Cliff Jette

Vico501 Printing Seminar

Research Project 6/1/00

The research project intended to find a paper and printing process to maximize the quality of prints from severely underexposed black and white negatives. As a photojournalist I find myself with film shot under low light that is underexposed. To make printing even more difficult the film is usually pushed several stops and has minimal shadow detail. Black and white prints with llford Multigrade Vl RC paper (pearl finish) were of poor quality despite care in printing. Prints with a #4 filter were flat and gray with poor contrast.

The test involved several images that were shot on Tri-X 35mm film pushed two stops to a speed of 1600 ISO. Even at l600 ISO these images are at least one stop underexposed. The first part of the test involved experimenting with benzotriazol, a restrainer that in effect adds ½ stop increase in paper grade. Also experiments were printed to ascertain if immersion of the final prints in selenium toner provided an increase in the dynamic range of the prints. These tests were made using fiber-based double-weight glossy Brilliant graded papers of 3 and 4.

The benzotriazol added to the developer was effective in slightly increasing the contrast range, of great benefit when printing thin negatives. Immersion in a one minute selenium toner bath made a significant increase in print quality. The blacks were significantly richer and as a result the print acquired some much needed contrast. Since both steps achieved the desired goal of increasing contrast they would be used in the second half of the experiment, to select a paper type for which to print underexposed negatives.

Glossy fiber papers would be used since they produce a full tonal range with greater contrast. The papers tested would be cold tone since they produce richer blacks (Ed Note: Test this statement - in the past, Portriga Rapid, a warm-tone paper, had the deepest blacks of any paper tested). The tests would also focus on graded paper since Multigrade had proved unsatisfactory for the images when printed with a #4 filter. Two papers were tested against each other, Brilliant Bromide II and Oriental Seagull.

Both the grade 4 fiber papers showed a significant improvement over the initial llford Multigrade RC papers in test prints of four different negatives. The Brilliant possessed a wider tonal range, with solid blacks, bright whites and a wide range of midtones. The Oriental proved to have a flatter look with less tonal range, in addition to requiring a significantly longer exposure. Some of the midtones went darker on the Oriental. The whites were less bright but held a little more detail than the Brilliant. The shadows on the Oriental also held a bit more detail but were not quite as rich as the Brilliant.