F-Stop Printing - Complete Guide

[@TristanColgate]

"expose for the highlights, grade for the shadows" is something I've never heard and has instantly helped me. Thankyou!

[@PictorialPlanet]

I'm very glad. It makes things much easier.

[@GeoffT650]

Fantastic clear and concise video on printing. Best I have seen. Anybody could watch this and come away with ability to make a quality print.

[@PictorialPlanet]

Thank you, Geoff 🙏

[@thomastuorto9929]

I agree. Back in 1984 I purchased a Canon AE1-P 35mm. After doing a couple rolls of color film sent out, I run into someone who tells me about Developing B&W. I head down to the local camera store & purchase a used enlarger, some paper, chemicals & one of those things you put the film in to make the negatives. And of course, a red light bulb. And in my bedroom, I developed about 3-4 rolls but not as good as this. Didn't know what dodging & burning was or ever heard of it. Heck, didn't even know what the aperture on the camera lens did. I just adjusted to get the camera light meter on the zero if it couldn't in the P mode after reading the first couple of pages of the manual. Flash flood from the pompton river in NJ with 4.5' of water in the house. Then the gut & rebuild & the move the heck out. Never did get back to it. Still have the camera & 2 17 yr old rolls of Kodak Gold 200 in the fridge & every now & then, I think about it. Happy shooting .

[@alfredozappetelli1473]

Hi John on "The Way Beyond Monochrome" there is an F-Stop table by 1/3 of stops.

[@PictorialPlanet]

Thanks Alfredo!

[@gregpantelides1355]

Thank you, John. This will be a great help in my printing. You are such a treasure for the photographic community. Thank you for passing on your knowledge so we can keep printing generation after generation.

[@PictorialPlanet]

It's a wonderful art!

[@stephendeakin2714]

Satin R C is a personal favourite of mine, so pleased to see I'm not alone in appreciating the quality of image which this paper gives. Another excellent video John, thanks.

[@PictorialPlanet]

Thanks, Stephen! Yes, lovely paper with, to me, almost a warm tone. It's easy to colourise too because if it's nice texture.

[@Sosinvestimenti]

A truly fascinating lesson in printing technique that you have conveyed with incredible clarity, even to me who, incidentally, is not fluent in English. Just how much of a science there is in the art of analogue photography. Thanks so much, my friend. Edoardo

[@PictorialPlanet]

So happy you liked it! Thank you my friend!

[@chriscard6544]

wow you changed my life, Im feeling a new man, seriously, thank you so much

[@PictorialPlanet]

That's fantastic! Thank you !!

[@chriscard6544]

@@PictorialPlanet you are fantastic

[@OldJockOldjock]

Another fine video with a great tip on darkening the contact print and using the light table to be able to judge highlights more accurately.

[@PictorialPlanet]

Cheers!

[@dominiqueguillemard9232]

In recent weeks I have just discovered the fStop method. Thank you for this very clear explanation. This will really help me progress.

[@PictorialPlanet]

Glad I timed this tight to help.

[@riccardocoelatirama]

thank you for this clear and beautiful tutorial

[@didierandrieux8467]

je vais redire bêtement ce que d'autres ont déjà dit : super synthèse, pédagogique et complète, je reviens souvent sur cette vidéo quand j'ai des doutes :) merci !

[@PictorialPlanet]

Merci!

[@alanreid208]

Another great video. I have 2 DeVere enlargers, both with RH Designs f-stop timers. One has a Multigrade Head. It just makes it so much easier to get a great print without wasting a lot of paper.

[@ronpowers745]

Actually, Ansel Adams, Edward Weston, Fred Archer and many others have used and described this type of "factorial printing" since the 1930's, and even earlier by other photographers. That aside, I particularly liked your method of making dark contact strips, and will be trying that out soon,. Thanks for sharing all your hard-won knowledge.

[@AI-Hallucination]

These tutorials are amazing.

[@petercorbett-f5g]

Thanks John 👍

[@PictorialPlanet]

Cheers, Peter!

[@stephaniebaldwin4762]

Beautifully clear explanation John. I find your videos very helpful and really appreciate the education.

[@PictorialPlanet]

Thank you, Stephanie!

[@17xyz]

John, very well done. I like your practical approach.

[@PictorialPlanet]

Thank you 🙏

[@ClaudioCasparrino]

Thanks!!!

[@liveinaweorg]

Fascinating! Thank you, John.

[@PictorialPlanet]

Cheers!

