Great video. You have made it so simple to understand pre flashing, I have a box of ilford ilfospeed grade 3 in the draw, gathering dust, now i will need to dust it down and get experimenting, I have read many different ways and other you tube videos all of which have put me off as some methods are just too technical , your method is intuitively simple, I use an RH Designs timer 3, and that is very intuitive. Thanks John
Thank you, Jonathan, for you kind words! Lovely you can use those papers now. I miss the ilfospeed range which I always enjoyed. Is there any fixed grade papers left that have 1 through 4 grades I wonder?
Correction, it does appear that you can get fomaspeed in 4 grades, but Firstcall photographic supplier only stocks 3 and 4. I haven`t asked if they can get hold of the other grades.
Nice! Thank you. Actually a great idea and seems quite easy to realise compared to some other ways;-) but as always… when one knows about the things and contexts it’s always easy afterwards. Thanks again and take care!
Finally got round to trying out this technique, what can i say, i`m getting brill results both with multi and graded, I whack my enlarger all the way up and reduce my aperture to f16, then test my exposure, it always lands on 1 sec for my set up. Thanks John.
Well done video. You make it very easy to understand. One thing that I am working on is reducing fog on old paper stock, any suggestions? Might be a subject for a video. Thanks
Thank you John! Question: Is this technique also useful on variable contrast papers? I'm wondering if split grade printing achieves the same purpose via a different method, or if flashing still serves some benefit?
Cheers, David! This technique is good with multigrade. That’s actually multigrade that I show. I found it much easier to do this than to get the split grading right.
Hi John! I have been following your channel and lessons for a while, and I even try your tutorials and techniques in my darkroom. You've said in this video that Increasing Grade filter will separate the shadows. Here I am a bit lost, if I am using a filter a grade 5 (split grade techniques) to control my shadows, that does not mean, the blacks are going to be black, and the dark greys are going to be less dark grey so I get more detail in the shadows? I was wrong then thinking more contrast meant mid-greys move to dark grey, .. could you please clarify that to me if it's possible? Thanks again for your time doing these videos, the passion and the way you teach make it a joy to watch. Because of you, I have Rodinal as my main dev, and a darkroom in my office. Take care!
Flashing + waterbath technique together really do help print a contrasty scene/negative. Then of course the highlights are being treated at both the exposure and development stages which can be very effective.
Hello John. When you did the 'test' flashing you gave individual 1.5 sec bursts. When you flashed the photo paper did you also give it 3 x 1.5 sec burts or just 1 x 4.5 sec burst?
Thanks for the video on paper flashing, the channel is always informative. One question: It is often said that one of the downsides of flashing paper is that it results in a lower contrast print. You started off with a high contrast print so perhaps that wasn't an issue in this case. But have you found that, in general, you need to increase the contrast of a print made on a flashed piece of paper in order to compensate for the overall lower contrast exposure during the flashing step? On a related note, I may have missed it but I don't think you mentioned anything about the contrast grade that should be used during the pre-flash. I've always read that it is best to start with a low grade so as not to affect the darker tones of the photograph. Thanks again for sharing all of your expertise!
I rarely need to flash because I have dialled in my development time and most of my photographs fall within the 5 or so stops I've prepared for. Flashing, for me, is all about bringing down a highlight that's above the papers ability to show and that I want to print. Many times a little burning is a better solution. Yes, flashing may reduce contrast if done poorly. I flash at grade 2. That seems to work well for me.
Could a additional split grade Exsposure with Grade 0 bring back your highlight details? or is this just another way to adress that problem with lost highlights at higher grades? either way. it's interesting to think that way
Great video. You have made it so simple to understand pre flashing, I have a box of ilford ilfospeed grade 3 in the draw, gathering dust, now i will need to dust it down and get experimenting, I have read many different ways and other you tube videos all of which have put me off as some methods are just too technical , your method is intuitively simple, I use an RH Designs timer 3, and that is very intuitive. Thanks John
Thank you, Jonathan, for you kind words! Lovely you can use those papers now. I miss the ilfospeed range which I always enjoyed. Is there any fixed grade papers left that have 1 through 4 grades I wonder?
