I recently had my first real darkroom print session. I’ve made a few prints here and there, but struggled with the technical aspects (e.g., expired developer, bad masking). This time, I made some contact sheets and enlargements that I feel really good about.
The motivating force was to produce Christmas gifts for my family. I unearthed some hitherto unseen Tri-X negatives from a family trip in 2019, and got to printing.
I made contact sheets from two rolls, and wow do I understand now why contact sheets are so helpful. They really help you dial in the printing workflow, and you can very quickly get feedback on your exposures. I find them MUCH more informative than working digitally, in terms of data to inform your process.
I settled on two frames I liked, and worked on prints. Thanks to the contact sheets, they were surprisingly easy to expose well. Now that I know how to do a quick straight print, I’m going to work on improving my vision for the print, including cropping or other modifications as necessary. I don’t really want to do Ansel-level dodging and burning, but I would like to know how to apply those skills as needed.
I also contact printed a 4x5 sheet of HP5 that I’d printed before, but with expired developer. This time went much, much easier. I also learned about the differences in Tri-X vs HP5 negatives for contact printing, and am starting to figure out how and when to add contrast in the print.
I am hopeful this will represent a turning point in my photographs. I am going to narrow my film and developer choices for a while, and develop (hah) a shot-to-print workflow that will give me the results I want, predictably.