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Images From Contrast
Masking Workshop Participants
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Richard
Frederick
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Final Print (after masking) |
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Straight print made on grade 4 paper |
Cade's Cove, copyright © Richard Frederick. All rights reserved. I shot this image in Cade's Cove in Great Smoky Mtns. National Park. It wasn't the perfect light but I liked the overall scene with the large lonely tree in a nice setting with mountains in the background. It was shot on TMax-100 developed in D76 and printed on Ilford MG IVB, toned in selenium. The straight print is made on grade 2 paper, and printed to maintain detail in the bright clouds. The straight print looks flat overall so I made a SCIM and printed the image on the same grade of paper. The SCIM enhanced the contrast in the tree, the foreground grasses and the deep shadows in the troughs. I also made a straight print on grade 4 paper to see how it compared. - Richard Frederick |
| Richard sent me these 3 comparison prints shortly after attending my 2006 masking workshop. I like how he used the SCIM to enhance only the darker areas in the image while keeping the midtones and highlights unaffected. The "after" version (top left) shows how you can maintain good detail in bright highlights while at the same time stretching the contrast in the lower tones, either in selected areas or overall. The after print shows very nice rich separation in the tree, yet the highlights remain brilliant and fully detailed. His grade 4 print is fairly harsh overall and the bright clouds are beginning to burn out. The tree has gained substantial density but this has subdued the distinct separation seen in his "after print" (using the SCIM). Although a good print could probably be made using the grade 4 paper, without masks, a good deal of careful dodging and burning would have to be done. The use of the SCIM accompanied by a softer paper grade is a far more graceful approach and often yields a more eloquent final print. Lynn Radeka |
