Film Still Photography
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    • Saul Leiter Early B&W
    • Leica 100 yrs
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    • The Decisive Moment
    • Regarding Women
    • Robert Capa in Love and War
  • Single Image Deep Dive
    • Sergio Larrain "A Man After Dark"
    • Colin O'Brien 'Comings & Goings"
    • Erwitt Mother & Child
    • Man Running
    • Samuel Becket
    • Koudelka Wristwatch
    • Dovima with Elephants
Salzburg, Austria

Digital Contact Sheets

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I love analog photography. The process of moving from a negative to a silver gelatin print still inspires me.  I enjoy checking my negatives, selecting the image I want to enlarge and putting it through the enlarger and into the developer. 

The one important aspect of film photography that kills me is the making of a contact sheet. Making one is vital to the image selction process, however, in the darkroom, this is a long process. In order for a contact sheet to be of use you need to be able to see how well exposed the photos are. This means that you need to ensure you have a "black" which is as black as the paper can make. In the darkroom this means loading the negatives in a carrier (or placing them directly on top of the photo paper and putting a glass on top), and then make a test strip. This then tells you how long you need to expose for in order to get a "true black".

Then you finally make the contact print. Here is the issue, I cant use the contact sheet until it is dry. The photos will look darker than they really are.  While I love my darkroom time, making contact sheets is not rewarding, wastes material and is usually just a dread.

Another option is to scan the images and make a contact sheet in Lightroom. This requires a scan of each negative that again takes about 30 minutes to do a roll. Boring, slow and again not fun.

The fastest method for making a contact sheet that I have found, is the use of a tracing table (light table).  I lay out the negatives and snap a digital picture. I import it into Lightroom and invert the tone curve. This changes my negatives to positives. I can then print this as a single photo and viola, contact sheet is made.  This does not save me from making a test strip, but only to make the images I wish to print.  

This is a quick and simple way to make a contact sheet however the amount of black will eat up print cartridges.  I print mine on regular paper using non-phot ink to save some money. I also print smaller as I do not need the full size print.  
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  • Home
  • About
  • Blog
  • Vintage Cameras
    • Argus 75
    • Brownie Flash II
    • Contax G2
    • Ensign Selfix 820
    • FED-1 (PE0320)
    • Graflex Crown Graphic
    • Ihagee Exa
    • Leica M6
    • Nikon S2
    • Nikon F
    • Nikon F2
    • Nikon F3
    • Nikon FA
    • Olympus OM-1
    • Olympus OM-2 SPOT
    • Olympus Stylus
    • Pentacon Six
    • Pentax Spotmatic IIa
    • Rollei 35
    • Voigtlander 15mm ver III
    • Yashica C
    • Zeiss Ikon Nettar 515/2
  • Learning Composition
    • The Monochrome Diaries
    • Single & Multi Elements
    • Symmetry
    • Keep the Right Strong
    • Framing
    • Color in Composition
    • Deep Dive Bubble Man
    • Photo Assignments
  • Darkroom Lessons
    • Building a Sink
    • Air Ventilation
    • Analyser Pro
    • Development Hints
    • Primer for Film Photography
    • Bulk Loading Film
    • Pushing & Pulling Film
    • Color Development
    • Digital Contact Sheets
    • Stick to One Film Stock?
    • HP5+ Shot at 200 ISO
    • HP5 Shot at 1600 ISO
    • HP5 Shot at 3200 ISO
    • Medium Format
    • Washing Film
    • Split Grade Printing
    • Using Distilled Water in Film Development
    • Darkroom Paper
    • Foma100 EI 400
  • Photography Books & Films
    • Colin O'Brien
    • Lartigue Life in Color
    • Magnum Contact Sheets
    • Top Photography Movies
    • William Eggleston's Guide
    • Helen Levitt
    • Sally Mann Immediate Family
    • Saul Leiter Early B&W
    • Leica 100 yrs
    • Calendar Days of Asaya Hamaya
    • The Decisive Moment
    • Regarding Women
    • Robert Capa in Love and War
  • Single Image Deep Dive
    • Sergio Larrain "A Man After Dark"
    • Colin O'Brien 'Comings & Goings"
    • Erwitt Mother & Child
    • Man Running
    • Samuel Becket
    • Koudelka Wristwatch
    • Dovima with Elephants