In what ways can you edit Film photos in the Dark room

BADGER.BRAD

BADGER.BRAD

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In another thread I saw a comment about editing photos in a dark room with film I just wondered what could be done ? At the same time I posted a link to this vid by the BBC where it mentions altering wet plate photos before they became permanent
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPMe3LtcifE
 
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You can selectively darken or lighten areas.
You can crop.
You can adjust proportions by tilting the paper or lens.
You can alter contrast in selected areas (B&W).
You can use unsharp masking (yes, really - it's where Adobe got the name).
You can retouch the negative (or print) to remove spots and blemishes (or even graffiti - Ansel Adams did this).
You can use combination printing to put in a new sky.
You can use multiple negatives and take part of each to make a composite.

I expect I've missed a lot. Look up Jerry Uelsman (spelling?) and Oscar Rejlander.
 
Add in posteriasation and solarisation.
 
Well you could (can!) crop, adjust exposure, locally adjust exposure, dodging and burning, straighten, rotate, angle, skew etc.

Adjust contrast, enlarge, reduce, split tone, I would say there’s not a huge amount that you couldn’t do really.

Even some advanced photoshop stuff like removing people from pics was done!
 
Brazo said:
Even some advanced photoshop stuff like removing people from pics was done!
Click to expand...

Especially in Russian group photos of high ranking officials.
 
You can alter the contrast and saturation when colour printing by changing the chemical composition of the developer, for instance, by adding hydrogen peroxide.

You can add various types of border, such as clean black lines or rough black edges (by filing out the negative carrier).
 
You can create coloured photos from black and white negatives by toning the whole print (gold toner to produce a blue image etc) or by selectively hand-colouring the print after it's dry.
 
This is some very early photo-manipulation, its quite obvious, the light is different and the edges are harsh but if you put it into context and the time frame of its creation its pretty impressive, well done Edwin Noble of Grimsby :clap:
This is my great-grandmother and great-grandfather with my grandmother on his knee, my great-grandmother died giving birth.


9C1FC6FD-C013-42B6-AB77-00CB4D31C62C by RaglanSurf on Talk Photography
 
Just looked at Lightroom, and I reckon you can do most of the things in the develop module in the darkroom.
 
There used to be a variety of toners you could use to change the final colour of the print and increase its resistance to deterioration, but some of them were pretty nasty such as selenium.
 
To remove or add somebody from or to a print, is a project in itself, its not something a million people do every day with 2 clicks of a mouse.

Some adjustments are fairly bread and butter, but even those dwarf the effort required to do them in digital editing.

Its accurate to say most adjustments made in DE could be done in the DRM, but it doesn't compare the differences in time, skill and effort required to do each...:)
 
You can correct verticles in buildings. By dying negatives you can make tonal corrections for multiple prints. You can retouch faces to remove wrinkles.

Using photopake you can cut out images in negatives to white backgrounds.
 
Just to extend the idea of photo-manipulation a bit further I have just been reading about Edward S Curtis's 20 volume documentary project "The North American Indian" that took him from 1896 to1930 to complete.

During the latter part of the project the original Commanche and Sioux culture had been lost and he had to persuade the now westernised Indians to dress up in original costumes to pose for him and then retouch out any evidence of modern life (eg clocks and lamps) before including the photographs in the project.

It's referenced in the MOMA catalogue for the "American photography, 1890-1965" exhibition.
 
Peter B said:
I was going to suggest looking at the late Larry Bartlett's book on darkroom practice if you ever get the chance. He was the go-to printer for many photographers and really made great photos from some pretty dodgy negs. Apparently his book (and some others!) seem to be currently available for peanuts via a certain big website. :whistle: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Larry-Bartletts-Photographic-Printing-Workshop/dp/0863433669
Click to expand...

Agreed - It's a great book worth picking up if you're getting into darkroom printing.
 
Thanks everyone for all the replies much appreciated , I will look up the various people mentioned. I have no real intention of doing any printing but it's always interesting to learn the theory !
 
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