Roger Beckett Associates
Tel: 01245 451611

Photographic tips for infrequent compact, SLR and digital camera users.

SIX SIMPLE TIPS.

• Whether you use a film or digital camera the more you use it the better your photographs will be. One of the BIG benefits of a digital camera is that actually taking the photographs costs (almost) nothing.
• Whenever possible use a tripod.
• As a rule of thumb if you are not using a tripod the shutter setting should never be less than 1 divided by the focal length of your lens, or in the case of telephoto's the length you are have set. i.e. 50mm lens - shutter speed not less than 1/50 sec. In fact 1/60 sec is the nearest.
• If you are using manual focusing, focus on a point one third of the way into the main subject. For example for portraits focus on the eyes, for large groups in five rows focus on the second row of people.
• Breath out just before you press the shutter.
• Try to keep contrast down to a minimum.

 

Subject tips

PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHY

"Portrait" photography has a habit of inducing panic in the photographer-and the sitter. It need not be the case. A little bit of planning and the results will be pleasing to everyone. Over the next few pages we shall be looking at lighting techniques, camera angles, backgrounds, depth of field and the different types of portraiture, from glamour make-overs to family pets.

But first of all lets leave the camera to one side and concentrate on the model. Male, female, human or animal, if the sitter isn't happy the results will show it. Do not think that you need expensive lights and sets to produce startling portraits, you don't. Believe it or not many of the photographs you see in magazines have been taken in everyday surroundings. Photographers are always on the look-out for a little corner that offers what they want. What your model will want is somewhere warm, clean and if semi or nude work is to be undertaken, privacy. Bear in mind that some sitters like privacy even when dressed in overcoat and mittens!!

So where do we find our first victim, sorry subject, to photograph. Your first attempts at portrait work will see your boyfriend, girlfriend, pet goldfish, relation or next door neighbour perched in front of a tripod, eyes full of terror awaiting ....stop there, let's start again in easy steps:

• Get an idea of what you want to achieve from the session. The final result. The mood, message, impact or lack of it.
• Choose a model that matches your ideas. If you can't, make your ideas match your model. Tell them in advance what they should wear, loose clothes if parts of the body will be photographed, make-up requirements and hair style.
• Make sure your "set" is warm, comfortable and everything ready and in position. Music playing in the background can help set the mood. Have food and drink available.
• Talk over your ideas with the model or sitter. Goldfish don’t come up with too many suggestions, but your partner could be inspirational. If it's a good idea don't be proud, use it. Photo shoots have been known to branch off in a completely new direction.
• By now you should both know what you are doing. Start off with simple poses. Good results just happen when the model and photographer get into the role. Goldfish are brilliant at playing goldfish! It is important that the sitter or model "lives" or gets into the part, be it company executive or cowboy. Give constant encouragement and always suggest poses don't demand. Work towards your ultimate goal. Don't force the sitter to do something they will be embarrassed about later.
• When the session is over share your results with the model. If you give them a few copies of your work they should be pleased to sit again.

LIGHTING

• A well lit portrait is one of the most satisfying achievements in life, OK so that's going over board, but it's very near top. If you have ever seen those '40's images of film stars you will know what I mean. Despite some saying that this style of lighting is old hat there are many people who prize their "Hollywood" style make-over photographs.
• There is no correct way or wrong way to light a portrait, but if you are after a particular style or your sitter has a part of their body they are not happy with, then there are actions we can which will ensure a successful result.
• Let's go back and see how we perceive the direction and intensity of light, be it the sun, moon or any form of light source. Dark is mysterious, sinister, cold etc. whilst light is perceived as safe, friendly, comfortable, relaxing...So we must use light and dark correctly if we are to achieve the desired effect. We are used to seeing people lit from above, with fill-in from reflected light off of the ground etc. Natural light will never come directly from our feet, therefore we see this type of lighting as horrific or macabre. in fact our subconscious reaction to light and dark is very strong, translating to familiar and unknown, safety and fear. I have a few golden tips about lighting, which I have yet to see published elsewhere, but I know many successful portrait photographers and artists also follow similar guide lines, keeping this trade secret to themselves. But hey, its a big world and there is plenty for all!
• The most important point for me is which side of face is to be in shadow. There is something deep inside our minds that controls that first impression we have of a photograph or picture.
• We read from left to right, well most of us do, that goes for a photograph as much as it does for a piece of script. If we light the left side of the face and let the right side fall into shadow we are, in effect travelling from safety into the unknown. Conversely, if we light the right side with the left in shadow the viewer feels that they are getting to know the person in the photograph better or feel more comfortable as their eyes travel from dark to light. Look at these pictures below and see if you agree:

• These two photographs
  are in fact from the same image. One has just been reversed.
  
