can be manipulated with time and exposure variations. You may find yourself having very strong feelings about a particular scene and decide to expose and develop it accordingly. The test will give you a reference catalog of all the variables and their consequences. You'll see negatives that are overexposed and overdeveloped, underexposed and overdeveloped, underexposed and underdeveloped, and so forth. This can also become a guide for tracing mistakes and problems. In any case, knowing the procedures that will give you the negatives you need gives you a real sense of control over your photography.

Roll and Sheet Film

Note that these procedures are easily done when using sheet film, as you can customize processing and settings for each frame. On roll film my procedure was to have one camera for "normal" contrast and one for high-contrast scenes. (I even swapped film mid-roll at times using a changing bag or simply finished a roll in the same general lighting conditions.) 

Be Consistent to Get Consistent Results

Everyone is an individual, and each person's technique should be a tool, rather than a hindrance in expressing that singular vision. By customizing your procedures and shooting for your individual tastes you'll be getting the most out of every situation. There's no need to have every piece of equipment you own calibrated, or to make graphs and charts of developing curves, but you need to be consistent and know the consequences of your actions. If you follow this course you'll gain the most photographic freedom and produce the best possible negatives for your printing.

    

Fotofusion Class Worksheet: B&W Image Processing with Adobe Lightroom CC

Notes and cheat sheet for the "B&W Image Processing with Adobe Lightroom CC" at fotofusion 2017, Wednesday Jan 25.

Adobe Lightroom CC Black and White Quick Tips

Lightroom is a browser and processor in one. While it does not have the power or full toolset of Photoshop, it contains most if not all you need to create and print great BW images. Keep in mind that LR does not contain images, just thumbnails to which your processing instructions are attached in the metadata, which is then applied to your originals when you open them from within the program. It is called “non-destructive” because it does not change the nature of the original file; it creates a “sidecar” with processing instructions. However, the gotcha is that you must be hooked up to an access point to the originals to be able to work on them. You always have to have the originals somewhere on your system (other than Lightroom) to work on them.

Note: If you work with specific papers and printers consistently you may want to use Soft Proofing, although there are mixed opinions on this. You need a calibrated monitor to do this. See Printing (last item) for tips on soft proofing and print setup.

PREP

1)   Import your select images into a Folder on the desktop or on your card or stick. Label it FF17. Keep your memory stick in. (Note: Trash this folder from the desktop at the end of the class.)

2)   Go to the Library module and make a new Folder: Import images from your folder, memory stick, memory card etc. Use Add. This is your work file. 

3)   Click on the Folder. They will show up on your thumbnails on the work screen. Click on an image within the thumbnails. At the top of the workspace click on Develop.

PROCESSING

If you are working from a color image scroll down to HSL first. This is where you convert to BW using the color contrast controls. This sets up the overall look of the converted image that can be modified later using the various brush controls. You may find that this accomplishes 80% (or more) of the work.

1)   Click on Treatment: BW

2)   Scroll down to HSL

3)   Move the sliders on each color to preview the effects.

4)   Then you can scroll up and down to modify areas, change specific contrast points and burn and dodge, etc.

Shortcut option: Click on Presets on the left side panels. Try out different looks. When you click on the preset it will be previewed in the workspace/navigator. These can be modified later.

Scroll up to the Tone Curve control. Use the sliders or you can work within the curve box itself. This sets up the overall contrast.

Scroll up to Tone and work with Exposure, Clarity, etc. Again, this works with the overall look of the image.

Once this is done we have set the base characteristics of the image, and that might be it. However, there are numerous modification tools you can also use.

Scroll up to the top of the right side workspace.

A) Rectangular grid: Crop & Straighten:

1)   Aspect: Aspect ratio or measurements:  Click on Original for a drop down for presets, as shot, custom. Presets allow for immediate aspect ratios: “as shot” follows the camera aspect ratio settings, and custom lets you set the crop.

2)   Angle: Straightening: Move marker left and right (Note hold down CMD key and crop switches to Level)

3)   Constrain to Image: This maintains (by constraining the crop) image data in the crop—necessary when you do Transform work

4)   Auto—LR’s best guess

Note: O (oh) allows you to cycle through overlay grids

Hit ENTER to make the crop and disappear the crop panel

B) Spot Removal: (Horizontal male symbol) Like a Healing Brush, this can be used to touch up flecks on scans and small dust from your sensor or even disappear phone lines, etc.  This can be helpful for cleaning up scans or minor sensor dust. If you want a quick guide look at the bottom of the picture panel and click on Visualize Spots. Use the “Heal” option for cleanups.

