Response to Printing in Film

My experience in printing in film, so far, has been an amazing, frustrating, and interesting in that it helped me to understand the intricacies of creating a single photo that contains all the STFV elements and appropriate contrasts and lights existing in an image. Just for one image, all these techniques, calculations and most of all, patience, are required to produce ONE image that I really like. Phew. In the beginning, I had no idea what I was doing and the processes involved in making a print, but the more I do it, I realize it has become a pleasurable and enjoyable experience. The development of the film to its product, naturally, became a piece of art work with hopes that the final piece has become what the artist had intended to create.

The most exciting part in printing in B&W is creating the actual negatives! The steps in having the film latch on to the wheel has been a difficult process for me, but after all the steps involving chemicals have been taken and when you finally open the wheel to see if the images came out on the roll (remembering the time I thought my images didn't come out, nearly giving me a heart attack!) leaves me with a sense of accomplishment! The most difficult part in printing is choosing the right amount of light exposure in order to create your photo. Because my eyes are not easily adjusted to B&W photos, it becomes difficult to detect which photos are too dark or light, which ones reveal an array of different grey tones, etc...And your printing skill can indefinitely affect the artist's photography. The final outcome of the development of the photograph can either ruin or glorify the work that's been done prior to the last step in producing a photo. If the negative of the photo that's been taken is great in that it depicts exactly what the photographer intended, and doesn't come out the way the photographer wanted it to, then it becomes problematic in that the viewer may not understand the photographer's intent and may have the possibility of seeing it as a bad photo. Every element of the process go hand in hand. If the photos that are taken aren't great, then the final print won't be great either. If the final print is bad, then it doesn't do justice to the great photos that were taken.

The photographer's choices in the darkroom can affect the meaning of an image because it is the printing process or these choices that create an effect on the final imagery the photo conveys. If the photographer decides to darken the photo, creating more highlights and shadows, it can create a powerful and mysterious imagery to the viewer's eye. On the other hand, because each person's perspectives, dislikes and likes vary, the photographer's choice in the darkroom may leave a negative or positive affect on people who are observing the photo. Thus, dodging and burning may or may not be a technique the photographer may choose to apply. It's a fun yet straining process in that meticulous judgment needs to be made in making certain parts of the photo darker or lighter, depending on what the photographer chooses to highlight. I personally, like the dodging and burning technique but feel a little hesitant in that it is, in a way, a manipulation of the original photo being taken. Because I'm only a beginnger and have yet to be experienced in this area, I find it exciting to see how my preferences will change.