  So, lighting can be from the far left, front, far right, back and any point in between. It can also come from directly below to directly above. Do you start to see why lighting a subject can be difficult. If you have the use of a video camera here is a little exercise you can do that will get you on the "fast track". All you need is a patient sitter, or failing that an orange, pineapple or anything with surface texture and a solid form. You will also need a narrow light source, one of those domestic spot lights is ideal, but make sure it is safe and that you are able to move it around. Sit your subject down on a stool or chair if it's your nearest and dearest make them comfortable, if it's an orange it will be happy on a spike! Set your video camera "face on" about 10 feet away. Switch it on. Turn on your spot light and either turn the room lights off, or if they are on a dimmer; down.
• Starting on the far left, level with the subject move the light around the front of the subject to the far right. Now do it again this time don't get yourself between the subject and the camera!! You can also go around the back of the subject, but be careful not to point the light directly at the video's lens. When you have done that do it all again with the light at different angles above and below the middle of the subject. Turn your video off, spot light off, remembering that the lamp will be hot, room lights on, make a drink for yourself and the subject, or eat the orange, life is so unfair if you are an orange, and watch your results. This one exercise will give you all the information you will ever need on the positioning of a single light source.
• If you don't have a video run off a reel of film or click away with your digital, but make sure you expose correctly and write all the positions down.
• Did you notice the excessive contrast on your video. That's the reason we need a fill light. It can be a reflector, another light or daylight. Did you also see that when the light shone on the hair, or at an acute angle to the face it gave the sitter texture and depth. Let's put a few additional lights in to emphasize that. Whilst we are at it what about the background....HOLD ON.. one thing at a time. Start by using ONE main light and a FILL only. Add additional lights as you gain confidence, but only if the photograph requires it. Some of the best lighting is outdoors during daylight, however there is only one light source, the sun, all the rest is reflected light.
• Whilst talking about light sources for photography their are basically two types, one that is constant, and one that isn't. That was easy wasn't it! Constant light lets you observe the results before you take the picture..the other doesn't. Constant lighting tends to get very hot, so does the other, but only for a fraction of a second! Combine the two and you have the best of both worlds. These are called studio flash units with a modelling light. Any constant light source can be used for photography, however the colour temperature varies enormously. This may result in an orange or yellow cast, which can be corrected with the appropriate filter on your lens or on the computer.
• You do not need to spend hundreds of pounds on lighting. I was once on the set of one of the UK's top soap programmes. The lighting consisted of various industrial security lights, as bought from your local hardware store, whose light was bounced off of a mixture of foam boards, plasterboard and white card.
• Not only does a light source have a direction it also has a form. It can be hard and direct or soft and diffused. It can also be large or small. Some people get confused and think that a small light source has to be hard and a large light source has to be soft. WRONG.. WRONG...WRONG. The fact that you put a large piece of muslin in front of a light source does not diffuse it because it is large. You want proof...What is the largest light source you know?..The Sun. On a cloudless day it is as hard and crisp and any spotlight ever made. The Sun's rays on a day like this are parallel, well almost. Your shadow will have sharp defined edges. A passing group of clouds may interrupt the Sun's rays. Some will pass through, most will bounce around the sky giving soft, perfect lighting for attractive portrait photography.
• So if you want to soften a light source, put something in front of it. If it is semi-transparent it will diffuse the light. If it is not it will reflect the light source, softening it to a greater or lesser degree dependent on its surface texture. My own studio lighting setup for most portraits uses a mixture of direct and indirect lighting from the same main source. A flash unit set in the corner of the room, is diffused through a white umbrella. Some of the light is reflected back to the adjacent white walls and ceiling which is then reflected as a fill light onto the subject. I also use a hair light and if required an additional light to separate the subject from the background.
• Now is the time to go away and experiment, Don't forget you can also change the colour of the light source and its strength/ratio to other lights by moving it closer to or further away from your subject.
   
