This print I particularly like, with the arrangement of the tonal elements as they are. The Chiaroscuro effect, or the juxtaposition of the blacks and whites in the image, turned out nicely, with both elements in the line of boats, center in the mid-ground. The niños being in shade. I have come to alter one facet of the printing process for the negative. I don't simply reverse an RGB negative to a negative form then go from there, if, the image began in color, which these did. Shot digitally.
I use the Paintshop filter for converting color to black & white film, being it doesn't simply alter the color GAMA to its negative form, as that shapes the negative as well as the printing in big ways. Unless the printer is also set to black ink only, it's printing what's left of the RGB image structure. The black & white film filter gives the image the long b&w tonal range expected of a black and white image. What happens though during this conversion is the flattening of the image somewhat, as it stretches out in tonal length. I simply use the contrast function and add +20 to +25, depending on the white elements in the image. That contrast shift adds nicely to the blacks, without altering the middle tones much, as well as whitens the highlights a good bit.
This image I used +25 contrast working to hold the white on the boats to zone 7, with just the brightest area into zone 8, to show the brightness of the sunlight. I used the same printing process as the earlier prints; developed in sodium acetate then toned in palladium.
Palladium toned Kallitype
"Los Niños" ~ 11"x14" Unique
Progresso, Yucatan, Mexico
