Just tried split filter printing with limited success. I determined the exposure for the highlights using a 0 filter and the shadows with a 5 filter. When I printed the determined shadow exposure with the 5 filter followed by the determined highlight exposure with the 0 filter, the resulting image was overexposed.

I had to reduce the 5 filter exposure by 90 percent and the resulting print was too low in overall contrast.

What process should I be following for getting this right??

-- r (ricardospanks1@yahoo.com), August 06, 2001

Answers

I typically make two test strips. The first is made using the soft filter (#0) and I then choose the exposure that yields good highlights. I then expose a second sheet of paper uniformly using the soft filter for this exposure time. I then change to a hard filter (#5) and run a test strip (i.e., a series of exposures) on this already exposed sheet of paper. That allows me to judge the exposure required through the hard filter (on top of the exposure given by the soft filter). Then, I make a final work print with the two exposures. Hope this helps, DJ.

-- N Dhananjay (ndhanu@umich.edu), August 06, 2001.

I'm not sure what you were trying to accomplish. But I think your basic problem was that you figured your high-contrast filter exposure time by itself and then combined it with your low-contrast filter exposure, which gave the overexposure you saw. If you have a negative that is high contrast overall, you may not need "split" filtering, but only need to use one, low-number, filter to bring all the various areas into the range of your paper. Of course in such a case, you could use two filters in succession to give a contrast between the two if you are not happy with either alone. That is one way of split filtering. But when a negative has a large area of normal or low contrast and another large area of higher contrast, then you may have to find the best filter(s) for each area and print the areas separately, holding back one as you print the other. Basically, you are making two prints on one sheet of paper. Landscapes, in which sky and terrain are of different contrast and density come to mind. Or, sometimes you can give the whole print an exposure that satisfies one area and then use a different filter to add another exposure to the second area while holding back the first area. You have to play around with test strips and test prints to figure out what filtering scheme works with a particular negative. There are some books on VC printing that might help, but it's finally a matter of experimenting.

-- Keith Nichols (knichols1@mindspring.com), August 06, 2001.

Split filter printing is one of my favorite ways to fine tune contrast. However I agree with the above answers that it is not neccessary for every negative and it can be quite time consuming to get everything to come together, but when it does it works great. You could try using a #2 or #2.5 to start with rather than the #0. One other trick you could try is to stop down your enlarger lens so that your overall exposure is longer thereby giving you more time to dodge and burn in those areas that need it.

-- Justin Fullmer (provo.jfullmer@state.ut.us), August 06, 2001.

If you need to split print everything then you should recalibrate your system until you get most everything to print fairly well on a grade 2-2 1/2 paper VC or graded. You use split printing when you run into the odd neg that needs it. I split more than I need to just because it gives me prints that I like. I also shoot in very contrasty light quite often. My method is to print with a soft exposure first(1.5-2) and then fine tune the print with a hard filter(5) to pop the hard edged shadows. James

-- james (james_mickelson@hotmail.com), August 07, 2001.