Foma: RETROBROM Sp

Posted on Posted in labnotes, the Lab

New emulsions are new distractions. They often lead to the same place over a broken trail, which is why I spend very little of my time with them. There are more excuses than bullets in the darkroom. I tested many papers and developers about 5 years ago, and over the years I have printed on papers from nearly a dozen companies. None of them solved all problems nor, more importantly, presented new ideas. Nothing increases vocabulary by providing a variant spelling.

Foma is a favorite paper maker. I particularly like the hand feel to their papers; this makes the time spent in the studio satisfying.

To test a paper, I make use of a simple, easily reproduced setup — this allows me to compare papers. I use Stouffer step wedges (uncalibrated). I also setup my enlarger the same, even though I make a ‘contact’ print of the Stouffer TP120, the same lens and distance from the contact frame mean my exposures reveal how the paper will print negatives typical to my work.

Foma: retro edition

A new paper is an unknown; but not a complete unknown, since the main emulsion companies publish a paper Iso(P) and iso(R) of their papers. [See the reference for what this means.]

According to the datasheet this paper has a paper iso(p) of 100; this makes the paper about the speed of Ilford MG 4 Filter. With that information, I can check my notes for exposure settings in my darkroom conditions for a IMG 4 filter; set the enlarger to that as an initial point and, make a first test exposure. Done.

I will test this paper in two different developers: Dektol (1:1, my standard), and Fomatol PW (1:1, my standard). The Foma PW developer is vary slow acting warmtone developer.

The time for Dektol was 2 minutes; time for PW was at first 5 minutes — this was increased in later tests to 7 minutes.

The test with Dektol went well — I wasn’t satisfied by the Fomatol version, so I ran them again with newer developer package. This gave me much better depth of tone with 6 minute development time. Better.

Dektol gives a neutral range of tones. Highlights showing the characteristic of this paper. To take advantage of this ‘retro’ look, the image needs middle value meaning, since that is where the distinctive color of the paper will be.

Not the case for Foma PW developer. Retrobrom paper in Foma PW is another rich brown tone paper. The brown is ‘woody green’ in my estimate. It is not ‘green’ toned — for whatever reason, Foma describes it as having a green tone, which among several online pieces I’ve read, keep the author from trying the paper.

At this stage, I am ready to print. Testing done; about 6 hours, including drying, evaluating and write-up. I will also try this with lith printing… but won’t report additionally.

These techday notes are not fulfilling enough to me.

REF:

* the ISO-P rating gives the speed of the paper: double ISO value means half of the exposure time. Unfortunately exposure meters that are calibrated in ISO-P values are hard to find. This ISO-P value has nothing to do with the ISO rating of your rolls.

* the ISO-R rating gives the grade of the paper: ISO-R divided by 100 is equal to log(D), which defines the contrast behavior of the paper. E.g. Ilford Multigrade IV has an ISO-R range of 130 for grade 1 and 90 for grade 3 (see details in data sheets, that come with the paper). The higher the ISO-R value, the lower the contrast of the print.

Fomatol PW review on webionaire.

Safelights: check them. use them sparingly. I don’t hang them from the ceiling, since I have never had to find anything on the ceiling. I use them as task lights.

Characterizing Paper: Labnotes

Packaged developers can be modified. In the 1970s the following chems were used as addenda to Kodak, Ansco, Ilford print developers:

  • Hydroquinone, 4oz
  • Potassium bromide, 1-4 ounces
  • DuPont BB solution, or Kodak Anti-Fog No.1, also AF No.2
  • Elon (Metol), 1 pound
  • Sodium Sulfite, 5 pounds
  • Sodium Carbonate, 1 pound
  • Borax, 1 pound

Webionaire Posts about Foma …

Warmtone Bullets

Steve Fitch: notecard

Posted on Posted in A Symbol Life, on photographers, On The Road

Steve Fitch earned a BA from UC Berkeley in 1971, an MFA from the University New Mexico in 1978, and has taught photography at UC Berkeley, the University of Colorado in Boulder, Princeton University, and since 1990, at the College of Santa Fe. He is the recipient of three NEA Fellowships, and his widely exhibited photographs are in permanent collections at institutions including the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington D.C.; Museum San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles; the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; the Museum of Modern Art, New York; the Art Institute of Chicago; the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam; and the Multimedia Art Museum, Moscow, among others. Fitch’s monographs are Diesels and Dinosaurs (1976), Marks in Place: Contemporary Responses to Rock Art (1988), Gone: Photographs of Abandonment on the High Plains (2003), Llano Estacado: Island in the Sky (2011), Motel Signs (2011), and American Motel Signs 1980-2008 (2016).

American Motel Signs II.
Photographs by Steve Fitch.
The Velvet Cell, 2020.   Cat# ZJ561   
Vanishing Vernacular. Western Landmarks.
Photographs by Steve Fitch. Contribution by Toby Jurovics.
George F Thompson Publishing, 2018.   Cat# ZH501    ISBN-13: 978-1938086601
American Motel Signs. 1980-2008.
Photographs by Steve Fitch.
The Velvet Cell, London, 2016.   Cat# ZH054    ISBN-13: 978-1908889379
Steve Schapiro.
Photographs by Steve Schapiro.
Hatje Cantz, 2012.   Cat# DS047    ISBN-13: 978-3775734264
Llano Estacado. An Island in the Sky (Voice in the American West).
Edited by Stephen Bogener. Photographs by Peter Brown, Rick Dingus, Steve Fitch, Miguel Gandert, Tony Gleaton & Andrew John Liccardo.
Texas Tech University Press, 2011.   Cat# ZE965    ISBN-10: 0896726827
Motel Signs. One Picture Book #71.
Photographs by Steve Fitch.
Nazraeli Press, Portland, 2011.   Cat# TR370    ISBN-13: 978-1590053256
Gone. Photographs of Abandonment on the High Plains.
Photographs and text by Steve Fitch.
University Of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque, 2003.   Cat# NM168    ISBN-10: 0826329608
Steve Pyke. Philosophers.
Photographs by Steve Pyke.
Cornerhouse, Manchester, 1994.   Cat# PK146    ISBN-10: 0948797762
Marks in Place. Contemporary Responses to Rock Art.
Photographs by Linda Connor, Rick Dingus, Steve Fitch, John Pfahl, and Charles Roitz. Essays by Polly Schaafsma and Keith Davis.
The University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque, 1987.   Cat# NM035    ISBN-10: 0826309755
Beyond Color.
Photographs by Harry Bowers, Barbra Esher, Stephen Collins, Steve Fitch, Jack Fulton, Richard Misrach, Arthur Ollman, Barbara Thompson, others
Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, 1980.   Cat# SF013    ISBN-10: 0000000000
Diesels and Dinosaurs.
Photographs by Steve Fitch.
Long Run Press, Berkeley, 1976.   Cat# CS002    ISBN-10: 0000000000
a half hour well spent:

Mr. Fitch’s website is at: http://www.stevefitch.com/