SpoTone and de Blem
David Brenner
Being very much the amateur, I've only very recently gotten to the point
with my B/W processing where I am becoming increasingly intolerant where
white spots and hairline scratches on my prints are concerned. So, I
decided to try SpoTone for the prints and de Blem for the negatives in
the interest of producing more professional-looking prints.
The SpoTone is beyond me at this point. I can retouch a digital picture
like it's a walk in the park, but when it comes to fixing these
blemishes on the print, I can only seem to make things worse. I
invariably end up with dark spots where the white spots were before. My
best attempts to dilute the liquid and to match the gray shades on the
print invariably result in failure. I am using a very tiny red sable
brush (I can't recall the number) and I am very careful about dotting
the print lightly, as opposed to trying to brush the stuff on. I also
allow the SpoTone to dry on a white plate and then reconstitute it with
the brush, which I dip into water that's been treated with a very tiny
drop of Photo Flo 200 to break the surface tension of the water. The
Photo Flo part is a method that a local photographer showed me. His
reasoning was that you can reconstitute the SpoTone on this white plate
and then drag it away from the dehydrated stuff until the desired level
of grey is achieved. Does this make sense? Does anyone know of a
better, more fool-proof method?
Then there's the de Blem. Entirely different story here. I brush this
stuff on so that it covers the entire frame and when I am sure I have
gotten all air bubbles out and can see no dust particles, I make the
print. Voila! Success! What concerns me, however, is the chemical
makeup of this stuff and what the longterm effects might be on my
negatives. I am using T-MAX 400 almost exclusively now because I bought
a 100-foot roll of it, but I do use Plus-X on occasions when I am
shooting brightly-lit outdoors stuff and can afford to trade the film
speed for the finer grain. I am aware of the Vaseline trick to cover up
scratches and this seems an awful lot like that, but I can't help but
think of what happens to the emulsion on the rare occasion that I get a
drop of water on a negative. This solution is greasy and has to be
wiped off with a chamois (sp?), which I am concerned may scratch the
print, especially if dust or dirt gets between the chamois and the
negative.
Would anyone like to share their thoughts on these two items? I am
especially interested in what you think of the de Blem. It works and I
am grateful for that, but I would rather tolerate blemishes and maybe
try to fix the prints with SpoTone than possibly cut my negatives' lives
short by applying a greasy chemical that may damage the emulsion (or
the base, for that matter). Or am I just asking for too much with my
little bathroom photo lab? :-)
db
Richard J. Fateman
In article <31B755...@kalama.com>, David Brenner <d...@kalama.com> wrote:
>Being very much the amateur, I've only very recently gotten to the point
>with my B/W processing where I am becoming increasingly intolerant where
>white spots and hairline scratches on my prints are concerned. So, I
>decided to try SpoTone for the prints and de Blem for the negatives in
>the interest of producing more professional-looking prints.
>
>The SpoTone is beyond me at this point. I can retouch a digital picture
You do not match the darkness-ness of the print by diluting Spotone. You
might match the color hue by blending black/blue/brown/green. for
really small spots, the neutral black out of the bottle works on
many emulsions/ developer combinations.
I do not remove the spot, but I change the texture so that
it matches the surroundings, with little dots. My sable brush
should be 000 or so (tiny tip). I do not let the spotone dry
on the paper, but blot it off with tissue almost immediately.
This works for dust, lint, etc. Occasionally I change the photo
slightly by e.g. removing an actual highlight.
A suggestion: Do not even attempt to cover a defect from edge to
edge. stipple the inside of it. Also, realize your viewer will
be further away from the photo than you are, and won't see good
spotting at all. But if you draw the viewer's attention to your spotting
by making it too dark, you really lose.
It also pays to clean up your act so you have less dust, fewer
scratches, etc. I've never used deblem.
--
Richard J. Fateman
fat...@cs.berkeley.edu http://http.cs.berkeley.edu/~fateman/
Paul Light
> Being very much the amateur, I've only very recently gotten to the point
> with my B/W processing where I am becoming increasingly intolerant where
> white spots and hairline scratches on my prints are concerned. So, I
> decided to try SpoTone for the prints and de Blem for the negatives in
> the interest of producing more professional-looking prints.
>
> The SpoTone is beyond me at this point. I can retouch a digital picture
> like it's a walk in the park, but when it comes to fixing these
> blemishes on the print, I can only seem to make things worse. I
> invariably end up with dark spots where the white spots were before. My
> best attempts to dilute the liquid and to match the gray shades on the
> print invariably result in failure. I am using a very tiny red sable
> brush (I can't recall the number) and I am very careful about dotting
>
>
> db
Spotone is an agonizing chemical to work with. There are lots of
different correct ways to work with it as I am sure you are starting to
find out. It takes a long time to develop a productive relationship with
it. I'd recommend get a strong even overhead light such as a flourescent
workbench light or work by a window and practice a lot on test strips and
work prints. I can remember feeling this stuff was impossible to work
with for a very long time. It mostly just takes a long time to get used
to.
--
Paul Light
Lightwave Photography Workshops
Lightwave Stock Photography
ligh...@tiac.net
http://www.tiac.net/users/lightwav/
John Sparks
David Brenner (d...@kalama.com) wrote:
>Being very much the amateur, I've only very recently gotten to the point
>with my B/W processing where I am becoming increasingly intolerant where
>white spots and hairline scratches on my prints are concerned. So, I
>decided to try SpoTone for the prints and de Blem for the negatives in
>the interest of producing more professional-looking prints.
I think the key with Spotone is practice. Some things I find helpful:
go to an art supply store and look at their watercolor brushes. Get one
that goes to a very fine point. Probably something in the size range
from 000 to 1 or 2. You might even want to get 2, one 000 or 0000 and
one #1 (the sizes are not standard and one brand's 000 may be larger
than a 0 or 1 from a different brand). Some people prever a larger
brush because it holds more spotone and is stiffer so a little easier to
control, others prefer really small brushes, you may want to try both to
see what you like. I usually use a #1 or so with prints from 35mm and a
#000 for prints from large format negatives because the size of the dust
spots is so much smaller. Just make sure it goes to a very small point
and has farily short bristles (long ones make control difficult).
Expect to pay about $2 or $3 for a good brush. You may need to wet the
brush to see what kind of point you can get (the local art supply store
I go to has water available in the watercolor brush section for this
purpose). All the brushes I've ever seen in camera stores are all total
junk.
Once you have a good brush, you are ready to start. Get a dish or plastic
lid and put a couple of drops of spotone on it. Make several puddles on
the dish with different amounts of water. Pick up some pigment with the
brush and dab it on a white area of a scrap print. You want the pigment
to be about 1/3 the density of the area surrounding the spot so that
you can make multiple dabs at the spot to get the right density. Dab at the
with the tip of the brush. I like to work around the print with only one
or two dabs at each spot before going on to the next one. This should
leave the spot lighter than the surrounding area. As you keep working
the print, go back to the spots that still stand out until you don't notice
them anymore. You don't have to exactly match the surrounding area, slightly
lighter is often better. I don't like to put photo-flo in my water since
it beads up without it. That way if I get too much on the print I can
dab at it with a clean paper towel to pick up the excess. I also like to
work with a fairly dry brush so that I don't get a bead of liquid on the
print. This gives more control. A bead of liquid will generally dry as
a light spot with a darker ring around it which doesn't look good. Practice
on a lot of work prints, you'll get better. If by some chance you get
too much spotone on a print, you can remove most of it by re-washing the
print (but then you have to start over completely).
John Sparks