Printing a Photograph 

Part 1: First, a Bit Of Vocab!

Enlarger: Exposes photographic paper in the darkroom. Light controlled by a timer.    Makes small negatives larger. 

Contact Printer Holds negatives flat for contact sheet printing.  Enlargement Easel Holds paper flat for enlargement printing,ours look a little different, not adjustable. 

Test Strip: Strip of paper with the same picture exposed at different time increments.  helps you determine good exposure time. 

Full Range Of Value: Black to White with grey in between. This is your goal when printing a photo. 

Contrast Filters Yellow & Red filters add contrast to your photos the higher the filter number, the more contrast it will add.

Contact Sheet: prints your entire role of film as a positive image on one piece of photo paper.  Helps you decide which image to enlarge. 

Enlargement or Print Final Image: A large, positive version of your negative.

Dodging:  Covering a part of an enlargement so it receives  less light.  Makes those areas lighter. 

Burning: Exposing one part of a photo so it receives more light. Makes those areas darker. 

Part 2: Print a Contact Sheet

Part I: Printing a Contact Sheet Step 1: Gather your materials 1. Your negatives 2. Photo paper.   3. Glass stage/Contact Printer 4. Black paper card. 5.Enlarger. Step 2: Prep an enlarger.  Clean the glass on the contact printer with Windex. Wipe off finger prints and spots. 2.Raise the enlarger until the light covers the entire glass stage.  

Part I: Printing a Contact Sheet continued... Step 3: Load your contact printer.   1. 3. 2.

  With the light off. Place a strip of photo paper under your negative, be sure the emulsion side (shiny side) is up. Place Negatives Emulsion side (dull) down. *Just remember shiny side up always for both Cover with glass, press down so there is good contact between the paper and the negatives.  Cover most of the test strip with a black card.   Set the timer for 20 seconds and turn on light to expose.  expose more of the test strip Every 5 seconds by sliding the card over The last 5 seconds the entire strip should be exposed.(Take card away completely) Step 4: Make a Test strip

Step 5: Developing process.   Put in the developer for 2 minutes. Try to get immediate and even contact with the developer by sliding the paper into the tray. Agitate constantly by letting developer flow over the photo.   2. Move the print to the stop bath. Agitate for 30 seconds.   Finally, fix the print.   Be sure the print fixes for 5 minutes The print is now safe to view in light. Rinse the print and take out to check your results.

Step 6: Rinse Step 8: Dry your print with the print dryer Be sure to rinse prints for a full 10 minutes under running water If fixer is left on the print it will eat away your picture, and ruin the dryer Again, Make sure the water is on so that the fixer rinses out.  Every so often dump the water tray to be sure of a clean rinse.   Step 8: Dry your print with the print dryer

Step 7: Determine your exposure time.   Look for a FULL RANGE OF VALUE in the test strip  2. Start with the shortest time to create black. Then filter for the whites if necessary. 3. Look for slightly gray edges, and black film holes when printing a contact sheet. 4. Don't print full contact sheet until you have a perfect strip. 

Step 8: Expose your contact sheet. 1.Be sure the timer is off, then set the timer for your ideal exposure time.  2.Set a full sheet of photo paper under the negatives.   3.Expose the print and put your paper through the photo chemicals, same as you did for the test strip. 

Part II Make an Enlargement. 

Step 1: Choose a frame from your contact sheet. Part II: Making a Print Step 1: Choose a frame from your contact sheet.  Look for negative that:  is in focus.  has a full range of value.  has interesting composition. 

Part II: Making a Print Step 2: Put the negative in the negative carrier.   Be sure the emulsion (shiny) sides are together for best results. Put the negative carrier in the enlarger. 

Step 3: Prepare the photograph. Crop! Crop by re-sizing the photo. Move the Enlarger head up to make bigger, and down to make picture smaller.  Think about composition. Rule of Thirds? Isolate a Subject?   Use the height  knob to appropriately size the image. Use the focus knob and a magnifier to get a crisp image. Out of focus, needs to be cropped.  Good crop. Isolates a subject. Crisp Focus. 

Step 4: Make a Test Strip Determine your exposure time.   Take your test strip out of the darkroom.  Look for a true black and true white.  

Step 5: Expose your print. With the enlarger off, place a piece of photo paper into the print easel.  2. Be sure the timer is off, then set the timer for your ideal/chosen exposure time. 3.Expose the print 4. Develop with chemicals, Rinse and Dry