Etching
This is a potentially dangerous process and requires considerable practice. Scratches and "pinholes" in the negative will print black, and if possible, they should be repaired by careful spotting directly on the back of the negative. Etching is the physical removal of such dark specks on the print using a very sharp knife.
The technique of etching requires patience and practice. The tendency is to "dig out" the dark defects, but the result will be an obvious crater in the emulsion. The preferred technique is to use a very sharp blade with a gently rounded point, and to scrape the surface of the defect very lightly, holding the blade perpendicular to the print surface. A surgeon's scalpel blade #15 has been found to be good for the purpose, as it has one slightly rounded side which reduces the tendency to dig into the print.
The treatment should be so light that many strokes are required to wear down the dark spot; progress can be checked by examining the area through a magnifying glass. For a dark line, use light, discontinuous scrapings in the direction of the line. It is best not to work in any one area too long, but return again and again to previously worked spots to avoid eye fatigue and to aid in judging the extent of etching required. The etched area will usually require some spotting and "smoothing" to match the surrounding values.
Etching is certain to leave a mark on the print surface, and such can be especially distracting on a glossy print. One remedy for the surface is to coat the entire print with a plastic, lacquer, or varnish
Figure 7-12. Etching. A very sharp knife can be used to remove dark spots. The spot must be gently scraped, however, not gouged out. It is often better to remove the defect by spotting on the negative, and then make a new print; if the negative spotting shows as a small white area it can then be spotted out in the print, a much better process than print etching.
Figure 7-12. Etching. A very sharp knife can be used to remove dark spots. The spot must be gently scraped, however, not gouged out. It is often better to remove the defect by spotting on the negative, and then make a new print; if the negative spotting shows as a small white area it can then be spotted out in the print, a much better process than print etching.
after etching, although such procedures are of quite questionable archival effect. A dab of lacquer over only the etched spot may help conceal it, but the difference in reflectance between the varnished area and the rest of the print surface is likely to be visible. If the scraping has been kept light, resoaking and drying the unmounted print may help reduce the roughening. Sometimes brisk rubbing with a silk handkerchief will partially restore the surface. With a framed print, the cover glass will help reduce the visibility of the etched area.
As with spotting, etching should be done cautiously, to give acceptable effect at normal viewing distance. In smooth, continuous surrounding tonalities, it is extremely difficult to do an invisible job. The best approach is to clear up as many defects as possible on the negative. Small areas of light density in the negative can sometimes be neutralized by delicately "roughening" the back (base) of the negative (never try this on the emulsion side!). The roughening scatters the light and produces the effect of increased negative density.
Chemical reduction of dark spots or streaks may be satisfactory as it leaves no marks on the print surface, but it is a laborious and exacting process. The process is carried out on a wet print before toning. For a very small defect, reduction usually leaves a light ring around the reduced area, and this must then be spotted as well as possible to match the surrounding value.
FRAMING, LIGHTING, AND DISPLAY
The manner of displaying the finished print deserves careful attention. Be sure to study the display situation with the print in its final condition; if it is to be framed behind glass or acrylic, this will affect its appearance, and decisions regarding lighting, etc., should be made with the framed print at hand. Often subtle low values clearly visible in the unframed print are obscured by the presence of even slight reflections in the glass.
I now use acrylic (such as Plexiglass) for all framing; glass is fragile, and if a framed print is dropped, there will inevitably be damage to the surface from sharp glass fragments. On the other hand, the acrylic must be handled extremely carefully, as it is quite soft and susceptible to scratching. It also has an unfortunate tendency to hold a static electrical charge which attracts dust; assembling a print in a frame with acrylic can be an exercise in frustration unless the environment is very clean and free from dust. It will help to vacuum clean the work area frequently.
Care must be used to avoid allowing humidity or the residuals of glass-cleaning materials to be trapped in the frame, or they will damage the print. Cleaning compounds should be thoroughly rinsed off, and the glass or acrylic gently wiped with a clean soft cloth or tissue. Use an anti-static brush to dust off the print, overmat, and Plexiglass before assembling the frame; using compressed air to blow away dust merely scatters it from one place to another.
My preference is to hang prints in simple brushed aluminum frames, since these are relatively inconspicuous and do not compete with the image. The frame plus acrylic provide good protection for handling and shipping the print.
The intensity and color of the light under which prints are seen can reveal or obscure their delicate values. Subtle dark values in the print that are apparent under normal lighting may appear solid black if the intensity of viewing light is too low; conversely, the same area may appear rather insubstantial and weak if the viewing light is too intense.
