Once you have printed an image, you can post process if you feel the image would benefit from some extra work. One post processing technique which is widely used is toning.

Toners such as sepia will lighten an image while blue toner will intensify it. This should be anticipated when making the original print i.e. you may want to underdevelop the print slightly if using sepia, as the end result will be lighter.

Colour will vary in your results depending on the paper type or brand.

Use toning to improve tonal richness and increase permanence with sepia or add a coolness to the image with blue toning.

Blue Toning

• Use A and B chemicals in equal parts at any temperature. Pour the blue tone solution into a tray. You need just enough solution to cover a print


• Slide the print into the tray in one smooth motion


• Wear gloves so as not to contaminate the print (your finger prints will leave marks)


• When you are happy with the toning of the print, remove and wash under a tap thouroughly


• Blue tone generally darkens the print and will not be as permanent as the original
  
  The 2 images below show the original print, and then the blue toned print as scanned in from my workbook from college. they are not particularly great images! I just used them to experiment with the toning technique. You can clearly see that the blue tone really darkens ths image.

Original Print


Blue Toned Print



Sepia Toning

• You will need two trays


• In the first mix 1 part bleach to 5 parts water


• In the second mix Sepia A and B equally and then add 17 parts water


• Slide the print into the bleach tray. The longer the print stays in the bleach, the more pronounced the sepia tone will be


• Move the print into the sepia tray and watch the yellow form on the print


• wash the toner off afterwards until the yellow hue around the edge of the print has gone


• Sepia toned prints are as permanent as the original print

Sepia Toned Print

In the world of digital photography, processing is replaced by software such as Photoshop. While this does take a lot of time and effort out of it, there really is nothing quite like the final result that a hand processed print will give you, and processing your own film gives you the ultimate control in how much contrast etc. you want your negatives to have.

Below are notes made at college on processing Black & White film.

EQUIPMENT

In order to process a film - you will need the following equipment:

1. A light-tight processing tank
2. Thermometer
3. Chemicals

• Developer
• Stop
• Fix
• Wash
• Wetting agent

4. Stop watch
5. Drying equipment
6. Latex gloves to protect against chemicals

PROCESSING STEPS

1. You need to load the film in the dark, in a light tight room to prevent fogging. Make sure the tank is dry or you could contaminate the film.

2. Once the film is loaded there is no longer any need to be in the dark as the film is safely in the light tight tank, so you can process in the light. The developer, such as Ilford ID11 or Kodak D76, should be added to the tank - 1 part developer and 1 part water. Check the film case for instructions on what temperature the developer needs to be and use the water to bring the temperature up or down. Check the tank for details on how much developer and water you need to measure.

• For HP5 film at ISO400 give the developer 13 mins at 20 degrees Celcius
• Agitation is important in order to get consistent results - agitate (tip the tank up and down to wash the developer over the film) every minute for 5 - 6 seconds.
• Push process (extra development) to enhance speed in fast films. Slower films will become overly contrasty so best suited to fast film.
• Pull process (hold back development) if you have accidentally overexposed the film or if you want a contrasty image.

3. Stop bath - 30 secs to 1 min

• Have the stop bath ready to pour in exactly on the 13 mins as the developer will continue to develop even while it is being poured out of the tank.
• Agitate the stop bath continuously for 30 seconds.
• Pour the stop bath back into the stop bath container so it can be re-used.

4. Fix - 6 mins

The time needed for the fix can be tested by taking an offcut of your unprocessed film and pouring some fix over it. The time it takes to clear the negative is the time needed! This is usually about 6 mins.

• Agitate continuously for the first 30 seconds, then for 10 secs every minute.

5. Wash - 20 mins

Place the tank under a tap with the top lid off (do not remove the light tight element) and wash through for 20 mins.

6. Wetting agent - 30 secs

This helps reduce the surface tension before you remove the film from the reel and also encourages drying.

Further Notes

• Featureless shadows on the developed film = underexposure
• Low contrast and grey highlights = under development
• Push black and white film by extending the time of development
• Hold back (pull process) by diluting the developer and reducing the time
• Transparency/slide film need E6 processing
• Take care not to over agitate
• Temperature too hot = underdevelop
• Temperature too cold = overdevelop. Increase/decrease time to counter or control temperature issues

'F' numbers or 'F' stops are associated with aperture and they affect exposure and depth of field.



Wide angle lenses produce a generous depth of field (the whole image is in focus) whereas telephoto lenses produce a shallow depth of field (background is thrown out of focus)



Exposure is affected by the aperture size due to the amount of light entering so shutter speed needs to be adjusted accordingly to avoid over-expose or under-exposure. A wide aperture allows lots of light in so the shutter speed will need to be fast.

A typical aperture sequence:

f2 f2.8 f4 f5.6 f8 f11 f16 f22

Each f stop allows in 2x as much light as the last

Portrait photography will mostly aim to flatter or express the individual character of the sitter. The photographer must consider how the photo will be used - on the Boardroom wall? A full page in a magazine?

Pose, lighting, props etc. can then be geared towards the required end result.

STUDIO - isolates the sitter from their normal environment and allows the photographer maximum creative control

LOCATION - shooting in the home or the workplace will place the sitter in their natural surroundings and often allows for a more interesting composition

VIEWPOINT - shot from a low angle the sitter can appear dominant, shot from a high angle they can appear dominated

EQUIPMENT & TECHNIQUES
Portraiture lends itself to medium format. The extra quality produced far outweighs the equipment size and weight. A tripod is a good idea as it will allow you to fine tune lighting, props without interfering with the composition, plus perhaps more importantly, will allow you to interact and engage better with the sitter.

For half length or headshots pack a longer than normal focal length lens i.e 150mm lens for 6x6 format or an 85mm lens for 35mm format.

LIGHT SOURCES
Daylight, tungsten lamps, studio flash
- Daylight indoors can give excellent natural results, but is difficult to control.
- Flash scores better over tungsten due it producing less heat and glare, plus you can shoot a finer grain (slower ISO) film due to the huge power produced.

Aim for simple lighting where the sitter can freely change position without the need for light source adjustments or exposure alterations.