Re: [Leica] printing questions

[Guy Bennett <guybnt@idt.net>]

>If I expose a print for 10 seconds and it hit the floor switch (which i highly
>recommend) to burn the sky for another 10 seconds I'll think of it and
>write on
>the back of the print:
>"B sky 1S"
>burn sky one stop.
>I heard it was good a while back to think in terms of "stops" as much as
>you can
>in the darkroom.
>So I have done that with my dodging and burning and i think it helps.
>Especially when you DONT change your F stop at a different magnification.
>Because it does not help to in your own head think about "hold 5 seconds
>on the
>face" as a matter of course.
>When five seconds could represent a half or a quarter or less, of a stop.
>Mark W. Rabiner
>:)


mark,

this is pretty much what i do, only i think of the time in percentages (of
the initial print time) as opposed to f-stops.

when i have a print time of 10 seconds and burn the sky for 10 seconds,
should i ever reprint the neg in a different size, i'll begin by burning
the sky for 100% of the total print time. that may not give me the exact
same results, but it's a good starting point.

seen from this perspective, i.e. from what folks here on the lug have
described in their various posts, there doesn't seem to be a tremendous
difference between the 'percentage method' and the 'f-stop method' when
speaking of dodging and burning times: they are both ways of discussing
time in non-absolute terms.

for me personally, the percentage approach seems more natural. not being
much of a mathematician, it is simply easier for me to calculate in
percentages rather than in fractions of f-stops.

guy

p.s. not having a foot switch (i use the lab in the school where i teach),
when i have to burn that sky for 10 additional seconds i use one of two
approaches: if i can mask the remaining area with my hands, i just double
the time on the timer, and move my hands into position half-way through the
exposure time (in this case, 10 seconds in). if i can't burn the area with
my hands, and need to use a cardboard mask, i do a second exposure: with
the mask held high under the lens to block the light from hitting the
paper, i set the timer for 18 seconds, then turn it on. i now have 8
seconds to move the mask into position and burn the sky in for the
necessary 10 seconds. it works for me.