Creating a proof-sheet

(week 4)


Another informative class. I think everyone enjoyed it tonight.


It involved us using the enlarger to expose our film sensitive photographic paper to light in conduction with the negative film we developed last week. Seeing the was fantastic for me, because i had read about the process a few years back, but tonight i was able to see it happen right there in front of me - and let me tell you it all made sense to me very quickly this time round. Seeing and doing is still the way i prefer to learn.


Anyway..




Fundamentals of an enlarger.
GET TO KNOW YOUR EQUIPMENT - you will be working in a near-dark environment, so it is important to familiarise yourself with the enlargers individual parts so that you can work safely and correctly with the lights off.

NB - The setting plate (cross-section pictured below) ensures precise contact of the negative and photographic paper so there is no gap between the two where light leakage could occur.

cross-section of the setting plate

film negatives

light-sensitive paper

Important things to remember.
Always start at GRADE 2 on the enlarger - then adjust to 2stops down (e.g. 2.8 --> 5.6).


Ensure your light source covers the setting plate you will place your photographic paper and negatives on - then focus the light so that it has crisp edges (not furry edges).


Avoid over-tightening dials and knobs - just has to be firm.


Each enlarger has its own lens cap - so don't lose it.


Keep your photographic paper in its packaging to avoid exposing it accidentally.


Avoid putting your hands all over your negatives and photographic paper - stick to outer edges.


All enlargers require power in order to operate the electronic time settings.


The hight of some enlargers are adjusted manually and some are adjusted electronically.


The control box beside the enlarger works the settings so it to has to be turned on.


Some of the enlargers lens' adjust 1 full stop at a time, others adjust only half a stop - so always check this as you are operating.


When developing your photographic paper, avoid contaminating the chemicals - use separate tongs for each step of the process and avoid letting them enter the next liquid by gently dropping the photographic paper into the chemical instead of dunking it in with the tongs. 


Finally it is important to have with you (to use) a piece of thick card to use as a screen over your film negatives - reason is explained below.

Chemical measurements.

Developer - a volume of 1L at a ratio of 1:9 (100ml chemical : 900ml water).

Stop Bath - a volume of roughly 1L ( just over 1cm high in the container).

Fixer - a volume of roughly 1L ( just over 1cm high in the container).
Wash - a large volume in a container that has a gentle flow of fresh water passing through it.


No Hypo Cleaner or Foto-Flo used in this process.

The proof sheet.

The process of making a proof sheet from your negatives requires you to first set up the enlarger and get everything positioned and ready to go before you set your photographic paper and negatives. We also sliced the photografic paper in half (or thirds) to make it easier to work with as beginners - i think that was the reason.


Ensure the enlarger is dialled in to the correct setting according to the chart that is up on the walls of the darkroom. Each model of enlarger has its own chart detailing how and where to have the magenta and yellow set to (usually 0, but still check).

Then once everything is in place ready to go, cover all except the first (of six) negatives with your thick piece of card. Now you are ready to expose the paper to light from the enlarger for a set time (measured in increments of seconds). The areas that the developed film negative doesn't cover will be exposed to light and the areas that don't will remain white - simple huh!

Once the first negative has been exposed for 5 seconds, slide the piece of thick card back to reveal the next slide. You are now ready to expose that for 5 seconds and so on and so on. The thing to note here is that you only continue to reveal negatives, you don't cover up the ones you expose - so if there are 6 negatives in a row and you do 6 exposures the first negative is going to end up being exposed 6 times compared to only once for the last negative - why do this? This is done to help you determine the correct amount of time to expose your negative to light for to obtain the best result according to the amount of time. In other words the proof sheet is a way to determine which of the six exposure times is best to use - is it the first one @ 30seconds the fourth one @ 15seconds or the last exposure @ 5seconds?

You can tell which is the best result from the crispness/sharpness/clarity of the numbers/letters that run along underneath the actual pictures.

It was so cool to watch this process for real tonight for the very first time, i'm so pleased to be doing this elective subject as i think it will help deepen my appreciation for the art of photography and install my utmost respect for the people who mastered it all and brought this to be such an amazing thing to do.

D.