ABSTRACT

This chapter explains how to obtain that contact-size negative, even if it is started with a color positive image. Resembling traditional darkroom photography, the quality of photographers negative or digital file affects the quality of the print. Utilizing digitally made negatives, beginning with a phone picture and ending up with a Van Dyke brown print is so much faster and less frustrating than the old darkroom methods. When shooting with digital cameras, bracketing the exposure—deliberately overexposing, underexposing, and shooting what one think is just right—would be a good practice. In addition, most digital cameras have on-camera histogram displays of each captured image so one can double-check the exposure. The entire rectangular histogram box within the larger window represents the possible tonal range the scanner can cover. Scanners also provide the additional correction tools such as curves and color balance.