What does it mean when your print is just too overall gray? my print is a pair of black shoes on a white or light colored sheet for backdrop. the background is coming out dark gray. I hav a #2 1/2 filter ap. 11 exposure time 15 sec. Thanks!!

-- Erinn O (squirrelymom66@aol.com), January 24, 2002

Answers

Traditional advice for printing is to expose for the high values and develop for the low values (the reverse of making a negative). In practice, this means adjusting your exposure to give yourself the optimal separation and tonality in the high values, while adjusting the paper contrast and/or developer for the low values you want.

So, in your case, expose for the light colored backdrop and adjust the contrast filtration until you get the shoes the way you want them.

There is also the possibility that you have a light leak or a bad safelight that is making your background grey, but I suspect you simply need a higher contrast filter or paper. If the 2.5 filter doesn't do it for you, try a 3, 3.5, or 4.

You might also check out the recent thread on Split Printing.

-- Ed Buffaloe (edb@unblinkingeye.com), January 24, 2002.

My guess is your image is underexposed. Your meter by design will attempt to make everything it reads gray, and unless you compensated for your white background (overexposing by couple of stops, or so), which I'm guessing filled a sizable portion of the frame, you meter did its job and did in fact make your white background gray.

-- Ted Kaufman (writercrmp@aol.com), January 24, 2002.

If the contrast boost of Ed's suggestion doesn't work and is true what Ted says, being under exposed... and if you have a duplicate negative, you can Selenium tone the negative to build up density in the negative. Don't think you will get more detail, you won't. Your just building density with the aid of Selenium. It is a whole lot better than using Chromium Intensifier!!!

-- Scott Walton (scotlynn@shore.net), January 28, 2002.