If you are making prints specifically for an exhibition or for display in a known location, it is worthwhile to determine the nature and intensity of the lighting (measured with a meter) and reproduce these conditions as closely as possible in your own studio for determining optimum printing. Framing material for permanent installations
Figure 7-13. Print display in the studio-gallery. I have suspended panels with a metal strip near the bottom to hold unframed prints, which are held in place with white plastic pushpins. The panels are plywood covered in a gray fabric of about 12 percent reflectance, and can also be used to hang framed photographs, as at the right. The walls in this area are 18 to 20 percent gray; they could also be of any color of the same reflective value. Very large framed prints are suspended from the molding at the ten-foot level of the wall. A combination of daylight from a skylight and flood lights suspended from the ceiling provides good illumination.
should also be carefully considered for compatibility with both the print values and the environment.
I consider the best gallery illumination a mixture of daylight and tungsten lighting. Prints that are displayed under tungsten light will appear warmer in tone than under daylight illumination from, say, a north skylight. Daylight alone is often too "cold" for optimum display effect. Hanging prints opposite windows, light walls, or bright objects is certain to cause distracting reflections that make viewing difficult.
Direct sunlight on color prints should be avoided at all costs. Well-processed black-and-white prints are more tolerant of sunlight, except that the low values (dark areas) absorb more radiant energy than the high values. This effect can place expansion strains on the emulsion, which may eventually cause cracks or detachment of the print from the mount.
The lighting should usually be from ceiling-mounted reflector floodlamps, which give quite uniform illumination over a broad field. They should be mounted far enough away from the print-display wall to provide relatively even lighting from top to bottom of the print. This placement will also help avoid exaggerating the texture of the print mount and will prevent strong shadows at the edge of the print from the overmat. If the angle of the lighting is too
low, however, glare will appear on the cover glass, and the viewer's own shadow may fall on the print.
I do not consider ordinary fluorescent lighting favorable for viewing prints. In addition, its high ultraviolet content can be damaging, particularly to color prints, for long-term display. Probably the best arrangement is to install "track" lighting in the ceiling; this allows adjustment of individual tungsten lamps for optimum light distribution, and units can be added or removed as required. Although personal preference is a factor, I have found illumination levels of 80 to 100 ft-c at the print position to be agreeable if the walls and general environment are of a middle value.
I consider a background value of about middle gray to be optimum. In my studio/gallery area I have used a gray of about 20 percent reflectance. Note that this value can be achieved using a color other
Figure 7-14. The Tetons and the Snake River, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming. This was visually a rather gray subject, although emotionally it was dramatic and powerful and I visualized a very strong image. The central forest was placed on Zone III, and the left-hand areas fell on Zone II. The brightest clouds fell on Zone VII, and the brightest water about on Zone VIII. I gave N + 2 development in D-23, and the negative contains adequate information, although considerable printing control is required for the desired effect.
I dodge a small amount in the dark areas in the lower half of the image and in the sky at the extreme left. 1 then burn-in using up-and-down passages of a card from just below the base of the peaks to the top, for about IVi times the basic exposure. Then I give more burning of the sky, curving the card, for about half the basic exposure, and the same amount for the upper left corner. Finally I give about half the basic exposure to the bright area left of the high peaks. It is difficult to keep all values "logical." It is important to repeat that exposure and development of the negative control the total density scale, but areas within different parts of the photograph may not have the optimum density range (local contrast) for the desired effects. Hence the need for burning and dodging controls.
The photograph was made with an 8x10 view camera with H'/i-inch Cooke Series XV lens and No. 8 (K2) filter. I used Isopan film, rated at ASA 64, and gave N + 2 development.
than gray. I have seen very effective gallery displays where a cool brown, green, or even blue of about 20 to 25 percent reflectance provided an excellent complement to the prints.
The reason for choosing a middle value can be seen from a simple exercise. Place a group of photographs on a white wall of about 75 to 85 percent reflectance. The reflectance of photographic prints usually averages about 20 to 25 percent. When hung on a white wall the prints will appear much darker than normal. You can check this by looking at them through a length of black mailing tube, standing at a distance where a single print will occupy the entire field of vision through the tube. Look first at the prints on the walls for a minute or two, then quickly put the tube to the eye and observe a print through it. It will surprise you how quickly the print will "lift" in value. When you remove the tube, the print will quickly return to its previous, darker visual appearance. If the prints are hung on a very dark wall, the opposite effect occurs; they will appear lighter than normal.
The cause of this phenomenon is complex. Suffice it to say that the mechanism of vision involves the interaction of the eye (retina) and the cerebral cortex (that part of the brain that receives and interprets the messages from the retina). The average level of reflectance of the environment determines the relative reflective luminosity of the prints displayed. With paintings, color prints, etc., the reactions to environmental reflectance are somewhat different. It is unfortunate that so many museums and galleries install photographic exhibitions on white walls and in fairly high-reflectance environments. The most agreeable presentation of my work that I have seen was at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London; the walls were a rich cool chocolate hue of about 20 percent reflectance, and all the prints were "alive" on these walls.
