- klaus-peter gnass -
fine art photography
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Photographic Procedure
My photographic procedure starts with exploring the scene and finding the right moment for a good lightning effect. When the view camera is build up I check the subject again by using the ground glass. If I’m satisfied with the composition of the picture I do a contrast measurement of the scene using my Pentax exposure meter.
I apply Ansel Adam’s Zone System to classify the contrast values and to define the kind of development to be used later in the darkroom.
I use 8 x 10 inch sized analogue film from Kodak (T-Max 400 pro) to take my pictures.
Development
To develop the negatives I use Kodak HC-110 or PMK (Pyro Metol Kodalk Liquid) developer.
Enlargement:
To enlarge the negatives I have a Kienzle C252 (8 x 10 inch size negatives) and a LPL 751 (4 x 5 inch size negatives) enlarger. Depending on the negative I use the enlarger’s standard color filtering module or I use a Heiland SPLITGRADE® module (Heiland electronic, Germany). The SPLITGRADE® module supports the enlargement process to do the routine work; this save a lot of time and paper waste.
I mainly use Fibre based photo paper with variable contrast 'MCC 111 FB' produced by AGFA. Unfortunately this paper will not be produced anymore but a very good replacement is 'MCC110' from Adox. The picture is developed in the paper developers 'Agfa Neutol NE' for 5 minutes. In the next step the picture will be toned for 3-5 minutes to highlight the black tones and to increase the archival stability in selenium toning (Kodak). After watering the picture for about 45 minutes, I put it face-down on a dryer sieve. The picture is air-dried for the next 12 hours and after this I put it in a dry press for some minutes.
Now is the time to visualize and decide if the picture matches my quality requirement has come. When the picture doesn’t match my quality standard, I restart the entire enlargement process. If the quality is good I start with the presentation process.
Presentation
As the final step I mount the picture with Gudy 831 Mounting Adhesive on a cardboard and cut a matching passe-partout.