Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-03-14
Comero Angles

ing his pictures look like those
of every one else. Almost any
picture can be improved in APP
pearance by use of the paper
negative method of print max
ing-the simplest of the con-
troll processes.
The paper negative has
many advantages for the cam
era fan who wishes to improve
upon his original negative. In
the first place the small mega
tives on film are virtually i'm
possible to retouch without
evidence of the handwork
showing when an enlargement
is made. And, more important,
only a very few photographers
have the skill and know-how
to do even a satisfactory job
of retouching on the compare
lively slick surface Of film
emulsion.
Changes Easy to Moke
But when the negative is on
paper this becomes easy. All
sorts of changes can be made
with no more than a soft lead
pencil. an artists stump, some
crayon sauce. or possibly water
colors. Clouds can be added to
a blank sky, undesirable utility
wires removed, tones changed
and softened. and a host of
other improvements can be
made by even the beginner.
Control printing by paper
negative Is the easy wav to
improved pictorialism because.
unlike other control processes.
the work is. done only once
on the negative. And once
the work has been done to
your satisfaction you can make
as many identical prints as
you wish. In the other pro-
cesses. each print has to be
worked on individually and it
is practically impossible to
make identical duplicates.
Choose q Soft Negotive .
Since there are several
printing steps in paper mega
tive work. it is best to select
an original negative that is
soft and fully exposed. Con-
trast increases with each sue
cessive printing and, if a con-
TRASHY negative is used to be-
gin with, loss in tone values
in the middle of the scale
Is apt to result.
Although there are several
ways to arrive at a paper
negative the best is by way
Of enlargement. The larger
the paper negative. the easier
it will be to make the needed
changes and corrections.
Commence the operation by
placing your film negative in
the enlarger with the emulsion
side up.
Note that while this is con-
trary to usual procedure we
will correct for the reversal
later on. Make your first print
at least 8x10 inches in size.
1t should be on the soft side
with good detail in both
shadow and highlight areas.
The result. of course, will
be a positive print-not the
paper negative. That comes
next.
After the positive print has
been proceSsed, dried and fiat
tened you will use it to make
the paper negative.
Reverse the Poper
This may be done with
either a standard contact
printer or a printing frame.
Use the methods for making
contact prints described in last
weeks column, except for a
few changes that are men,
toned hereafter. Place the
positive print in the frame
with the emulsion side up.
Next, insert a sheet Of
single-weight paper in con-
tact with the print but instead
OF having the emulsion side Of
this down, as in standard
procedure. let the back of the
paper be in contact with the
emulsion Of the positive print
so that the transmitted light
will pass through the back of
the paper before reaching the
emulsion. This corrects for the
reversed image of the positive
and at the same time prevents
too much paper texture from
being apparent in the paper
negative.
Better TonoI QuoIity
After the exposure has been
made process your print just
as you would an ordinary print
and you will have a paper
negative. The tones will be re-
verSed, Of course, exactly as
they are in a aim negative.
Subsequent positive prints
from this paper negative
should be made by standard
contact methods.
You will Immediately notice
the soft and attractive tones
Of your positive prints. This
alone is worth the time and
effort spent even though you
do nothing more to the paper
negative.
Your prints will have a soft,
rich appearance that will
make them stand out when
compared with the ordinary
sharpness Of the usual photo
graph.
Now let's go back and have
a look at that paper negative.
AS we have said, the tones will
be reversed with blacks ap-