•  

CAMERA ANGLES AND FOCAL LENGTHS

• These two subjects are inter-related, for example very often we select a camera angle or lens to remove distracting objects or backgrounds from the photograph. We may use one or the other or both.

• Not so many years ago you bought a camera which had a fixed lens. The focal length was selected by the manufacturer to give a photograph which was similar to the view we saw with our own eyes. The SLR and "instant image of the digital camera" changed all that. Now you could see through the actual lens or the image on a LCD screen before taking the picture. Change the lens and you instantly see the results. If you are new to photography you will be pleased to know that I shall not take up space discussing the technical ins and outs of lens design. All you have to remember is the following:
• A lens with a small focal length, is often called a “wide angle lens”, whilst a lens with a long focal length, is often called a “telephoto lens”. A lens that has a facility to change its focal length is called a “zoom”.
• The smaller the focal length of the lens the wider the angle of view. As the focal length increase the angle of view reduces. The position and size of the subject in relation to the background remains the same. If you want to prove this set up your camera on a tripod. Use your lens with the smallest focal length, or set your zoom lens at the smallest focal length, and take a photograph. Now without moving the camera use different lens’ or change the setting of the zoom and take a photograph each time. Look at the results; as the focal length changes you “close in” on the subject, but the relationship between the subject and background remains the same.
• Every lens has a depth of field, two points between which all the objects are in focus. This changes with the aperture setting, but also with the focal length of the lens. A wide angle lens will have a large depth of field. As the focal length increases the depth of field reduces.
• A lens of long focal length requires a tripod, or fast shutter speed, to give anything like a pin-sharp picture
• So can you see the problems of using a telephoto: To ensure a sharp photograph you need a fast shutter speed, which means a wide aperture setting. But this reduces the depth of field. It’s a compromise. So why use a telephoto? Well first of all if the subject is too small and you cannot physically get closer a telephoto will help you “fill the frame”. You can also use the smaller depth of field to throw the background out of focus.
• The portrait photographer can use everything from the wide-angle to the telephoto lens. A wide-angle lens and a close subject to camera distance can give some surreal effects. Not always flattering but done properly quite stunning., just take a look at Newton’s nudes. Most of the time though people will be wanting a portrait that shows them in the best light.
• In previous articles I mentioned how you can light the subject to hide flaws or imperfections. You can do the same with a change of lens. One of the main reasons portrait photographers use a slightly longer lens when photographing people (40mm on digital, 105mm on 35mm or 135 on medium format) is that it gives a more pleasing image, with noses reduced and deep eye sockets “shallowed”. A high forehead will also look much better.

• How can a group of people photographing the same subject produce such a range of different images. One of the things that makes a photographer stand out from the crowd is the camera angle he selects. Don’t take the easy option. Whatever you are photographing take time to study the subject. How will it change lit this way or that? Will a shot give more impact photographed from above or below? Here are two examples of children playing croquet
• 

• As with every other technique in photography there is not right or wrong way, no camera angle is right or wrong, but you need to know how to correct heavy chins or long noses for example.
• Earlier I suggested you used a video camera, if you had one, to experiment with light. So don’t be surprised when I suggest you get it out again to see how changing the camera angle can have an effect on the final result.
• Last time the camera stayed static. This time the lights stay static and the camera moves. You can use a “live model” if they will stay still long enough . However the best thing would be a statue, the bigger the better, at ground level if possible, so no Statue of Liberty or Nelson's Column, not unless you can lay your hands on a helicopter!! For the first exercise we need diffused lighting around the model. Outdoors on an cloudy day is perfect. Set your video camera on the widest lens setting possible as this will accentuate the effect. Start face on with the camera parallel with the ground. Keeping the head at apx. the same place in the frame and move the camera up as high as possible so you are looking down on the statue. Then take the camera down to the ground so that you are looking up at it. Move 45 degrees around the statue and repeat the procedure. Keep moving around the statue until you have completed a full circle.
• Have a look at the video. Do you see that as you look up at the face you have a strong chin, a feeling of power, this is an ideal angle to photograph leading industrialists and sports people, but not flattering for ladies or children. As you move the camera up you will see the nose change shape, from looking very “nasal”, quite nice, to pointed and long. Now look at the eye sockets, the ears, forehead see how everything changes. Remember you are using a wide angle lens so you are seeing extreme changes, the longer the lens the more subtle the effect.
• We haven’t finished yet, keep watching the video. As we move around the statue (or live subject) everything changes, crosses over, covers up and distorts. See how everything close to the camera is large in proportion to the rest of the statue. Think of all the situations that would benefit from being photographed from this or that angle.
• If you are really getting into camera positions you can look forward to hours of fun and discovery. Remember our lighting set-up; plain old boring diffused lighting, what happens if we use some of those lighting set-ups covered in previous articles. There is more variations than a national lottery, and that’s what makes photography such a fascinating subject, pass-time or profession. If you don’t have a video camera you can do it all with still photographs.

