I recently saw some pictures where the photographer used the unsharp masking technique (in the darkroom, not digital) and the prints were superb. Can anyone explain this to me, and can it feasibly be done with medium format (645 and 6x9) negs? Thanks.

Mike Hudson http://home.earthlink.net/~mwhudson

-- Michael Hudson (mwhudson@earthlink.net), July 23, 2001

Answers

Take a look at these articles - they might help.

http://www.vanguard.edu/DMcNutt/Photo/PhotoArticles.html

Unsharp masking calls for making a very low contrast negative of your negative (i.e., a positive) and printing both of these together in register. The article explains all this clearly. One thing the articles do not get into is the increase in apparent sharpness from using masking techniques. This appears to be the result of the fact that while the overall density range is reduced (sort of like what Anchell and Troop call contrast in large areas), the local microgradation (or contrast in small areas) stays the same. The human eye seems to read this increased micro-contrast as increased sharpness. Cheers, DJ.

-- N Dhananjay (ndhanu@umich.edu), July 23, 2001.

Forgot to add - you might also want to take a look at Ctein's 'Post Exposure'. He's got a chapter where he talks about using masking to tame contrast problems when trying to print from slides etc. Cheers, DJ.

-- N Dhananjay (ndhanu@umich.edu), July 23, 2001.

Check Radeka's site, he sells a very usefull masking kit. I bought it and I am very pleased with it. (www.radekaphotography.com)

-- Jorge Gasteazoro (jorgegm@worldnet.att.net), July 23, 2001.