Basic Photography 1100

[ksmattfish]

Probably prints from negs then, which is just as fun, and no genetic damage! Yeah! Having access to a stocked, attended color printing lab is one of the main reasons I've thought about going back to school again, but I bet my school is (or has) shutting down the color printing darkroom too.

 

[JamesD]

Congrats, Matt! I want to take a photography class at the local college this fall, but I don't know if I'll get to because of work. Color would be awsome!

When I read what you said about the 8X10 and film costs, I was about to reply by pushing the paper negative, but I see that Charlie beat me to it LOL. We're both a couple of PN pushers... it's certainly addictive.


Anyway, to answer your question.... Yes, you can contact print. The paper acts as a ND filter, so a bit of extra exposure is required, but for me, 30 seconds is usually the longest I have to go. You can also use standard VC filters.

You can also go the other route and use a flatbed scanner, then invert in Photoshop of The Gimp--or just about any other graphics program, including Paintbrush. I've never done any tests to see specifically how different the resulting images are.

In a recent experiment, I loaded a paper negative into my enlarger and tried projecting it. To my surprise, the negative image was dim but perfectly usable. It prints just fine.

In Alt-techniques forum, there's a thread where we've been discussing all this. It's quite worth trying, at least once.

Anyway, again, congrats on the grade, and good luck!

 

[ksmattfish]

Too bad the film is so expensive

Actually, it just depends on how you think of it. By the shot, sure it's more expensive, but if you break it down into price per square inch I've found that usually 35mm is more expensive than other formats.

Checking at B & H for 80 square inches of Tri-X:
1 sheet of 8"x10" = $3
4 sheets of 4"x5" = $3.76
1 roll of 120 = $2.95
1 roll of 35mm 36 exp. = $3.69

I wouldn't doubt that for most films less popular (less quantity sold, I mean) the 35mm format, pre-rolled in a cannister is the most expensive way to buy film.

So start shooting that 8"x10"; it is actually saving you money!!

 

[markc]

Just keep thinking:

8x10 contact print...
8x10 contact print...
8x10 contact print...
Mmmmmmm......


A paper neg sounds like a neat thing for something different to do, but when it comes to image quality, I can't help but cringe when I think of it.