Digital and Darkroom manoeuvres

• Even after years of processing my own film I still got a buzz of excitement when I opened the tank. Now that I am 100% digital that buzz is still there when I turn on the computer. Partly trepidation as to the technical success, but mainly the curtailment of a journey, an opportunity to see if you have achieved what you had planned for, or saw in the view finder/screen that split second before you pressed the shutter.
• The digital revolution has turned the world of photography upside down. No longer do you need to wait whilst your photographs are developed. You now get instant feedback and can email your photographs around the world to friends and relatives.
• You also have the ability to adjust, improve and manipulate your images. And this introduces a big hurdle for many people. How do you correct the colour and exposure?
• A grounding in darkroom printing is a huge help so reading the next section on "Processing and printing film images" will help, but for those who don't have the time or inclination you can click and jump to Digital Adjusting and Printing

PROCESSING FILMS

Processing and printing you own material, black and white or colour is not difficult. The mechanics are simple enough, similar to baking a cake. Modern chemicals are easy to mix and quite forgiving compared to those of yesteryear. Financial outlay is minimal if you are processing your own slide film and not prohibitive if you intend to work in print film. Most good photographic shops will give you all the information you need on specific equipment. With that in mind lets cover what I believe is the number one reason why people have inconsistent result or out and out failures!!

Many who have "dabbled" in printing colour or even black and white photographs get put off with the time it all takes and the sight of yet another piece of paper, "very nearly right", heading binward. It need not be. Even if you only print once a year there is no reason why you can't restrict your "nearly rights" to a few sheets. There is no magic wand, and that includes those fancy colour analytical devices that fill so much of the second hand classified sections of photo mags. The key to consistent, quality results is much simpler and cheaper. In comes in the shape of a little book, a handful of prints and a routine. Let's take ROUTINE first as it is the longest section. Whether you are processing film, prints or slides there is only one way to get consistent results. Know your chemicals, know how the temperature changes with time and know how long things take to "cook". By all means experiment, change time, temp, cross development, chemicals, use carrot juice what ever but when Mrs Smith wants accurate colour rendition of her new dress you can throw experimentation out of the window, and welcome in ROUTINE.

KNOW YOUR CHEMICALS. Decide which chemicals you want to use and stick to them. Find out how quickly they become exhausted and how they react to a change in temperature.

TEMPERATURE CHANGES. If you have a constant temperature controlled system you can disregard this next section...still here, OK lets push on. Chemical reaction time changes with temperature. In most cases the higher the temperature the faster the reaction. When developing films and prints extreme differences in temperature(4-5 degrees C) can have an adverse effect on the final results, e.g. increased grain growth but if you stay within 2 degrees C each way everything will be all right as long you adjust the times accordingly. That's why manufactures give you a little table with temperature against time. Sometimes they even throw in a graph! Taking colour print film (C41) development time as an example you should aim for 38 degrees C for 3mins 15 secs. So you want to start just above this temperature and will end just below it.

