In my
previous two posts
I set about printing a negative I took recently. I call it Mathematical Trees
as there is a kind of geometric balance to the image. It has become for me an
exciting image. I think in part because it seems to be a milepost in my
evolution as a photographer (and also perhaps because I have not felt creatively motivated this past month). It is a milestone of sorts because I was not
out looking for a specific image but it was immediately apparent when I saw the scene that
it was a worth capturing. This does not often happen to me but it does happen with
increasing frequency. I could capture the photo and composition and then
realize it as a print in the darkroom.
In the last post a few printing mistakes led me to consider alternative
interpretations and so I will explore one of those visions here. The earlier
version was a stark almost graphic take on the image. In this one I want to
impart some atmosphere by darkening the sky. Hopefully this can successfully
create a distinct new image. As a reminder here is where I got to last
time.
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| Graphic version |
I want to take this same image and add some sky drama. Yesterday I made a
#00 filter tests strip that would guide my plans. I had to open the aperture 2
stops to get to these shades of gray.
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Sky Test strip f16 #00 filter 8" to 64" in half stop intervals
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The base for all these versions is the one from yesterday that is f32 #5
filter for 27 seconds and dodge each copse left and right sides 5 seconds. I
first set about burning the area above the trees. This turned out to be simple
minded...
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| Simple Burn of Sky |
The change in mood is apparent so the potential is there, however, some
elements are missing. First the dark part of the sky is too uniform and isn't
quite natural. Part of the unnaturalness is that the lighter part of the sky
remains bright white and I need to impart some lighter tones there.
I find one is very aware of one's own burning but it should strive to look
natural. I think the darkness should wrap the left side of the nearer tree
more. There is also the risk the image is unbalanced with the white
foreground. I think perhaps some vignette in those lower corners. So I work up
the following burn plan. Never mind the cryptic notes they are layers of
attempts to grapple with the range and location of tones.
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First Complex Burn Plan
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Here is what I got with this.
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First Complex Burn Result
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Yeech! But let's break it down. First the positives! Adding tone to the white
sky helped. The variation in tone of the dark sky is an improvement as well. The lower corner vignettes are terrible what was I thinking!!! Finally the shape of the
burn misses the trees in an obvious and unnatural way. Ok try again. I made a
new plan. These plans are complex to orchestrate but with some thought I could
build most of it as 'layers' of burns.
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| Next Burn Plan |
The plan starts in the middle just above the horizon with an 11 second exposure
overall. This is the base sky exposure. Then I cut a piece of cardboard to
create the curve over the trees and copse. This I wanted much darker so this
would add burn of 37 seconds (48 seconds total for that part of the sky). I
would try and vary the edge so the dark sky would encroach on the tree tops.
To give more variation I would dodge the upper section for about 22 seconds so
that are would be about 48-22=36 seconds. Then I would burn each corner darker
still at +19 seconds for a total of 48+19=67 seconds. Finally I would make two
versions one with linear gradient at the bottom and one without. I also
decided to include more foreground from the original to accommodate this. I
got here with this.
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Next burn plan first print.
(Vertical bands in sky due to
scanning of unflat paper.)
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Now were are getting somewhere. I then made two versions based on this one
with the foreground gradient and the other without. I cannot decide which one
is better frankly. I am very pleased with each one. What I probably needed to
do as a final step is to reduce the hard filter exposure.
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| Final Print white foreground version. |
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| Final Print gradient foreground version. |
These I archivally washed and flattened properly. I now have three versions I
like and have the problem of which one to frame and hang on the wall.
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