@@PictorialPlanet Yeah, not sure, the only paper i can get hold of is Fomaspeed grade 3 and 4. That`s plenty choice for me.
Correction, it does appear that you can get fomaspeed in 4 grades, but Firstcall photographic supplier only stocks 3 and 4. I haven`t asked if they can get hold of the other grades.
Thanks
Been waiting for this one! Thanks!
Ha! Thank you for your patience.
Nice! Thank you. Actually a great idea and seems quite easy to realise compared to some other ways;-) but as always… when one knows about the things and contexts it’s always easy afterwards. Thanks again and take care!
Cheers, Jens!
Finally got round to trying out this technique, what can i say, i`m getting brill results both with multi and graded, I whack my enlarger all the way up and reduce my aperture to f16, then test my exposure, it always lands on 1 sec for my set up. Thanks John.
Excellent!
Thanks again John, something else to try.
Cheers, Andrew!
Well done video. You make it very easy to understand.
One thing that I am working on is reducing fog on old paper stock, any suggestions? Might be a subject for a video.
Thanks
Thanks for your kind words! Old paper can be helped by added 10-20ml of 10% Pot. Bromide solution to your working paper developer.
Thank you John!
Question: Is this technique also useful on variable contrast papers? I'm wondering if split grade printing achieves the same purpose via a different method, or if flashing still serves some benefit?
Cheers, David! This technique is good with multigrade. That’s actually multigrade that I show. I found it much easier to do this than to get the split grading right.
Hi John! I have been following your channel and lessons for a while, and I even try your tutorials and techniques in my darkroom. You've said in this video that Increasing Grade filter will separate the shadows. Here I am a bit lost, if I am using a filter a grade 5 (split grade techniques) to control my shadows, that does not mean, the blacks are going to be black, and the dark greys are going to be less dark grey so I get more detail in the shadows? I was wrong then thinking more contrast meant mid-greys move to dark grey, .. could you please clarify that to me if it's possible? Thanks again for your time doing these videos, the passion and the way you teach make it a joy to watch. Because of you, I have Rodinal as my main dev, and a darkroom in my office. Take care!
Flashing + waterbath technique together really do help print a contrasty scene/negative. Then of course the highlights are being treated at both the exposure and development stages which can be very effective.
Yes, nice idea for a video :)
Hello John. When you did the 'test' flashing you gave individual 1.5 sec bursts. When you flashed the photo paper did you also give it 3 x 1.5 sec burts or just 1 x 4.5 sec burst?
Yes, I gave the three 1.5 second bursts.
Thanks for the video on paper flashing, the channel is always informative. One question: It is often said that one of the downsides of flashing paper is that it results in a lower contrast print. You started off with a high contrast print so perhaps that wasn't an issue in this case. But have you found that, in general, you need to increase the contrast of a print made on a flashed piece of paper in order to compensate for the overall lower contrast exposure during the flashing step? On a related note, I may have missed it but I don't think you mentioned anything about the contrast grade that should be used during the pre-flash. I've always read that it is best to start with a low grade so as not to affect the darker tones of the photograph. Thanks again for sharing all of your expertise!
I rarely need to flash because I have dialled in my development time and most of my photographs fall within the 5 or so stops I've prepared for. Flashing, for me, is all about bringing down a highlight that's above the papers ability to show and that I want to print. Many times a little burning is a better solution. Yes, flashing may reduce contrast if done poorly. I flash at grade 2. That seems to work well for me.
Could a additional split grade Exsposure with Grade 0 bring back your highlight details?
or is this just another way to adress that problem with lost highlights at higher grades?
either way. it's interesting to think that way
It's an interesting idea. Might not have quite the 'finesse' of this method.
To be honest it's very difficult to see any difference between the two pictures that you are showing at the end. I don't even see any difference
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