Before you start any developing we are going to do one or two dummy runs without film... Most people use a light-tight dev. tank. Put the drum in a water bath making sure that no water enters the drum itself. The temperature of this bath is not critical, I find 40-45 degrees is fine. All you are doing is making sure that the drum does not reduce the temperature of the developer too quickly when it is poured in. Whilst this heats up get some water(which we shall use for the dummy run) up to temperature using the same method. For this initial run aim for 39 degrees C. Have your thermometer and watch ready. Take the drum out of the pre-heat bath pour in a measured amount of water, equal to the amount you would actually use, then start the clock. Give the tank a firm tap on its base to dislodge any bubbles then rotate the inner spiral, or invert the tank it, whichever you prefer, for 20 seconds. Record the temperature. At 45 seconds rotate or invert for exactly 5 seconds, then again at 1 min 15 seconds and again at 1 min 45 seconds. Record the temperature again. Rotate or invert again at 2 min 15 seconds and 2 min 45 seconds. Record the temperature for a final time. When the total elapsed time is 3 mins empty out the water. The last 15 seconds is the "drain time". the time taken before the stop bath is introduced.

Now you should have three temperature readings. Depending on the ambient temperature, insulation of the dev. tank and quantity of water used these values may vary a lot or not at all. The temperature should go down, but may even go up if the ambient temperature is above 38 degrees!! If your first and last readings are between 39 degrees C(your starting temp) and 37.5 degrees C, slap yourself on the back and do nothing. If the temperature has fallen below 37.5 we need to find a way of keeping the chemicals warm. I find a water bath at 38 degrees too messy, but it works very well, instead I use a foam collar, made out of packaging material many years ago. This keeps my chemicals within .5 of a degree (so my initial temp is 38.3 degrees). Try the exercise again using your insulation material or water bath...See its easy.

The good news is that stop bath and bleach/fix are not as critical, get them to 38 degrees C and all will be ok. Washing temperature should be between 30-38 degrees. With colour negative stock wash until the water is clear and the magenta die has gone.

"COOKING" TIME. The time taken for films and prints to develop to the "correct" level will depend on four things. Recommended time, temperature and exhaustion of chemicals and agitation. It is imperative that whatever procedure you take when developing you do it every time!! Fresh chemicals, warmer temperature and increased agitation will reduce the overall developing time. Tired chemicals, cooler temperature and reduced agitation will lengthen the overall developing time. Go on then... experiment. What you should find is that under development is a waste of time giving flat, inconsistent results, whilst over development gives more contrast, denser negatives, more vivid colours(in the case of colour stock) and increased grain. All this might be useful later. You will also now know just how far you can stray from the correct path before results become unacceptable.

So despite what everyone has told you developing your own photographs is simple. Here are some do's and don'ts..

DO

• Stick to your routine.
• Follow recommendations on extending time as the chemicals become exhausted.

• "Give it a little bit longer" just to make sure
• Get lazy with temp, time and agitation.
• Forget to give a full wash at the end.

PRINTING YOUR FILM IMAGES

A LITTLE BOOK. Good-bye waste, hello happiness

• Everything that you do should be recorded whether you are a once a year darkroom person or do it everyday. You will not be able to remember all the settings and times in your head, believe me, I know!! It is always those few seconds you added on for the final print, or that extra 5% Yellow that you forget to record, that leaves you reprinting at a later stage. When printing you need only record a few details:
• Identification of film.
• Number of negative.
• Size of image
• Filter settings(colour only)
• Length of exposure.
• To make things easier I base all my times on one aperture setting, regardless of the setting used. e.g. a recorded time of 10 seconds could be 10 secs @ f5.6, 20 secs @ f8, 40 secs @ f11 etc. I don't bother with film type as you can see this on the neg. itself. At the front of the book I register filter settings for different film types and correction settings for new enlarger lamps (and the date they were changed).