[@frostsct1]

Thanks John, it's totally clear now ! I should have watched this video before doing to my darkroom yesterday 😂

[@PictorialPlanet]

😂

[@raybeaumont7670]

Diolch John! I have to use a manual exposure system - switch on - switch off - so I stick to whole seconds, but it gives results that are close enough for me. Please keep 'em coming. All the best from the Rhondda..

[@PictorialPlanet]

Thanks!

[@gabrielsilvaz4199]

Great work !

[@jonathanbaxter4366]

Hi John . Great video. I have tried f stop printing but never really know if I have been doing it right. This confirms I am on the right tracks 👍

[@PictorialPlanet]

Good to know!

[@manuelayalainfante4200]

Excelente! Difícilmente lo digital podrá igualar esa calidad. Saludos desde Tijuana, Mexico

[@bluzizalright]

Excellent explanation!

[@PictorialPlanet]

Cheers!

[@stuartgraham5055]

Excellent video, thank you!!

[@PictorialPlanet]

Thanks so much, Stuart 🙏

[@sheelios]

thank you for this! i use a gralab timer so might be hard for me to get the exact timings. but this is a great method

[@PictorialPlanet]

If you increase your exposure time by shutting down your lens a bit you will be able to use the gralab timer ok. With the longer times the decimal places are not important.

[@sheelios]

oh that makes sense! thank you! will give it a try @@PictorialPlanet

[@ricardoleao_music]

Thanks for sharing your knowledge. That's very generous

[@PictorialPlanet]

Thank you for your kind comment.

[@jamesmerecki3128]

Hi John, I’ve been developing for many years and thought I knew enough…but I always learn something new after each of your videos. Thanks for sharing your videos! BTW, I look forward to reading your book which I just purchased. Regards, James

[@PictorialPlanet]

Cheers James! I too am always learning.

[@Max-nv4fb]

great vid! have been using a the f stop clock for ages it is such a nice way of printing!

[@PictorialPlanet]

Thanks Max and yes, great way to print.

[@Max-nv4fb]

@@PictorialPlanet but i did see in your video that you put your f stop clock in to linear mode to show us the original way of f stop printing ;) :p

[@PictorialPlanet]

@Max-nv4fb :)

[@fototrip9346]

This my first contact with f-stop printing. Thank you for the video and sharing your darkroom experience. I think, I performed something similar but instead of f-stop i'm calculating my dogde/burn times in percentage% of 'base exposure'. Works well when moving to huge prints. During the selection of base exposure, I prefer to do more smaller steps, looks like chessboard :)

[@jonathanhotopf1823]

Got that same book now on noticing it in your bookshelf

[@PictorialPlanet]

:)

[@stevenwhite921]

Nice work John the print looked lovely, thanks for sharing:)

[@PictorialPlanet]

Cheers Steve!

[@romgostomski1677]

Wonderful video. Very informative. Thank you.

[@PictorialPlanet]

Glad it was helpful Rom!

[@msam927]

Genial. Muchas gracias por compartir sus conocimientos.

[@shervinsardari]

Fantastic video! To be more flexible, I calculated the factors for 1/4 f-stop increments. Maybe it's useful for somebody... + 1/4 stop = x 1,19 + 2/4 stops = x 1,41 + 3/4 stops = x 1,68

[@jph364]

This is indeed useful although I would be great to understand the formula. Excellent video John and will certainly try. I could not find this in your book so I guess a future edition?

[@shervinsardari]

​@@jph364 To get 1/4 F-stop, you have to take the 4th root of 2, which is exactly 1.1892071150027. To get to 2/4 and 3/4 stops, you have to multiply it by itself once (= 2/4 or 1/2 stop), or twice (= 3/4 stops). If you do it a third time, you should end up with (approximately) 2.0, which corresponds to a full F-stop.

[@msam927]

Muchas gracias. Para tener la tabla completa de forma rápida (sólo serían necesarios en la práctica para los números primos 2, 3 y 5) se me ha ocurrido esto: Por ejemplo para 2": para +1/4 2" x 1,19 = 2,38" x 2 = 4,76" x 2 = 9,52" .....; para +2/4 2" x 1,41= 2,82" x 2 = 5,64" ....., etc.

[@msam927]

Muchas gracias por la explicación.@@shervinsardari

[@BlackLabAdventures]

As always, John, wonderful video, with excellent information!

[@PictorialPlanet]

Thanks Barry!

[@martin-f5482]

omg, what an interesting video, thank you so much!

[@PictorialPlanet]

Cheers, Martin!

[@alainmijngheer]

Fascinating info, thank you !

[@PictorialPlanet]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@AustenGoldsmithPhotography]

Great Video John ! When you changed paper did you not have to adjust the exposure time ? For example Ilford warmtone fibre seems to want 1 1/2 stops more light than the classic gloss fibre . Also you changed filter from Contrast 2 to 2.5 , did that not affect your base exposure time ? Really glad to see you back on the Tube !

[@PictorialPlanet]

No change in exposure when I changed grade. I use a mix of yellow and magenta on my colour head that keeps the exposure the same (or very very close). I do like these Meopta enlargers. Tip coming Friday about using different batches or types of paper but yes, there can be differences, especially from type to type like RC to FB or warm to normal to cold. Friday cometh.

[@jeta1383]

Why do you suggest to 'cover up' the test strip instead of 'revealing' the test strip as you go?

[@PictorialPlanet]

It makes it easier. First give 5 seconds, cover. Then give 5 seconds again, cover. Then give 10 seconds, cover, and so on. One can remember where you started and where it ended. Uncovering addles the brain. Try it and see.

[@arneheeringa96]

Does the power of the enlarger light bulb matter? At our course in open university (in German VHS) we can't always sit at the same enlarger, and light bulbs do tend to break after a certain time.

[@PictorialPlanet]

Once you have the print map of base time and burnin/dodge stops you can move to a different light bulb and, once the new base time is found, you can replicate the exact print. This is the joy of F-Stop printing.

[@arneheeringa96]

@@PictorialPlanet yes that's great!

[@phillipcedoz5527]

Is there a way to determine the base exposure value using the max black time for that paper and film? Then calculate dodge/burn fstops?

[@stephensmith8325]

Thank you for this! But one thing I don't understand. 56.6 - 33.6 equals 23, doesn't it??

[@PictorialPlanet]

Oops, yes, 23, there's a 0.6 error. Thanks!

[@chasingtheleitz]

Am I understanding this correctly? When you made your base exposure for the highlights, you were using a grade 2 filter at the same time and then changed it to a grade 2.5 and grade 3 filter in later test strips? Or when you were doing your base exposure for highlights, you were not using any filters whatsoever or a grade 0 filter?

[@PictorialPlanet]

Yes started with grade 2

[@alvarosuareztrabanco5400]

I have some doubts about trying to find the right exposure for the highlights and choosing the grade later. In my experience there are some highlights that I can't print with a higher contrast filter, so it becomes a little bit of a fight between choosing the right contrast and the right exposure too.

[@PictorialPlanet]

Some photographs need more than one grade to give the look you want in the print. I suspect you might be talking about this. For instance, skies might need a different grade than the land. Or, you might use a base grade and burn in at a different grade. The variations are infinite. The basic enlarging practice of expose for the highlights, grade for the shadows is a very good starting point because it changes only one variable at a time, essential when building up experience and will achieve good prints quickly. From there the skies the limit my friend.

[@alvarosuareztrabanco5400]

Thank you for the answer and for the amazing video. For me, if I choose a certain time to print the highlights in a filter 2, sometimes when I increase the contrast those highlights are lost and we're kind of back to square one. That's why out of experience I choose a contrast that I more or less know that will be better for the photo.@@PictorialPlanet

[@PictorialPlanet]

You're more practiced and your technique more advanced. That's great!

[@silekiernanphotography]

Regarding the exposure time on the test strip, doesn't the brightest area (on the left) have the longest exposure? Is this backwards in the video?

[@PictorialPlanet]

No, the left (brightest) part of the test strip got the least exposure from the enlarger, 5 seconds. Remember, it's the opposite of the camera where more exposure makes things brighter. With the enlarger everything is opposite.

[@silekiernanphotography]

@@PictorialPlanet Thank you for responding. It's been a long time since I've done dark room printing and clearly I need a good refresher. Thank you for sharing these videos and your expertise.

[@PictorialPlanet]

It might help you if you think of the paper and what colour it is. It's bright white with zero exposure. As it gets exposure the silver gets energised, bit by bit. So slight (short) exposure doesn't effect much silver and not much gets developed. As more exposure is given then more silver gets developed until, with enough exposure, all the silver gets developed and the paper has become black.

[@silekiernanphotography]

@@PictorialPlanet Thank You! That is very helpful.

[@ЖељкоР]

Thanks for the excellent video. Please, how did you get 2.62?

