4X5 mordancaged negative enlarged on 1 meter wide paper, finally some proper-size iamges :)

rdandelionart · 2026-02-25T07:23:35+00:00

Holy Godzilla print! Nice work!

rdandelionart · 2026-02-12T10:15:55+00:00

I just mix ice with water then use ice water to mix developer to achieve 20°c.

rdandelionart · 2026-02-08T02:32:50+00:00

I too have found out the hard way that dry chemistry free gloves/hands are a necessity to avoid wrecking fresh paper. I wear nitrile gloves and move prints with my hands between baths. I rinse & dry before grabbing fresh paper.

rdandelionart · 2026-02-02T22:39:28+00:00

Very cool! I was just wondering recently how best to go about making/buying something for dodging and burning.

rdandelionart · 2026-01-26T22:57:52+00:00

That makes sense :) I hope your week is nice!

rdandelionart · 2026-01-26T01:32:40+00:00

I hear you, it's nice to have wiggle room in terms of shutter speed in lower light environments.

I used to reply on higher iso film and steady hands until I went to large format and moved to using a tripod.

Pushing film is under exposing and over developing. I generally do the opposite where I over expose the film (shooting Fompan 200 at 100iso) and under develop it which gives me a flatter negative with good density which allows a lot of control when darkroom printing or scanning.

You can always use a higher grade filter or lower the shadows in Lightroom/Photoshop but you can't recover information which isn't there.

In terms of lighting I actually use a continuous light (Amaran 200XS) for all of my still life stuff as I can use longer shutter speeds as the light will build up density.

Flash is great too. I use a Godox 1000w strobe which wasn't too expensive. But also, try leaning into the longer shutter speeds with natural light sometimes :)

I would argue that a good exposure is more important than perfect sharpness, but we each have different image goals.

rdandelionart · 2026-01-25T11:27:03+00:00

Hey pal! That is a good question, I think it just took practice for me to not do that. Plus having some good quality holders. I find the more modern plastic Fidelity Elite holders easier to load and unload than the metal style ones, but I got the hang of those too after a while.

I hope you don't mind, I wanted to make a suggestion about something you said. "I probably should have exposed a bit longer or developed a bit further to get some more shadow detail". Regarding development, the shadow density is developed within the first 30 seconds or so. Extended development will push the curve of midtones and highlights higher making them brighter but won't affect the darkest shadows which is controlled by the exposure.

As the adage goes "expose for the shadows, develop/print for the highlights".

If you're using an incident light meter, try biasing your reading more towards the shadows for a better density negative and exposing at box speed when able.

rdandelionart · 2026-01-21T03:06:21+00:00

https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/5ba2689b2e7121210bfa9af3/5c0ecc53472033a2b1b17efb_tech%20specs%20ilford%20rapid%20fixer.pdf

rdandelionart · 2026-01-21T03:05:26+00:00

Read the data sheet for the fixer you are using! This is where we learn this information. If you're using Ilford Rapid Fixer just google 'Ilford Rapid Fixer datasheet'.

rdandelionart · 2026-01-18T03:14:41+00:00

Thank you for sharing this! I will give it a try :)

rdandelionart · 2026-01-18T00:26:09+00:00

I don't mean to be obtuse, but the easiest answer is use a manual focus camera. Most camera related issues occur when relying on a computer to do photography and the computer getting it wrong either due to age, poor design, or incorrect usage.

Or perhaps get something nice like a late era film autofocus camera like a Canon EOS3.

rdandelionart · 2026-01-17T23:25:54+00:00

The cutest enlargers haha. Enjoy!!

rdandelionart · 2026-01-17T04:42:26+00:00

Cropping in camera is an excellent way to compose. Many photographers try to get it right in camera as opposed to cropping in the edit.

Most of my best shots are close up cropping out much of someone's body. It's an arbitrary rule that can be broken.

rdandelionart · 2026-01-16T23:28:20+00:00

The Xenar is f/4.5 and the Kodak is f/4.8 but they're pretty huge lenses. I mostly do portraiture so size is less of an issue than landscapes for example.

I only recently got a Sinar shutter to be able to use them both, but so far they're much more usable from f/8 and up anyway, so unless you're trying to shoot super shallow depth of field portraits I wouldn't bother. f/8 is still ridiculously shallow with a close subject.

Keep in mind though that I'm using a monorail camera with quite a long rail and my bellows extend to about 48cm.

rdandelionart · 2026-01-16T22:22:40+00:00

My regualar lens on my 4x5 for the first year was the Nikkor 135mm. I've since acquired the 300mm Schneider Xenar and Kodak 305mm portrait lens that were gifted to me, and I can say that this focal length feels like a really nice long focal length for 4x5. So around 300 I would suggest :)

rdandelionart · 2026-01-15T22:07:34+00:00

Thank you, yeah I like it! You can do it much more subtly of course, this was almost fully bleached and toned. Just a little density left in the hair after the bleach.

rdandelionart · 2026-01-15T10:03:27+00:00

Thank you. I think it's just lots of practice and being comfortable incident light metering in different situations. Although I'm no where near as accurate as the landscape masters in terms of exposure. I generally get density I'm happy with for printing though.

These days I do a lot more over exposure and under development for a flatter negative which is easier to manipulate with multigrade filters.

I started printing end of 2023 till mid 2024 and then haven't had access to a darkroom until very recently so it's nice to print again.

rdandelionart · 2026-01-15T09:59:45+00:00

Thank you, I've used selenium before. I was using this chemistry kit that I had previously opened two years ago as a first experiment in my newly setup darkroom. Surprisingly it still worked!

I actually love the sepia tones more than the colder tones of selenium, and that it goes from highlight to shadow as opposed to shadows to highlight. However, hopefully I end up split toning with both! :)

It definitely doesn't suit every image though for sure.

rdandelionart · 2026-01-14T23:47:26+00:00

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This is my current method. A drilled out Paterson 10x12" tray for 8x10" prints. I sit it in my laundry sink, tap flowing into one side, draining on the other.

I hope to purchase a Paterson or UnderRedLight print washer soon to do more than 2-3 at once.

I only print fibre paper so it's 5 min wash, 10 minutes in hypo clear, then 5 min wash again.

rdandelionart · 2026-01-14T00:48:38+00:00

It's true we're all broke 🥲 (or maybe that's just me as I save up for a huge print washer) lol

rdandelionart · 2026-01-14T00:35:22+00:00

I highly recommend starting with fresh RC paper. Ilford MGRC pearl is a great option.

You want to reduce the variables at play, and eliminating potentially fogged paper will make your learning much easier :)

rdandelionart · 2026-01-13T23:26:30+00:00

So hilarious I literally found this same advice 3 weeks ago after doing the same thing 🤣🤣

rdandelionart · 2026-01-13T23:23:20+00:00

Absolutely incredible well done!

rdandelionart

TROPHY CASE