• Lets save some money. Forget expensive colour analysers, view filters etc. All you need to make consistent, colour accurate prints are 14-4"x 5" prints.
• Select a photograph that includes a good range of colours and densities, a family group photograph taken on a lawn during a cloudy summer day is perfect. Using your old system produce a "perfect" print. Show it to other people, get their views on whether they think colour and density are correct.
• Having written the settings down, you did didn't you?, produce a series of 4"x 5" prints which are changed thus:
• Standard exposure but:
•     +20Y+20M   +20Y     +20Y-20M
•       +20M     STANDARD    -20M
•     -20Y+20M   -20Y     -20Y-20M
• Now print your "Standard colour" setting but reduce exposure by a half, one stop. Increase by a half and one stop. Finally produce another print with standard colour settings and exposure. If you are consistent with your ROUTINE this last print should look like your first standard prints.
• Mount the nine prints with colour corrections as laid out above. Underneath these mount the prints with the exposure variations, in the order -1 stop, -1/2 stop, standard, +1/2 stop, +1 stop.
• Put these handy to use when you are printing.
• Yes is does seem too simple, thats why many people don't do it, spend a lot of money on analysers, charts produced by other people or have a bin full of "nearly rights", possibly all three. Now all you have to do is:
• Produce a proof sheet for the reel of film.
• Print an exposure test of an "average" neg. from the reel.
• Decide the correct exposure.
• Compare the colour cast and if required correct the settings using our chart as a guide. Remember when printing from colour negs. you will need to INCREASE the settings for the colour that is dominant i.e.. too much yellow - increase yellow setting.
• A large change in the magenta filter setting may require more or less exposure.
• Print the photograph. Success, I hope so.
• Now, take the next photograph on your proof sheet. If it has the same density and colour rendition as the earlier negative go ahead and print it. If not compare the differences with your chart and make corrections accordingly.
• Print it!

CONTRAST-DODGING AND BURNING IN If you tried out my earlier suggestions you should be well on the way to more consistent printing, less wastage and possibly less time in the darkroom. Whether you are a newcomer to the darkroom, or an old hand, there comes a time when a “standard” print is unacceptable or not what you were trying to achieve when you took the photograph. Sometimes the neg. has not been exposed or developed correctly, or the contrast levels of the subject were too high/low. Corrective measures are required to produce a print with strong blacks, bright whites and a good range of tones. There could be a portion of the image you would prefer excluded from the finished print, or an area that is distracting or overpowering the main subject.

If it is a case of too much or too little contrast in the finished print your first course of action will be to change to a softer or harder paper if you're still using graded material, or if you are using variable contrast paper you will need to change filter settings. If all that all sounds gobbledegook here is a brief explanation.

Not so many years ago if you were to look in someone’s darkroom you would find lots of boxes of paper. First there would be different sizes of paper, each size would be available in three finishes, glossy, pearl and matte and those finishes would be available in possibly six “grades”. So there could be over FIFTY boxes of paper. Many a box had to be thrown away when still half full as it was past its “use by” date. Graded papers were simply a range of papers that produced low or high contrast prints and everything in between. Grade 0 was a very low contrast paper. An average negative would produce a flat print but the beauty was that a high contrast negative could, if the rules were followed correctly, when printed on a low grade paper produce an acceptable print.

A flat neg. when printed on grade five paper could, if the detail was there, also produce an acceptable print. Grade2 was considered normal, however a lot of photographers used grade three as they liked their prints to have a bit of bite. This course of action was also suggested by photograph magazines as a “tip from the pro’s”. The biggest problem with this was that inexperienced printers would reduce the exposure or developing time because they did not appreciate what true blacks should look like in a print. That produced washed out whites and a poor range of mid tones.

Then along came variable contrast paper, slowly making shelves emptier as box after box of graded paper was used up or discarded. Variable contrast paper as the name suggests can take on the character of everything from grade 0 to grade 5 simply by adjusting the amount of magenta and/or yellow filter settings. Early VC paper left a bit to be desired but the latest types, i.e. Ilford’s Multigrade IV are very good.

Back to the plot:

So, you have produced a first print, often called a working print, and decided whether you need to reprint it on a different grade of paper or use a different filter setting if using variable contrast paper to achieve rich blacks and a good range of mid tones.

On examining the print , let’s say a landscape, those dramatic clouds you saw when taking the photograph are now just a white strip across the top half of the paper. The reason for this is that the paper cannot reproduce the range of tones evident on the negative without a bit of help. Your test strips will give you the key to how much help. you will see that whilst the land needed say 10 seconds exposure the test strip indicated that the exposure giving the best reproduction of the sky was 30 seconds. So all you need to do is stop the light reaching the bottom section after 10 seconds and allow the sky section to continue receiving the light for a further 20 seconds, this is called “dodging or shading” the land and “burning” in the sky.

