Re: Masking technique for contact printing

Pollmeier Klaus (100561.2417@CompuServe.COM)
Thu, 30 Jan 1997 05:26:52 -0500 (EST)

To Charlie Palmer and others:

This reply to the above mail comes somewhat late but for a while I couldn't find
the time to even download my mail...

Just let me say that I appreciate very much what Charlie did. Not because of his
use of scissors, cut-out masks etc. This is too individual an approach to me and
also somewhat against my idea of photography. But his consciousness about tonal
values and about the importance to adapt them to human physiology and psychology
I find remarkable.
By exposing and developing rather long, he gets negs with a long straight part
of the curve. Together with the straight dichromate curve of a carbon print for
instance, this would be close to a linear transition of tonal values. With a
developer like DI-13 (?) the lower values would even be a bit more contrasty and
the mid tones a bit brighter. This would then even be closer to the curve once
demanded by Heinrich Kuehn.

And Terry you said: <One thing that did come out of that discussion was that
Klaus and Kuehn were both wrong in terms of modern materials.> I probably
overlooked the message which showed that Kuen and I were wrong. All I remember
is that it was just the other way round, Terry. You may not agree to the
arguments of others but that doesn't necessarily mean that they are wrong. Maybe
we once compared apples and oranges and misunderstood each other. Kuehn's
statement was not limited to old materials and not to the actual amount of
information. He laid his finger in the wound of a general problem with silver
halide emulsions. The complex masking techniques he once used, the digital
"correction" we could do today or the cut-out method Charlie Palmer uses have
nothing to do with the number of tonal values, but with emphasizing the "right"
values and thereby of course neglecting others. But on this aspect, we probably
all agree, as this is s. th. our hand coated papers allow us to do.

Peter Marshall said: <I think the only way we can do this [dodging and burning
in at different contrast grades as with variable contrast papers] with alt-photo
is to work on our negs digitally.>

The AGFA Gevarex GO210p and the Typorex are variable contrast films. You can
expose them like the variable contrast papers with partially different contrast.
Or you could even take VC paper negs.

Klaus Pollmeier