How to proceed after having developed the negatives?

Question

There are a lot of excellent questions (and answers!) about the process of developing (BW) film at home. I would like to try my hand at it, too.

But it's not exactly clear how to proceed after having developed the negatives (in the second question, @whuber says: "Then you're all ready to make a contact sheet and proceed to enlarge them...but that's a topic for another day.").

One possibility could be to scan them and then proceed as if they were raw images from a dslr. But this is obviously not the classical solution. So, how do you actually go from the developed negative to a printed photo?

As an aside, considering the scanner option (which would probably be easier for a beginner): I have read that a resolution of 300 or 600 dpi is "good enough" for some definition of enough. In particular, I would like to know if it is good enough to preserve the grain of the film (otherwise, where's the point of it?)

Answer 1

Once you have the negative you use an enlarger to create your prints. An enlarger has a head containing a bulb, a negative holder and a lens. The head is on a column attached to a base. You can raise the head away from the base to make the image larger (or turn the head to project the image onto a wall for large prints)

If you want to do a contact sheet, you cut your negative into strips to match the size of your paper, and lay them on top of the photographic paper (in contact with the paper, hence "contact sheet"). You put a piece of glass over the top to keep the negatives flat and in place. You turn on the enlarger bulb to expose the paper, and then develop it with a similar mix of chemicals you used for the negatives (developer, stop bath and fixer)

Once you have your contact sheet to review, and decide to make a full sized print. You load a negative strip into the holder in the enlarger. You turn on the bulb and focus the image onto an empty easel (which holds the paper in place). Once focused, turn off the enlarger, and load the paper into the easel. Then you turn on the bulb once again to expose. Usually the enlarger is connected to a timer.

To get the correct exposure takes some trial and error. Generally you cut up strips of paper (so as not to waste entire sheets) and use these as test strips. You cover most of the strip up with your hand or a piece of cardboard. You expose for say a total of 60 seconds - every 10 seconds you uncover a bit more of the strip, so that when you are done, you have sections that have been exposed for 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 and the full 60 seconds. You can then develop and view the test strip in full light to judge what the correct exposure should be. Then you put in your 8x10 paper and expose for that amount of time.

Answer 2

The classical solution is to use an enlarger, which projects the image from the negative on to photographic paper, which then must also be developed (same steps as film - develop, stop, fix, wash, and dry, just using different chemicals). B&W is definitely easier to handle in this regard, since you can use a safelight to see what you're doing (B&W paper isn't sensitive to red light below a certain wavelength, so working under a low-wattage red bulb won't fog the paper). For color paper you'd have to shut off all the lights while you're developing.

Doing your own prints is a helluva lot of fun, but...

• You need quite a bit of space for the enlarger and the developing trays, with good ventilation (paper developers are pretty benign as chemicals go, but standing over open trays of them for a couple of hours at a time can leave you feeling a little woozy);
• The enlarger needs to be on a steady base that's resistant to vibration;
• You need handy access to running water, and you will go through a lot of it;
• If you're not doing a lot of prints, your developer may oxidize before you've fully exhausted it, so you may wind up wasting some chemistry - you can mitigate this by storing the developer in a collapsible bottle to minimize contact with air when you're not using it.

Like MikeW says, it takes some trial and error before you nail the exposure. You will wind up burning several sheets of paper before getting it right. That's just part of the process, but given that each sheet costs some money, you may want to slow down and think a bit about what you want to accomplish before burning that initial test strip.

I haven't done prints since '98 or so, and I haven't processed film in several years now, so I have no idea how expensive paper or chemistry is. I can only imagine it's going to get more expensive going forward as more people work digitally.

Alternately, you can look for a film scanner (4000 dpi was the industry standard when I bought mine around 2004 or so). It's not quite as much fun as using an enlarger, but it's definitely faster and more space-efficient. Again, I haven't done this in a while, and I have no idea how expensive this option is anymore.

Answer 3

I haven't developed film yet, but I definitely plan to do so. But I have no intention of printing in the dark room. I would just develop the film, scan the negatives, and prepare the final image in software.

And I think this is a good place to start and get a hold of before learning the printing as well. Maybe you end up finding out that shooting film wasn't your thing after all...

But if you do decide to do printing in the dark room, I think this video could serve as a introduction: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewcsEHi8Vbg

Answer 4

When you make a contact sheet, you physically place the negatives on the print paper and just turn on the light in your enlarger. The film is contacting the paper, hence the name.

Once its exposed, you have to develop, fix, and wash the photo paper.

Typically you develop the contact sheet and pick out best shots for enlargement.

Then you put individual film strips in your enlarger's head and enlarge one photo at a time. There are a zillion adjustments you can make. Dodging and burning is one, using papers with different contrast sensitivity is another.

I don't believe any scanner can really do a proper job. I have a nice Nikon film scanner that does 4000 DPI, but its not nearly as good as a real paper enlargement.

And to your direct question: NO, 300 DPI or even 600 DPI is not good enough. Even 4000 DPI is not good enough, IMHO.