Using the Enlarger

Once the film has been developed it is called a negative, this is because the black appears white and the whites appear black. In the darkroom is where a positive image is created, first in the form of a contact sheet.

Contact sheets are very useful to keep with the negatives as they show exactly what the image will look like when enlarged into a full print, they are easier to look at than the negatives as all the exact details can be seen on the contact sheet. Contact sheets are named as such because the negative is in contact with the light sensitive paper.

The negative is reversed into a positive because as the light from the enlarger exposes the paper the black on the negative blocks light coming through and the whites expose the paper; this means that where the paper is exposed it turns black and where there are blocks (the black and grey on the negative) it leaves the paper white and varying tones of grey.

The university has two different enlargers in it's black and white darkroom, for this project one type is being used for making contact sheets and the other is being used for making prints as this enlarger is the only type larger enough to hold the 5x4 negatives. One problem with this is that there are not enough devere enlargers for everybody to use and equipment is going to be difficult to get hold of.


Step by Step Using the Enlarger


Collect the negative carrier, lens, filters, contact board and focus finder from the photography store.

Make sure you have paper and negatives.

In the darkroom attach the lens and slide the negative carrier in.

Check the size of the light and adjust it so it covers the size of the contact board, then stop the lens down by two or three.

With the light off set up a test strip with the negative ontop and expose for 5secs, then cover most of the image with a strip of card.

Then move the card and expose more of the negative for 5secs, continue this until only a small section of the negative remains covered.

Develop using either tray chemicals or a processing machine.

Decide on a time to print the contact sheet on, then print and develop it.

If you are going to print an enlargement of the negatives then in the darkroom slide the negative carrier out and in the light line the negative up with the sides of the carrier ( shiny side up and so the bottom of the image is at the back of the negative carrier )

Slide the negative carrier back in the enlarger and turn the focusing light on (not before checking your paper is all covered) then size the image to about what you need it to be and then focus it by eye; fine focusing can be done with the focus finder, using the magnified reflection to find the grain which comes from the negative. 

Now run a test strip the same way as the contact sheet, develop it, decide a time and use a full sheet to expose the full image and develop.

Some minor changes may be required such as dodging and burning to bring in more details in sections of the print. Dodging is done by covering a section of the paper between the paper and the lens, this gives the covered section less time than the rest and makes look lighter, this is useful for recovering details that have been lost in shadow. Burning involves leaving the section exposed to give it more exposed making this darker than it should have been, this is useful for when sky has no detail and some can be brought in.

Filters can also be used to change the contrast; using a 0 filter will bring out the whites and using 5 filter will affect the blacks. The filters inbetween affect both by some varying degree, however the 3.5 filter will print as though there are no filters in as it affects black and white equally.