[@penelopepartridge8756]

this makes no sense to me either

[@PictorialPlanet]

1.62 squared

[@eliyag1]

Excellent video! Would the f-stop method work if going from RC to FB paper? Also, what is the importance of measuring the negative on the baseboard and not the paper when calculating the enlargement exposure time?

[@trotomas]

Great video!!! Dodging and burning increments will be kept in fb paper? or need to be redone the test strips? (Of course base time needs to be find again with test strips ) thanks

[@PictorialPlanet]

Yes, burning and dodging will be the same amount if f-stops after we find new base time.

[@InFromTheLight]

Hello John, Can you please confirm when you say measure the size of negative on baseboard its the same as measure the uncropped projected image on baseboard?

[@PictorialPlanet]

Yes Charles, that's right. Measure the uncropped negative from edge to edge along one side. I measure the length. So, with my 10x8 print I remove the easel and measure the projected full negative. I placed the easel back and positioned the enlarger head right for my new size. Then I removed the easel again and measured the new size of uncropped negative along the same side. Then I have my sizes for the calculation.

[@InFromTheLight]

Thank you. Got off my butt and tried it. Works great.

[@daver4451]

Thank you for such clarity. One question if you have time to respond - will the principle work with split grade printing ie using the 2 separate grade timings in the same way you have used one. I’ve started doing split grade printing since your videos a few months ago and looking at adapting this into that workflow. Cheers!

[@PictorialPlanet]

Thank you for your kind words! This fits right into that workflow. Do your split grade printing as normal once the base exposure is found. For burning in you can have some fun choosing the best grade or split.

[@AndrewHenderson]

Another great video John, I try and use f stop printing but my timer isn't accurate enough, which timer do you use?

[@PictorialPlanet]

Hi Andrew. I use RH Designs. But I question why is your timer not accurate enough? If you close down the lens a bit and get your exposures longer you'll see from the f-stop chart I show that you can, pretty much, use a stop watch. At the longer exposures the decimal places don't make any perceivable difference.

[@AndrewHenderson]

Hi John, the timer I have has only 1 second increments, so even trying to get half second times is a guess, never mind something like 10th of a second increments. I managed to get a Paterson 2000D digital timer that should make things more accurate in future@@PictorialPlanet

[@PictorialPlanet]

@AndrewHenderson I used that Paterson timer for a long time. It's very good.

[@jeta1383]

Also, I only have an analog timer - what do you suggest I do since I cannot make fractions of time variations? Don't use the F Stop printing method?

[@PictorialPlanet]

Please do use it but make sure your exposure timings are longer and round. For instance, in 1/4 f stops, 10, 12, 14, 17, 20, 24, 28, 34. These are close enough to work well. Don't use less than 10 seconds. If you find yourself less than ten then close down a stop on your enlarger lens.

[@jeta1383]

Thank you! May I also ask, is F-Stop printing your preferred approach for all your darkroom printing? If so, is it because of the accuracy and consistency it provides? @@PictorialPlanet

[@PictorialPlanet]

@jeta1383 yes, I use f-stop printing all the time now. In the early days I didn't but after reading Gene Nocon's book "Photographic Printing " I started doing it. After a while it became second nature. We use it all the time when photographing and so it makes perfect sense to use it in the darkroom.

[@h0op2]

Hi John, I was trying to understand the pattern in the quarter stops on your F/stop exposure times chart. Is the reason the length of each interval increases between each quarter stop because it's an exponential function from one stop to the next? I'm asking also because I've had some prints that had a 4 second exposure time at F22 on the lens, and want to figure out the quarter stops of shorter exposure times than 5 seconds. My other idea was to hold an ND filter in front of the enlarger lens, do you think that would work? Also, last question, how are you burning in your images so perfectly? Like how are you covering up the base exposure areas without leaving lines or at least some very obvious gradients between the different exposure times on the print? Thank you!

[@PictorialPlanet]

4 seconds at F22 - wow, that's very short and really hard to work with. I would find a way to lengthen that time to at least 10 if you can. Yes, an ND would do it. Burning in just comes with practice. I guess I've been doing it for a very long time. The camera might make it look a bit better than it is too.

[@h0op2]

Sorry, just one more question: whats the relationship between the quarter stop increases so I can calculate them for exposure times less than 5 seconds?

