Re: Over/Under Confusion
James A. Strain (jstrain@iquest.net)
Fri, 03 May 1996 22:52:45 -0400
Clyde Soles wrote:
>
> Ouch, my head hurts ;-)
>
> In response to my request for suggested film/developer combos (thanks!) to make
> in-camera negatives for platinum prints, a few folks suggested overexposing and
> overdeveloping the negative. Dick Arentz however recommends (in his booklet)
> underexposing one stop and developing 1 1/2 to 2 times normal (he uses Tri-x Pro
> and D-76). He has also stated (in an interview) that he gives negs destined for
> straight palladium more development than those for platinum/palladium.
>
> I know what a good silver neg should be but I have never seen a good neg for
> platinum -- looking at a final print doesn't help much. I don't have a
> sensitometer so I'll just have to eyeball it. Though I've already bought
> supplies, I'm reluctant to even start in with printing til I've got something
> decent to work with. Hope my newbie questions aren't boring you to tears.
Your newbie questions do not bore me. I overexpose or expose on the
money and overdevelop. For pt/pd prints, I find that a density range in
the neg from about .15 to 2.25 is close to ideal. I use Phil Davis'
PC-6 program to help me determine both exposure time and development
time. It is very much on the mark once you have done sufficient testing
to understand the effect on the film of development time, given your
method of working, film/dev. combo, etc. and how that relates to the
range of your paper. While this reply is far too cryptic to help you
with the nuts and bolts, one easy suggestion is to contact Fred Newman
at Darkroom Innovations. He can help you with Phil Davis' program,
running film and paper tests and generally getting set up. Cheers. Jim