9 posts tagged “photo art”

**The first known attempts to Hand Tint Black and White Photographs were by
assistants of W.H. Fox Talbot, the Englishman credited with perfecting the
paper negative process. After the final prints were produced on a matte surface
paper, the applications transparent oil paints and water color.
**Hand coloring was used extensively in the Post Card boom in the early 1900's.
The color combinations ranged from gaudy to surreal, some of the colorist created
fantastic visions of the various destinations.
**After Color Photography for the masses emerged in the 1950's, the use of hand-
coloring went into a period of decline. Those who were dedicated to the art
continued througout the years, but most artist gave more attention to color film
and printing. Photo labs started to offer services that improve color photos
dramatically.
**In the late 1960's there was a reappearance of Hand Coloring as an Art form.
Hand coloring allowed Artist to add whatever colors they pleased, some painted
"within the lines", some as an Art collage.
**The renaissance of Black and White Photography has meant a similar growth in
the use and practice of Hand Coloring. Today Artist uses computer generated
imagery which allows unlimited possibilties to accomplish the same task as in
the past. It gives anyone with a computer to create works of art unthought of
with conventional and classical techniques. The major draw back with computer
generated imagery is, they don't last very long, they seem to oxidize the minute
they leave the printer. The paper and equipment has improved, but the quality
can never be compared to the claasical print of the past.
**I Specialize in Hand Tinting Black and White Photos the Classic way. I
have over 50,000 color negatives which I convert into Black and White prints.
I use exclusively color film to create my works of Art. My Photo Art meets
or exceeds Archive standards. My Photo Art will out live the owners.
**I have developed a "2 Zone Technique" that gives me an advantage of how my
final print will look. I don't need a patent for my process because only I can
take any color negative and bring them back to life. Don't miss out on a chance
to own one of these works of Photo Art.

 **The overall Density of a Black and White Photos may appear to be
normal except some areas seem to be to light or dark.
**Dodging and burning in are two methods of giving different exposures
to differnt parts of a print.
** If an area is too dark, Dodging is called for. That area of the
Print is simply shadowed during part of the initial exposure time.
A dodging tool is useful: it is simply a piece of card board
attached to the end of wire. Your hand or a finger, a piece of card-
board or any other object can be used. Dodging is effective when details
in the shadow areas of the negative image. Dodging of areas that lack
details or texture too long a time produces a murky gray tone in the
Print.
**Burning in is the opposite procedure, often used when part of the
black and white print is too light. After the entire negative has
received exposure that is correct for most areas, the light is
blocked from most of the Print while the area that is too light
receives extra exposure. A large piece of card board that can be
cut to an appropiate shape or size. Your hands can be used, cupping
 or speading yours fingers out so that light reaches the paper only
where you want it to.
**Some areas may need to be darken, you can flash these areas with
a small penlight flashlight. unlike burning in, which darkens the
image, flashing fogs the paper: it adds a solid gray or black tone.
There a other light sources that you can use. A cone around the end
of a penlight works very well in texture and detail areas of the
Print. You can devise your on Techniques on what works best for
you.
**Whether you are dodging, burning in or flashing, it is important
to keep your dodging or burning tool, your hands or penlight in
constant motion from side to side so that tones of the affected
area blend into the rest of the Print.
**This process of dodging and burning in is a part of "Zone 1",
(zone A,zone B). I used "Zone 1" to manipulate my tones in the final
Print. I usual range in my Black and White Photos, zone III to zone
VIII. In "Zone 2" when I apply my Hand Tints the colors seem to
levitate. My " 2 Zone Technique " allows me freedom that no computer
in the World can duplicate. When Zone 2 harmonizes with Zone 1 the
Prints surpass any computer generated Print. I become a conductor in
the visual world of Hand Tinted Photo Art. The music is universal and
soothing to ones eye. I love creating works of Art where the spoken
word becomes obsolete. Sight is the only unspoken language that exist.