[@MacShrike]

Absolutely gorgeous print. I Have some questions, semi-related: The underexposing by 2 stops, doesn't that lose the shadow detail as well? What is wrong with overexposing and under developing? Wouldn't that produce more detail in low light areas? I tried using a 100asa film and light metered it for 400 then pushed it 2x but I felt the result was rather grainy(for my taste). If I use 100asa and underexpose, the shutter speed almost always goed to 1/60th or below and I am not that steady handed. They did have very nice contrast though. Lastly, and most on topic; It probably does require the same enlarger, I'm guessing, because of the source light strength. But If I were to swap enlargers, could I then only re-measure the base time and still apply the relative stop settings for the burning? Or will these change as well. Highest regards, and thank you for your video uploads

[@PictorialPlanet]

Not sure I understand about the underexposing. I never do that and always expose at my personal iso. I find 'pushing' film gives poor results and increased grain (as you find too). Over exposing and reducing development is better than underexposing and increasing development. I wonder if I confused you with my contact print? That was printed down (darker) so I could ascertain the highlight detail better and the light table lifts the darkened shadows so I can see those. The negatives however, are correctly exposed and developed. Using a different enlarger works perfectly with f-stop printing. Once the new base time is found then all the + and - stops or fractions of stops work exactly as they should. This is the benefit compared with just working in seconds which mean nothing as soon as you change enlargement or light source. Hope I've helped.

[@MacShrike]

@@PictorialPlanet Thank you for your swift response. What I mean is, down stopping 2 steps after measuring on the shadows isn't that basically underexposing? Perhaps it is only when the dynamic range is beyond the range, or when the zone 3 and highlights dont fit. Then they expose for zone 3 and push the film 2x to get the highlights back in zone 7. I am now thinking I am misunderstanding the entire zone thing. Is the "develop for the highlights" only meant for the printing process and not the film development? Your content does revitalise my enthusiasm. Thank you.

[@PictorialPlanet]

@MacShrike Watch this. I explain the zone system a bit. Shadows should be around zone 3 but the meter will place them in zone 5. It puts everything in zone 5. So if you measure shadows close down 2 stops. Watch this for help: kzbin.info/www/bejne/g5_GZ6Rsa6hlb9Usi=nr9Skye7qpmGBS8H

[@MacShrike]

@@PictorialPlanet Yes thank you. I understand. But how does that relate to/transfer to the over exposure of your shooting 50 iso as 25? and then under developing the film I don't know how/what you metered there. Would it be the same as metering for the shadows and only dropped 1 stop from there instead of using the iso 50 film as 25? I am sorry if I am bothering you a bit with my ignorance. I am trying to wrap my head around it. Highest regards, Mac

[@PictorialPlanet]

@MacShrike There are two different things at play here and you are linking them but you shouldn't. 1. The film speed you shoot at is the true film speed obtained with your film/developer combination. That is to say, your film speed is not that written in the box but that obtained with your developer. As an example, using Ilford FP4 Plus, D23 developer gives me a film speed or EI of 80 not 125 as the box says. If I use FX55 I get a film speed of 200. So what is the film speed if FP4? What do I set in my meter? If developing with FX55 I set 200. If developing with D23 I set 80. This isn't theoretical, this is actual, verifiable film speed. So setting 200 on my meter, when developing with FX55, is NOT underexposing, it is correctly exposing. 2. Exposure. To maximise our printable zones of light we place our detailed shadows in zone 3 and develop for the right amount of time to allow printing if detailed highlights, zone 8. We can accurately place our shadows if we know our film speed (see 1 above). We can develop for the right length of time if we have done our development tests. 3. I'll add this one because we are artists. Rules 1 and 2 are important to learn and I liken them to learning how to strip down a car engine and then rebuild it. They are the basic building blocks of good film/darkroom photography. But once we are good at them we can start to play with the rules to make our art, to make our look, our style. But if we don't know first how to strip and rebuild the engine we'll get in all sorts of trouble. Know your actual, real film speed to expose correctly. Then know where to place your shadows and how to develop for your highlights.

[@faraz2498]

I usually test for highlights with grade 00 first if contrast in negative is good, and for shadows with 5 first if it is poor. But every split-grade printer has their own method! Thanks for all this excellent material, specially on negative development (I have the book now)

[@PictorialPlanet]

Thanks for your comment and especially for buying my book 🙏

[@turdledive927]

Lol I used the inverse square law to do this with out knowing about this

[@igaluitchannel6644]

Most people expose for mid-tones.

[@iuiuiu565]

Hello, nice video, are you using Kodak siphon for washing print? 24:00

[@PictorialPlanet]

Yes. Great piece of kit!