You achieve this shading either with your hands or pieces of card cut to a similar shape as the area to be worked on. Because the light rays are not parallel but fan out from the enlarger lens. The shape is in fact smaller as the card will be held above the print. If you are using your hands ensure that they do not get too close to the lens as it is possible to get condensation forming on it. Those printers who had 50 boxes of paper on their shelves would also have a vast range of masks for dodging. I like to keep things simple. My masks are made out of photographic paper that have been exposed to”room light” for 20 seconds or so and then developed, giving a deep rich black on one side, which will not allow light to pass through it, and a white finish on the other which is helpful for seeing what you are dodging (or what you do not want burning in). Each shape is mounted on the end of a thin piece of wire. I tape a plastic tooth pick to the back of each shape. Then you only need a few pieces of wire which you can insert when required. you can also have a whole string of shapes all controlled on one wire.

A basic circle shape will, by turning, also give you an ellipse. Moving closer to and further away from the base board will restrict the light to less or more of the print so you do not need to copy the shape in lots of sizes. I have one very small one for faces, a medium for upper bodies etc. and a large one for whole bodies. There are also pieces of rectangular paper with holes cut out, doing a similar job but in reverse. In addition there are various specials, one with the shape of a wedding dress cut out, another with a basic head and body shape.

The art of burning and dodging is to make it look like the print has never been touched. So in most cases you need a gradual effect. Firstly tear the shapes you need, this will give a softer edge. Keep the mask moving at all times in a small circular motion whilst also moving it very slightly up and down. If an intricate area needs dodging or shading I make a template of the shape (slightly smaller don't forget) which is mounted above the paper and attached to the bench ( not the enlarger or baseboard). The lamp is turned on for the time the area requires dodging whilst the mask is gently tapped. This small movement prevents a hard edge. When the first time interval is reached the mask is removed and the whole print exposed for the remainder of the time.

Printers will go to great lengths to produce the style of print they require. A good example is given in the advertisement for Ilford’s MGIV paper.

I have said it before and I will say it again, go out and experiment. If this is your first attempt at dodging and burning in you will be amazed at what can be achieved. Out will come all those old negs and a new world will open up for you. When you get really confident get hold of some multigrade paper and try printing different parts of the print at different grade settings. A lake at grade one whilst the wooded bank is printed at grade four, for example.

Many people do not know that different contrast paper is not restricted to black and white. Kodak produce a range of colour paper: Ultra for high contrast, Supra for normal and portra for slightly lower contrast, very useful for weddings.

ADJUSTING AND PRINTING YOU DIGITAL IMAGES

Welcome back to those who skipped the "processing and printing film images" sections. To those who read them I am sure you will benefit when adjusting your digital images.

I always use the word "adjusting" your image. Making a colour darker or changing the hue is not manipulating, you're continuing the image making process. TO BE CONTINUED...........

Seasonal tips

Each season has its own character, and brings with it a few problems which can produce stunning images and disasters.

Spring and Autumn (Fall). A time of mixed weather. Very often clear blue sky and low sun. on days like this the suns rays are not diffused by or reflected off of the clouds. Watch out for contrast in your photographs. Our eyes are better at handling contrast than photo material. A good guide on how your photographs will look can be obtained by squinting your eyes. Try it-it works.

Avoid shadows over faces. Photograph in the shade, or use natural objects to provide fill-in, a white wall is a good example. Take care, any colour from the fill will tint the scene to some extent, the closer the fill the greater the tint.
Summer. As with Spring and Autumn take care photographing when there is a clear blue sky. Strangely enough when there is a long spell of hot weather the pollution build up in many areas around the world helps to soften the edges of shadows almost as much as a well placed cloud.

If you think professional photographers love bright sunshine-think again. We become amateur meterorologists looking skywards for a helpful cloud, rain or anything else falling from above! However our clients like a bright blue sky in the photograph which brings all those wonderful memories of lazy summer holidays flooding back to the likes of you and me. So with the sun behind us, a large fluffy cloud about to cover it and a light wind the scene is set for some great photographs.

The other main problem with Summer is heat. Film and cameras can be ruined by the heat of a summer's day. Keep both in the shade whenever possible-and away from the sand!

Winter. I love winter. You can still have those bright days, but they often follow a cold night or a snowfall. Now is the time to use that contrast to the full. Dark bare tree branches reaching out, making strange twisted figures against the sky or snow. Footsteps made by someone trekking across the street or landscape take on a new meaning. With a white "backdrop" covering the scene clothes become more important in winter, the drab garb of a down and out, or the colourful ski suits not only on the slopes, but also on the streets.

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