Print Journey Part II-Foggy Path in Aversley Wood

For the next phase I used my #5 filter test print as a jumping off point. As I said I was intrigued by the darker images represented by the 64 and 45 second exposures. 

#5 test strip bottom to top,
16, 22, 32, 45, 64 seconds

I started by making straight 64 and 45 second exposure prints in the #5 filter to judge the overall tonality. 

#5 64 seconds

#5 45 seconds

These straight prints I find informative. The challenge with the #5 filter is that the transfer curve of exposure vs density is much steeper than the #00 filter. This means that on a very short range of exposures you can go from white to quite dark.

In Part I the original test strip went from white to quite dark on the #5 filter in about 4 intervals (each is 1/2 stop)  or 2 stops while the #00 filter achieves the same range in 6 intervals or 3 stops. 

In a low contrast negative this means it can be a challenge to see where the transitions between highlight and shadows are. In a normal or high contrast negatives the shadows that are darkened by the #5 filter are clearly delineated and the lighter highlights virtually unaffected.  (The inverse is not true as the #00 filter will influence the darkness of the shadows.) 

What is apparent in the above two prints is that 64 seconds is too much but 45 has some potential. From the 64 second exposure I can see the upper left corner wants to be more like that to balance the tone. The lighter center portion needs more highlight. There is also an interesting feature of the 64 second exposure that originally caught my eye. There is a particularly bright area in the tangle of tree limbs in the upper center. It almost looks like it could be the sun thought I am not sure if it actually is. I would like to try and bring this out. 

My next print I then burn the upper left for 19" and expose the whole image at 45". I then dodge the center area at 15 seconds. This resulted in a blown out set of highlights in the center as seen below. 

#5 19" burn upper left corner+ 45" overall,
Dodge center 15".

The next obvious step is to back off on the dodging. 

#5 19" burn upper left corner+ 45" overall,
Dodge center 5".

This is better though I felt it should be lighter. So somewhere in between. Not wanting to neglect the idea of the ball of light in the tangled limbs at top center I split my dodge between a small circle there and the broader more oval area below. This time a 7 second dodge. 

#5 19" burn upper left corner+ 45" overall,
Dodge center 7" and top 5".

Much closer I try again with a broader dodging are in the oval section and more time in the spot at the top. 

Final Print
#5 19" burn upper left corner+ 45" overall,
Dodge center 7" and top 10 ".

This I am pretty happy with. Here is a comparison with the print from Part I.

Comparison from Part II and Part I prints.

Finally I managed a different crop exposed the same as above. This is a 16:9 crop at 4.5x8" on 8x10" paper again. Here the crop changes the image with the highlight section taking less significance. The eye is lead into the end of the path and the silhouettes of the trees there. I like it. 

16:9 Ratio crop

The Journey continues in Part III where I print on fiber-based paper. 

Final Burn Plan

Part II Final Burn Plan