Printing the Negative 3: Flat or Under-Developed Pyro Negatives. Method #2

[@chriscard6544]

I just received your book

[@PictorialPlanet]

What do you think?

[@17xyz]

John, as usual a super tip - very useful.

[@PictorialPlanet]

Thank you!

[@AndrewHenderson]

What a difference 👍

[@PictorialPlanet]

Yes, remarkable. I took another negative from the same shoot. I'd moved the camera slightly and the light was a tad different. After bleach and redeveloping in thiourea it was outstanding.

[@user-qm8sx8ne8g]

Another instructive step by step video. While you used a tray to show us what happens in the toner redevelopment, can I assume that in the cases of 36mm or 120 negs the amount of toner can be scaled back to, say, a beaker amount of toner with appropriately less sodium hydroxide and thiourea toner? Thanks

[@PictorialPlanet]

Good question. Yes, a 500ml beaker.

[@carstennorwaynorge2195]

Nice interesting video, wishes from 🇳🇴

[@PictorialPlanet]

🇳🇴 is a beautiful country. Best wishes dear friend.

[@zabtej1645]

Question 1 (with acknowledgement of the importance and usefulness of the shared process), wouldn't more exposure and increased grade do the same thing? Question 2 - can one redevelop normal negs with the toner? Or is it just a compromise to not alter the pyro stain and would have no coloration on normal negs?

[@janjasiewicz9851]

Excellent! Questions..can you reuse the bleach and toner working solutions? If so how long can you keep the solution in bottles?

[@ShaneB666]

Are all these fantastic methods in your book?

[@AustenGoldsmithPhotography]

Great video John What I need to do is reduce the density of a couple of my negs , I've been into insane times on the enlarger ! I was wondering about bleaching to reduce ?

[@PictorialPlanet]

Edit: see Shane's answer in this thread.

[@ShaneB666]

When you do this, does that bleach affect the density of the shadows first , being the thinner part of the negative like bleaching a print would affect the highlights first?

[@PictorialPlanet]

Probably. Edit: I think Shane is right, that the shadows will be bleached first so the effect won't be even. And the redevelopment is too fast to control in a meaningful way.

[@PictorialPlanet]

Are you overexposing your film, creating negatives that are too thick? Would it be worth increasing your EI until your negatives are workable?

[@PictorialPlanet]

I might do a video on this. The possibility of bleaching out the negative and developing again, N-, in regular developer or perhaps a two bath. I'll do some trials. Of course, the technique would be a last resort, for negatives that are just way too thick to print well, but it is something I'll try and see if it works. I think I read about it somewhere like one of Thornton's books. It goes something like this (but I need to test it): 1. Thick negative from over exposure and over development 2. Bleach back negative 3. Developer, by sight, to process less silver in the image watching to control highlights 4. Stop and fix as normal

[@Jacksymmar]

I did the bleaching on paper using the ferrocyanide and redeveloped the image using 2nd paper developer. After redevelopment, the image on the paper was full of defects and round spots, totally unacceptable. Why’s that?

[@PictorialPlanet]

I have no idea.