The Clone tool does the same as the Clone tool in Photoshop, but, to me, in awkward fashion. You’re better off cloning in PS, but this can be a quick fix.

The red eye tool is just what it says.

C) Graduated Filter and Radial Filter: Drag and control tone and noise, Clarity etc. You can drag from any direction. I use the Grad filter as an ND filter on sky etc. and the Radial for vignetting on portraits etc. Check out the Effects options, as this lets you apply various changes to selections.  On the Radial Filter you can create an oval and move the circumference and shape around. The Brush (at base of this module) allows Layer Mask work, which means you can modify areas that have been changed. Click on “Show Selected Mask Overlay” at the base of the image window to see the areas in which you have applied your brushwork.

D) Adjustment Brush: Hand done and selective burning, dodging, noise and a whole lot more. I prefer this to the somewhat unmanageable Grad and radial filter. Go down to the bottom of this control and set up the brush size, density, and flow. You can brush and then modify the exposure, contrast etc or modify first and then brush. You will get a feel for that as you work. You can see a before and after by clicking on the small slide control at the base. In the Brush/Erase control you can drop back or modify the Brush strokes.

Use New for a new area (“pin”) and Edit for existing Mask corrections. You can set up two separate brushes: A and B. The Erase option does just that: either full erasure or subtle touchups. The Mask Overlay (bottom of picture panel) shows where you have worked. You can show or hide pins using the option at the base of the image window. Click on Done when work is complete.

G) Split Toning: This can be a simple toning tool or you can add different color tones to the highlight and shadow areas separately. Click on the box next to highlight and choose the highlight tone color; same for shadow. Move the slider up and down for subtle effects. To taste.

H) Detail: The sharpening tool. Use discretely.

Noise Reduction: As it says.

Lens Corrections: Turn on Manual and play. Distortion: for fisheye and ultra-wides, etc. Click on constrain to keep image within frame lines.

Transform: A play area. Click on Constrain Crop at bottom of box.

Effects

Post Crop Vignetting: Edge burning and movement of center point

Grain: To add, with modification

Camera Correction: For profiled lenses.

Left Side

Navigator: Watch this space! It is a very good guide to see effects as you work.

Presets: Quick filter effects. Interesting bw filters that can be modified

Snapshots: States you want to save or revert to. Like freezing one step and then being able to revert to it.

History: Step by step through what you have done. This is how you back out and go back to that fork in the road. NOTE: Use this to go back, not the tempting REVERT button, as Revert will go back to start.

Printing

If you want to print out with Photoshop or another program simply Export the image to a folder and open it in a different program. Lightroom certainly can be used for printing and after a few tries you will find it easy.

Assuming you have a printer set up, and have loaded profiles of the printer/paper, and that you have coordinated the printer with your system: go to the base of the image window and click on Soft Proofing. This is how you see the effect of the paper/printer on the image. The differences can be profound.

When you have done your adjustments click on the Print module.

On the left side, click on Page Setup, which will bring up your usual dialog box. Choose Paper Size and Printer here.

On the right side go to Guides and turn everything off except Dimensions. This will show the print size and the resolution. If the resolution is below 240 ppi the program will upsample for you. A bit is fine; too much may be a problem. You can make a smaller print by using the Cell Size sliders; note the ppi as you work.

Scroll down to Print Job dialog. Check the print resolution box if you choose to upsample (for me a minimum of 240 dpi). Consider the Print Sharpening setting (I keep this at Low or Off but you might want to check and test out the different settings) and how color is managed (Photoshop or Printer). If Photoshop, scroll down to the profile. If you are using a matched paper (Epson or Canon brand printer and paper) you can use Printer Managed; if you are using a “third-party” paper then use Photoshop Managed. Once you have chosen a paper the setup will pick the ink, platen etc.

Click on Printer on the right side and go through the usual settings. Color Matching and Quality and Media.

Click on Print.

Contact Sheets

Go to Print module. Click on Image Settings. Choose Rotate to Fit. At the image roll at the base of the window image choose one image and then click on other images you want on the contact sheet. Use Shift to choose a series, Command to make individual selections.

Click on the Layout module. Choose cell spacing and size. Note the Preview Grid in the Navigator. Go to the Page module and choose ID: use File Name.

Go through the Print setup as outlined above. Click on Print.