STORAGE AND SHIPPING
It is probably best to discuss the optimum in storage conditions, although you may have to make some compromises depending on available storage facilities, etc. Mounted prints will ideally be stored with an overmat to separate each from adjacent prints, and with a "slip-sheet" of archival-quality paper (such as 1-ply Strathmore) between the print and the mat. Prints are then placed in museum storage boxes. Beware of wooden containers because the wood can emit harmful vapors, as can wood finishes (for example, varnish) and
Figure 7-15. Mount McKinley and Wonder Lake, Alaska (1948). Taken at sunrise, here 1:30 a.m. The foreground was in deep shadow, and the mountain and faintly misty sky were suffused with golden light. A light breeze on the lake gave very diffuse reflections. I used a Wratten No. 15 filter to clear the foreground shadows; the sky was of such low-saturation blue that no filter would have had much effect. The first prints I made were quite soft and do not adequately express the impressive qualities of the subject.
Considerable burning and dodging are required. I hold back the shadowed lake and foreground for about three-fourths of the total exposure time, using a constantly moving card held relatively close to the lens for a wide penumbra. (The lake surface is burned in later to balance the amount of dodging of the surrounding hills and foreground.! Then the mountain and sky are burned from near the base of the mountain to the top, with three up-and-down passages. The sky is then further burned-in with the card bent to approximate the mountain shape. The upper left corner area and the upper right corner and edge areas receive additional burning.
The degree of dodging and burning required is explained by the fact that the contrast of the mountain and sky is quite low, while the all-over contrast of shadowed lake and mountain is high. I used a rather high contrast paper (Oriental Seagull Grade 3). Had the sky and shadows on the mountain been free of mist, the filter would have assured ample separation of values for Grade 2 Seagull.
I used the 23-inch component of the Cooke Series XV lens and a Wratten No. 15 |G| filter. The film was 8 x 10 Isopan rated at ASA 64 and developed in Kodak D-23.
the cement used in plywood. Fumes from some oil-base paints are especially harmful, as are automobile exhaust fumes and the vapors given off by some cleaning agents.
High humidity may be the most frequent cause of damage in long-term storage. The relative humidity should be kept at around 30 to 50 percent (no higher), and cool temperatures (below 65°F, if possible) are advised. Furthermore, cycling of temperature over a range of more than 7°F, or humidity over a range exceeding about 10 percentage points, should be avoided.
When a small number of unframed prints is to be shipped, they should be slip-sheeted and then wrapped securely in paper. This package can be taped to the center of a larger piece of heavy cardboard, and then sandwiched with one or more additional sheets before final wrapping. Keeping the corners and edges of the prints several inches from the edges of the packaging will usually prevent damage to the mounts. I use a very heavy corrugated board, some sheets cut with the grain horizontal and some with the grain vertical. By using opposing grain in the sheets of one package, considerable stiffness is gained. For very valuable prints, masonite or even plywood may be used, provided the prints are not to remain in the container for very long. For a group of framed prints, a wooden crate should be constructed. Never ship prints framed with glass,- only acrylic can withstand the rigors of shipping.
You must also, of course, be sure all prints are fully identified with title, your name and address, etc. The package should be insured for adequate value and marked "Fragile" in large letters. For foreign shipments be sure to investigate current Customs regulations, and coordinate shipping plans with the recipient.
Figure 8-1. The Golden Gate Before the Bridge, San Francisco (1932). I was using the 8x10 camera with 30cm Goerz Dagor lens and Wratten No. 9 (K3| filter. The film was Kodak Super-Sensitive Panchromatic, developed in pyro. It is rather grainy and does not enlarge well with condenser light, although it is quite smooth with diffuse enlarger illumination. It was one of
Figure 8-1. The Golden Gate Before the Bridge, San Francisco (1932). I was using the 8x10 camera with 30cm Goerz Dagor lens and Wratten No. 9 (K3| filter. The film was Kodak Super-Sensitive Panchromatic, developed in pyro. It is rather grainy and does not enlarge well with condenser light, although it is quite smooth with diffuse enlarger illumination. It was one of my "fortunate" early exposures and is not too difficult to print. The printing has gone through various interpretations; my first contact prints were very soft.
I can print it now on Ilford Gallerie Grade 3 or Oriental Seagull Grade 3 (for the latter I use Selectol-Soft with a little Dektol added). The foreground water needs a little burning from hori zon to base. I give the sky several up-and-down burning passages from the horizon line, with extra burning along the top. A slight mist effect in the right-hand cloud area requires some broad burning with a circular hole. This is a case where I first try to get the best possible effects without any burning or dodging.
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