Bruce Barnbaum - The Art of Photography - An Approach to Personal Expression

Prints from color negatives generally have a softer palette than prints from a transparency. This is largely due to the longer (i.e., softer) contrast scale of the color negative compared to a transparency. Your choice of color negatives or transparencies should be based on the look and feel you want your prints to convey. You can get a punchy print from a negative and a soft print from a transparency; there is a good deal of overlap. It all depends on the subject matter, the materials, the lighting, and the way you choose to print. But if you photograph the same scene under the same conditions with both transparency and negative materials, the negative will yield the softer palette.

As discussed in Chapter 6, most people choose their color film based on color balance, but I recommend choosing your color film based on contrast level and degree of color saturation. This is because you can still control color balance during the shooting (with color CC filters) and again during the printing. I repeat this recommendation here because I feel it is so important. Starting with the film that is most compatible with your printing paper is sensible; it ultimately will yield an image that conveys your thoughts in the best manner possible. Because it is often a challenge to reduce the overall contrast of your negative or transparency to that of the printing paper (especially with transparency material and positive-to-positive papers), it makes little sense to choose a transparency material that looks great but is unable to print well on the paper you use.

There are several positive-to-positive papers available, but the best known is Ilford’s Ilfochrome. Ilfochrome has two distinctly different surfaces; the pearl surface is similar to air-dried black-and-white glossy paper, while the gloss surface is mirror-smooth and polished. (It’s not an RC base, but a polyester base paper.). I find the gloss surface distracting for all but the smallest images; yet it has a metallic quality that I find especially pleasing, and it’s the only paper that is very long lasting. An image on Ilfochrome Gloss can last for at least 50 years—perhaps 75 or more—whereas Ilfochrome Pearl might not last more than 30 years, though its longevity has increased markedly in recent years because of an improved resin-coated surface stock. Ilfochrome Gloss comes closest to achieving the archival permanence of black-and-white (with the exception of several esoteric color processes, such as carbon, Fresson, or carbro prints).

Of course, you must base your own choice on the overall look you want in your prints. I choose the pearl surface for several reasons, even though it lacks both the longevity of the gloss surface and its beautiful metallic sheen. But the advantages of the pearl surface are still numerous:

It allows the viewer to see the image clearly without fighting the distracting reflections from light sources behind the viewer that plague the gloss surface.

It can be dry mounted, which allows you to define all four edges with precision—a near- impossibility with a window overmat (except with very costly computer-driven mat cutters). This gives the finished print a slightly cleaner look, to my way of thinking.

It is far easier to handle and process without getting water marks, finger marks, or other surface imperfections that immediately ruin the gloss image. In fact, the pearl surface is so strong that it is hard to tear in half, and so tough that it is not easy to scratch even with your fingernails.

It can be easily spotted or hand colored, both of which are either difficult or impossible with the gloss surface.

Its longevity is increasing as RC technology improves. The pearl surface has the same emulsion as the gloss surface; the RC base is the cause of its shorter life. That is likely to keep improving.

Its cost is roughly half that of the gloss surface. Cost doesn’t come into play in my choice of paper, but once I’ve made my choice, it’s nice to know that I’ve saved money in the process.

Ilfochrome has two basic types of chemistry for its papers: the so-called professional P3 process chemistry, and the P30 chemistry, which comes in both liquid and powder form. Of the liquid and powder, the powder (P30p) appears to give somewhat richer results. However, the P3 chemistry gives the best results of all, with deeper color saturation and clearer whites than are attainable with the P30 chemistry, either liquid or powdered. The P3 has stronger bleach than the P30, which must be neutralized with baking soda after use, whereas the bleach of the P30 is neutralized by the used developer.

Color Contrast Reduction Masking

Contrast control remains the most troublesome problem for Ilfochrome printing. Careful burning of darker areas and dodging of lighter areas may provide sufficient printing controls in many cases on Ilfochrome without resorting to masking. I have printed 40–50 percent of my color prints without the need for any mask. However, that rather high percentage reflects the lower contrast film I use (i.e., indoor 64T film), as well as my choice of subject matter and lighting. It may also reflect the lower contrast transparencies I choose to print. Burning and dodging can go a long way toward controlling contrast in both transparency and negative printing.

When burning and dodging fall short of the mark, masking techniques are the chief means of contrast control for Ilfochrome. Masking is generally required with all positive printing papers, and it’s often required with Ilfochrome. In essence, masking is a way to lower the contrast of the transparency so it matches that of the paper, allowing the original transparency’s detail to be visible on the print.

Note

When making a contrast reduction mask, you can do two things at once. Not only do you lower contrast, but you can also selectively brighten or mute one color compared to others .

The section on masking for black-and-white is directly applicable here. I urge readers to go back and read that section again, for the procedures and materials are the same. For negative printing and direct positive-to-positive printing, the contrast reduction mask is made by placing Kodak T-Max 100, Ilford Delta 100, Ilford Pan-F, or Fuji Acros (developed to very low contrast) and several clear negative spacers against the negative or transparency, exposing the mask material through the original film and spacers, then (after development of the mask) placing the two in the enlarger together for subsequent exposure onto the print paper.

Another approach to making the mask is to place the bases of the negative or transparency and the mask together, thus exposing the mask material through both film bases. This alone may give sufficient separation for the desired degree of unsharpness. A sheet or two of clear negative material can be inserted for further separation, if necessary.

If you are working with a transparency, the black-and-white negative achieves its greatest density in the highlights and little or no density in the shadows. When placed in register with the original transparency, it lowers the contrast of the original to approximate that of the paper. It increases both local contrast and the appearance of sharpness in the same way it does to negatives.

The mask material should be exposed and developed to have little or no density whatsoever in the shadows so that enlarger exposure times do not become excessive. Development times should be chosen to greatly reduce contrast, preventing the densest portion of the mask from becoming too dense. A little experimentation will quickly show you the amount of exposure and development needed for proper mask-making.

Masking to Alter Color Intensities

When making a contrast reduction mask, you can do two things at once. Not only can you lower contrast, but you can also selectively brighten or mute one color compared to the others. Let’s look at the classic example of the red apple and green leaves. Suppose both the apple and the leaves are the same brightness level in the scene and you expose it with no filtration. The two have the same density on your transparency. If you want the green leaves to be a bit brighter and snappier (and therefore the red apple a bit darker), you can expose your contrast reduction mask through red filtration—a combination of magenta and yellow filters in roughly a 3:2 ratio.