Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2000/09/24

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Subject: Re: [Leica] printing questions
From: Disfromage@aol.com
Date: Sun, 24 Sep 2000 18:43:28 EDT

Guy,

I just got out of the darkroom after spending 23 hours printing over the last 
2 days and am a little bleary eyed, but I'll jump in with an opinion.  I've 
read about f stop printing and it has never registered with me.  Maybe I've 
just been doing it too long my way to learn a new method, but the f stop 
method breaks my head.  I too fail to see what the advantages to it are.  I 
like the simplicity of traditional test strips, they give me the information 
I need, and I don't have to do too much thinking which makes my brain hurt.  
I've never been terribly interested in being able to print something the same 
way in another size.  I find that every time I print a photo I do it 
differently, sometimes dramatically so.  I suppose if I was selling them it 
would be a different story, they would need to be consistent.  If you want 
more information on an f stop timer try RH Designs at  <A 
HREF="http://www.rhdesigns.co.uk/contents.htm">RH Designs</A> -they make lots 
of interesting darkroom aids.  

After saying all this I realized that the way I think about a print in the 
darkroom is in percentages.  I'll burn or dodge for a certain percentage of 
the initial exposure, based on experience and intuition.  Maybe this is a 
blending of the 2 methods?

I hope this makes sense, and is of some use to you.

Richard Wasserman