In my third expedition into my darkroom, not an excuse but a fact, I wanted to try out the important technique of Dodging and Burning. This simply means making something in part of the image lighter – dodging, or darker – burning. Having watched probably too many videos on the subject it was time for me to give it a try.
So the image I’m looking to print is the one above. It was taken last year on a sunny Sunday between lockdowns. I like the variety of tones and variations of light intensity in the image. One thing I would like to improve on is making the two walkers in the distance a little more prominent , perhaps by making them lighter?
After making the usual test strip I went for 12 seconds at f8 as my starting point. Here is the result..
The mark on the print is from not enough developer on the paper. I will have to improve my technique to ensure the paper is in contact with the developer for the full 60 seconds. So if 12 seconds is to long how about 10 seconds?
I now have something to work with. I like the brightness of the bush on the right and the path in the middle where the sun is breaking through. My base exposure then is 10 seconds. However I want to lighten or dodge the area that is too dark. Therefore on 8 seconds into the exposure I will try moving my hands over that area, being careful not to touch the paper, and thus it will only receive about 8 seconds of exposure. Or that’s the theory anyway.
A definite improvement. The trees are lighter but the people are still too dark. How about if I try moving my hand over the people at 6 seconds into the exposure and then include the trees at 8 seconds as before?
The people could do with being a little brighter still. So I decided to give the people area 5 seconds of exposure and again include the foliage on 8 seconds.
The people are now much more prominent but I cannot use my hands as I have now encroached on the bush that I was quite happy with. How about if I use a little piece of paper and move that around the area of the people on the path?
I’ve gone too far the other way now and made things too bright. Time to take stock and think things through again. What can I use that will allow me to get to the area of the people on the path without affecting anything else? I have a spatula type thingey in my developing equipment, let’s try that!
In principle I’m nearly there but the spatula is not the right thing. What? Is that the time? Time to pack up and return the room to it’s previous state.
So what have I learned from my first session of dodging and burning? It is very definitely a trial and error exercise. However one can, with some practise, become experienced at and confident with using a little dodging and burning. I was amazed at how much control I could achieve with just my hands holding back the exposure of a large area but conversely how limited they are for small areas. For those small tweaks I need to have some other tools at my command. I obviously have a long way to go before I have anything approaching experience with it, but I’m glad to have taken my first faltering steps.
Incidentally, after allowing the fourth print to dry, I now feel it’s closer to what I was trying to achieve. At the time I thought the print was darker than it actually is, no doubt due to its being wet. So allowing prints to properly dry allows you to access them better.
I’m now off to make some dodging tools. Where did I put that wire and card?
arhphotographic 