Hello, My name is Thomas Beswick and I am the maker of TKB media. I decided to start a blog in order to share my work and experiences in a more personal manner. I love photography and film, and like so many other people, I want to share my knowledge whilst gaining exposure. I’m from Manchester and I moved to Japan a year ago so here is the start of my journey. Thanks for reading.
nagareboshi_05 by Shinya Arimoto on Flickr.
Miles Aldridge
Miles Aldridge
This is a small portrait of Taiwan which was taken about 15 months ago. Although brief, I think it conveys Taiwan quite well as a beautiful and relaxed country. The places I visited and the people who I encountered were very warm and down to earth. I would very much like to go back there someday.
After trying to find information on dodging and burning, I realised how scarce it was. If you are interested in dark room photography, this video will give you a useful step by step guide on how to make a print. The topics covered are:
1. Assessing your negative
2. Making a test strip
3. Selecting a contrast filter
4. Burning and Dodging
A typical example of dodging would be to dodge a subjects face or area of the print which is otherwise too dark if printed at the desired exposure of the background. Above is a video demonstration about of how I would typically dodge. There are no rules when dodging and the skill is developed over time. I use a piece of black tape, my hands, or a piece of card as my dodging tool. You can use any object you want as long as you remember that the higher to the lens you dodge, the more diffused your dodging will be.
On the Left you can see the dodged print at grade 4. On the right is the print that has received no dodging at grade 3. Notice how in the dodged print the subject seems more three-dimensional and separated from the back ground.
Before I got my Enlarger I wondered if I could print a color negative in black and white. After a little bit of research (google) I found out it was possible. I was very pleased as a lot of my negatives were color and I only had a black and white enlarger. After printing my first print, something just wasn’t right. All my prints seemed super flat so I researched more and found out that a color negative’s orange coloured mask affects the contrast of a print. You still get an image but the contrast is a lot greyer than usual. Even if you increase the contrast using filters, the results are not as strong as when you use black and white negative. The contrast is really affected by the contrast characteristics of your film and the actual contrast of the image it self.
On a more positive note, I have made many decent black and white prints from color negatives. I would say that you have to start at grade 2 and then print at a higher grade if further contrast is needed. Please remember that it is almost impossible to get ultra rich blacks from a color negative when printing it in black and white.
Cross-processed negatives on the other hand print a lot better due to having less of an orange mask and naturally being higher in contrast due to the slide films latitude. Below are some of my prints from cross-processed color negatives and regularly developed color negatives. I think you’ll be surprised at the results. Please bear in mind that each brand of negative film has a different contrast. Also remember that the clearer the whites are in your negative, the richer your blacks will be.
Fuji velvia 100 cross processed (grade 3)