**Contrast-the relative lightness and darkness of different scene-is a crucial characteristic of any Black and White Photograph. Often you want normal Contrast-a full range of Tones from Black through many shades of gray to pure White. Some scenes require low-contrast, mostly a smooth range of middle grays. Or maybe a high-contrast deep Blacks and brilliant Whites and limited details in between. The contrast of a negative has been judged or set, mostly by the subject itself. he type of film and the way it was developed.
**But you can still adjust the Contrast of the final Print by changing the Contrast grade of paper used. A paper of high-contrast increases the Contrast, a paper of low-contrast decreases it. This helps when printing the problem negative.
**A high-contrast paper increases Contrast for underdevevloped negatives, which are usually flat, and adds sparkle to scenes shot in dull light. A low-contrast paper decreases Contrast for overdeveloped negatives, which are too contrasty, and can soften overly harsh shadows and highlights.  
**Papers of graded Contrast range from grades 0 and 1 (low or soft contrast), through grade 2 (normal or medium contrast), grade 3 (often the normal contrast grade chosen for 35mm negatives) and grades 4, 5 and 6 (high or hard contrast). The basic way of changing Contrast in a print  is to change the contrast grade of paper.
**How can you tell if your negatives of normal Contrast ?  There is an old rule of thumb, lay the negative on the type of a page in a book, if you can read the type through the highlights and if you can see detail in both the shadows and the highlights. This would be considered a normal negative. A normal Black  and White negative makes a good print on grade 2 or grade 3 paper.
** I use color film to create my Hand Tinted Black and White Photo Art the Classic way. I avoid the above pitfalls by using color film negative. All color film render colors that cover the color spectrum, their colors are directly related to the Zone system developed by
the Great Ansel Adams. In color film, reds are red, blues are blue, and yellows are yellow. My " 2 Zone Technique " allows me two
manipulate the placement and choice of colors in the final Black and white Print. The colors seem to levitate because I Tone specific areas, the colors are place on shades of gray instead of typical shades of whites. Colored shades of gray creates a mood that color prints can't reproduce.
**This makes my Black and White Photo Art unique in its own way. I choose colors that bring life and make the Print surreal in nature. I try to reveal hidden details and textures unseen in most Color or Black and White Prints. Color film gives me more detail in the shadow areas than any Black and White film on the market. This is not conventional Print making Techniques, but for my purpose I find that Color film is my choice. I have been in the field over 25 years and has bought or used about 5 roll of Black and White film.
**With color film I can create a beautiful color Print or a Hand Toned Black and White Print. I find Color film more flexible and forgiving in the dark room. The Color Prints are my guide in my final Hand Tinted Print. It give me the mood of each scene as it was captured. I can choose to alter the final print or deviate from the norm. I can place colors in areas that I find of interest to enhance my composition, balance, or depth of field. Its very exciting to use this " 2 Zone Technique ". I can take any Color negative and create hundreds of Photo art without any restraints or limitations. The Prints are never the same and are original. I have tried in the past to Hand Tint a Print the same, but each Print becomes snow flake like in nature taking on its on identity. My Black and White Photo Art is never computer aided in any way.

  Any one interested in learning how to Print Black and white Photos the classic way, I will be more than willing to help. I wish more people would learn this new Technique. It's not latin, but I am only the one that can speak what I preach. It does me no good if others can't learn and understand this wonderful language of Hand Tinting Black and White Photos.I will be the next Ansel Adams or George Eastman Kodak

  I want to bring Hand Tinting back in the main stream. Since we have our computers and high tech soft ware we fail to realize that computer generated imagery or photos are not the same as in the past. The reason is, that the computer lacks Zone "A" and Zone "B". Its merely a copy. All computer generated photos or prints will oxidize or fade. The sole purpose of making Photographs are to record and document historical events. Archiving Photos that are computer generated defeats this goal. In museums you will only find Black and White Photos, they know that any other type of print won't last long enough to achieve their objective.

  I Hand Tint Black and White Photos the Classic way. I have developed a 2 zone technique. In Zone "A" which is subject or object to film. Zone "B" which is film to print. In zone "A" I look for points of interest in the fore ground, middle ground and back ground. I will also look for points of interest at the bottom, in the middle and top. I shoot between f/5.6-f/8.0. Exposure time is usually around 1/60- 1/250.
  I develop my Black and White prints using the same f/stops that photo was exposed in Zone "A". I expose my prints in the dark room the using the same f/stops which prints were shot. In Zone "B" my Exposure time under my enlarger is about 10%-20%. I process my prints using Archival methods which require stripping my prints and then toning them either Selenium, gold, Copper, Sepia, Platinum-Palladium, Antique, Coffee, Tea, Nickel, or Burgundy wine.
  When I Hand Tint my Prints, my Points of interest will be Hand colored to give the print a three dimensional effect. I have control of my depth of field, balance and proportion, and composition. The results are based on each scene. I can take any negative even though I did'nt shoot Zone "A" and obtain a work of Art. I can manipulate Zone "B" and create Real eye candy. Pacco J Pompei

black and white photos, hand tinted photos, photo art