For printing large format negatives, we use fibre based exhibition paper which gives rich blacks and more tonal range. We use ILFORD 12x16in photographic paper.
Chemical used:
Soft developer
Hard developer
Stop
Fix
Hypo
We use a soft developer first for low contrast, and then a hard developer
for high contrast. And if you need more or less contrast you can change the times but both bath times need to add upto two minutes.
How to develop:
1. Set enlarger to grade 2 (000)
2. Place the negative in the holder, shiny side facing upwards
3. Stop the lens down to F5.6, and focus the photo using a focus finder to get it sharp4. Create a test strip of 4 second intervals
5. Put in soft developer shiny side down for 1 minute, agitating constantly, and after 30 seconds turning the paper to shiny side up6. Then put in hard developer for a further minute continuing to agitate
7. Next put it in the stop for a minute, making sure to let the test strip drip into the tray
8. Then you put the test strip in the fix for 3-4 minutes
9. Then transfer the photo to the hypo(neutralises the fix on the paper) and leave this in there for 3 minutes
10. Finally put the test strip into the wash for 10 minutes
11. Once you get your test strip figure out your timing for instance it could be in between two times on the test strip.
12. Put your full size piece of paper in the enlarger, and select your timing, and change your lens aperture to F11
13. Expose your paper, and repeat the same steps as for developing the test strip.
Test Strip:
This is the test strip with the setting being f5.6 and at 4 seconds intervals.
Pre flashing the print - To make the highlights easier to burn in. You do this by exposing the paper to the light for 4 seconds before flashing the print on it.
Dodging and burning - making parts of the photos light or darker by exposing certain parts more.
Increasing and decreasing the contrast - to make the details of the image stand out.
This print is before I burnt in the sky, as it was burnt out. The settings for this was F11 for 10 seconds. Apart from the scratches on the negative I really like how this photo turned out, with the background fore ground and mid ground being very central, bringing you into the photo
This was all the same settings with f11 and 10 seconds, but then did an extra 2 seconds on the sky covering the rest of the photo with a box and moving it to not get harsh lines.
Characteristic Curve:
You can develop for more or less time. Normal development time if just N. You can develop aat N-1, N+1 etc.
N-1 is when you take a minute off the development time to bring down the highlights. This is what you use if you used reciprocity while shooting. N+1 adds a minute and a half to development, this gives you more tonal range. This changes the characterstic curve, the curve of the film zones move along when you change the development time. The blackest blacks are the curve, and when you reduce or increase the tonal range you change the point of where the curve lays.
