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Saturday 25 February 2012

Focusing. Soft prints why!



Ilford FP4+, Iso 125, developed in ID11
Printed on Ilford paper
There are reasons for your photographs to be out of focus. If we assume that the negative was sharp when it was exposed, it could be if you are using a glassless negative carrier that the negative may have popped and requires refocusing. Another cause is vibration, you need to make sure that you are not knocking the enlarger when you are exposing. If the enlarger is mounted on an uneven surface or rickety table this will not help nor will living near a main road with lots of heavy traffic.
If when looking at the photograph it looks  blurred, it has not been focused properly. You can cure this by using a focusing negative. To make one you need a negative of no value as you will have to scratch the emulsion in several places. It is simply a case of placing this negative in the enlarger and focusing until the scratches are razor sharp. Alternatively you can use a special focuser.