Re: Shadow and High Key Contact Printing

----- Original Message -----
From: "Michael Koch-Schulte" <mkochsch@shaw.ca>
To: "Richard Knoppow" <dickburk@ix.netcom.com>
Sent: Friday, March 17, 2006 8:25 AM
Subject: Re: Shadow and High Key Contact Printing

> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Richard Knoppow" <dickburk@ix.netcom.com>
> To: <alt-photo-process-l@sask.usask.ca>
> Sent: Friday, March 17, 2006 5:05 AM
> Subject: Re: Shadow and High Key Contact Printing
>
>
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Michael Koch-Schulte" <mkochsch@shaw.ca>
> > To: <alt-photo-process-l@sask.usask.ca>
> > Sent: Thursday, March 16, 2006 8:58 AM
> > Subject: Shadow and High Key Contact Printing
> >
> >
> > >I stumbled across the terms Shadow Printing and High Key
> > >printing in the context of making contact negatives (ok
> > >I'll admit it, it's part of a workshop that, for logistical
> > >reasons, I'll never be able to attend). Is this a new idea
> > >or an old one? Can someone explain this technique and
> > >theory in general terms? Does it involve making two or more
> > >seps instead of a single negative?
> > >
> > > ~m
> > >
> > Do you know if this is in reference to Photoshop
> > manipulation? Presumably, it is. I've found a couple of
> > references using Google. These are about modifying the curve
> > of the image so that either highlights or shadows dominate,
> > i.e. distorting the gray scale. This is not quite what the
> > terms "high key" and "low key" mean in traditional
> > photography. The traditional meaning refers to the scene
> > itself, high key being one where bright areas predominate,
> > low key being one where shadows predominate, but due to the
> > tones and lighting of the original scene rather than to
> > distortion of the gray scale.
> > Of course, the terms may mean something else here.
> > Perhaps some version of the multiple exposure system that
> > was used with the old half-tone method of makign printing
> > plates. In this separate shadow and highlight exposures were
> > made with the addition of over all fogging exposures in
> > order to control the tone reproduction.
>

Richard, et al.
The below is an excerpt, the full text can be found on the main page of
www.alternativephotography.com under "workshops. I believe the workshop is
being hosted by the Formulary and is specifically talking about digital
negatives. I was being deliberately vague on my initial post because I
wanted unbiased feedback hence my use of the term "general". Dick Arentz and
Mark Nelson are co-hosting. I guess the question going through my head is if
the curve's job to produce a perfect analog of what one sees on the screen,
why would there be a need to manipulate the negative any further? What
benefit is there to producing a negative (and a new curve) specifically for
an image where the emphasis is "shadows" or "highlights".

Thanks,
~m

 " ...Students will learn to master the interaction of manipulations of PT/
PD chemistry with manipulations of the digital negative to make unique
prints that match their vision—including “shadow printing”, high key
printing, digital negatives with hybrid curves that match the monitor image
or how an in-camera negative would print and everything in between, and how
to achieve softness or edge sharpness in an image or both. All of these
methods have been designed to retain all the original richness of the image
when shot and translate it into the print."
Received on Fri Mar 17 08:27:43 2006