lightmuncher
New member
- Dec 18, 2022
- 288
- 303
- Edit my images
- Yes
Using a 5x4 film called Kodalith you can create a black and white image with only 3 tones. But you need an 5x4 negative image first of all to work from. Here is an old image taken in an old cemetery in Reading, which wasn't far from the college. This was an old crumbling mausoleum. As its an old image, I had to do a little digital repair on them all.
When you have your negative developed. You then put the negative into the enlarger, and create positive on a 5x4. From that 5x4 you insert 3 kodalith negatives (totally working in the dark of course until the enlarger gets turned on) three differently timed exposures. Kodalith is like the 'Threshold' used under Images/adjustment. Digitally its done in seconds, this way was long and labour intensive. But, much more fun.
When you have your Kodalith negatives, you insert the negative that was exposed the shortest and expose the paper. The next two negs are also exposed to the same paper. This gives you three exposures which gives you 3 shades, black gray and white. I guess you could do this by using Threshold and putting 3 different adjust layers together. Or a filter would do it I am sure.
This is the last one I will do. I hope its given you an insight as to how labour-intensive working with negatives and darkrooms really were. I would still love it. People say images are not to be trusted now, not like the old days. How wrong they are. Despite, the fact that people saw the darkroom as a simple way to produce images; we who knew the processes made it our photoshop world, before photoshop was invented. We just had to think of different ways to enhance an image.
When you have your negative developed. You then put the negative into the enlarger, and create positive on a 5x4. From that 5x4 you insert 3 kodalith negatives (totally working in the dark of course until the enlarger gets turned on) three differently timed exposures. Kodalith is like the 'Threshold' used under Images/adjustment. Digitally its done in seconds, this way was long and labour intensive. But, much more fun.
When you have your Kodalith negatives, you insert the negative that was exposed the shortest and expose the paper. The next two negs are also exposed to the same paper. This gives you three exposures which gives you 3 shades, black gray and white. I guess you could do this by using Threshold and putting 3 different adjust layers together. Or a filter would do it I am sure.
This is the last one I will do. I hope its given you an insight as to how labour-intensive working with negatives and darkrooms really were. I would still love it. People say images are not to be trusted now, not like the old days. How wrong they are. Despite, the fact that people saw the darkroom as a simple way to produce images; we who knew the processes made it our photoshop world, before photoshop was invented. We just had to think of different ways to enhance an image.
Last edited: