Fire / water structure for SW paper

dorian · 2023-04-10T14:50:37+00:00

Moin ihr Lieben, ich bin noch neu im Dunkelkammer-Geschäft und habe gestern einen ersten Versuch gestartet. Ich wollte Fotopapier, das ich zuvor belichtet h...

dorian

Hi everyone, I’m still new to the darkroom and had my first go at it yesterday. I wanted to develop some photographic paper that I’d subjected to exposure earlier. But I was in for a surprise: the image is covered in this fire- or water-like pattern. Can anyone explain to me how this happened? I used the following materials: Paper: Fomaspeed 311 Multigrade Glossy (black and white, negative) -> I was given this paper as a gift, so I don’t know how it was stored or how old it is. It’s quite possible, however, that it has expired. Developer: ADOX ADOTOL Konstant II paper developer for a 5000 ml solution -> The developer reacted incredibly quickly, so that the first print (at 120 seconds) turned almost completely black. So for the print below, I really only immersed the paper in the developer for a very short time (3–4 seconds) and then plunged it into the stop bath. Stop bath: ADOX ADOSTOP ECO P Odourless stop bath with indicator powder for a 5000 ml solution Fixer: ADOX ADOFIX P II for a 5000 ml solution Does anyone have any idea how this result might have come about? [attachment=3454] [attachment=3455]

tth-photo

Hi there. 3–4 seconds is far too short in the developer. It should be 60 seconds. If your photo turns out too dark, just use a shorter exposure time. Do you know an easy way to test the right exposure time for a 60-second development?

Wolf_XL

...has the coated layer come off? I had that happen recently with two sheets of Foma 311 – you could rub the coated layer off with your fingers. The other sheets from the same pack, on the other hand, were perfectly fine...

dorian

Wolf_XL wrote ... Has the emulsion come off? I had that happen recently with two sheets of Foma 311 – you could rub the emulsion off with your fingers. The other sheets from the same pack, on the other hand, were perfectly fine...

Thanks Wolf_XL, but no, the emulsion hasn’t come off... [hr]

tth-photo wrote : Hi there. 3–4 seconds is far too short in the developer. It should be 60 seconds. If your photo turns out too dark, just use a shorter exposure time. Do you know how you can easily test the right exposure time for a 60-second development?

Okay, thanks. I’m working without an enlarger and without film, so I’m performing the exposure directly via my screen. (It’s an experiment for a uni project.) That’s why it’s not that easy to perform an exposure for a shorter time, but I’ll give it a go. Last time I performed an exposure for 14 frames at 30fps (so about half a second), I’ll do a few tests now. How can I easily test the exposure time? And do you think the texture could have been caused by the short time in the developer? Thanks!

MirkoBoeddecker

Dorian wrote
And do you think the pattern could have been caused by the short time in the developer?
We don’t just think so – that’s exactly what happened! In such a short time, the developer can’t work evenly. 60 seconds is the minimum, and the exposure has to be right.

tth-photo

dorian wrote: "OK, thanks. I'm working without an enlarger or film, so I'm exposing the paper directly from my screen. (It's an experiment for a university project.) That's why it's not that easy to use a shorter exposure time, but I'll give it a go. Last time I exposed 14 frames at 30fps (so about half a second); I’ll do a few tests now. How can I easily test the exposure time? And do you think the texture could have been caused by the short time in the developer? Thanks!

I assume that your experiment above will neither succeed nor fail. Modern photographic papers are very light-sensitive and aren’t designed to be exposed using a screen. Nor can you test the correct exposure time in this way if you can’t control the light using an aperture.

Wolfgg

Hello, You should be able to dim the screen so that the image is just about visible. Develop with a coated layer facing downwards, so you don’t even think of taking the image out too early. Clamping a transparent grey scale between the screen and the paper helps you quickly determine the correct exposure time. Another approach: use a pinhole camera. Take some aluminium foil, pierce a hole in it with a pin, and attach it to a cardboard box containing photographic paper. This might even produce a more pronounced level of sharpness than placing the photographic paper directly on the screen, and the exposure time will now be quite long. Regards, Wolfgang