ing give the third opportunity to influence contrast.
This is a complex field and a specialty unto itself.
Here one deals with the entire array of darkroom
techniques that vary from choice of paper, paper
grade, color filtration, light filtration, and a host of
specialized ‘‘salvage’’ procedures.
When one views a picture, painting, drawing,
sculpture, or whatever the eye is initially drawn to
the area of sharpest contrast. Some might say to
the brightest area, but there may not be a bright
area only an area of relatively sharp contrast. After
seeing this, then one moves the eyes about and
views the remainder of the subject. It is paramount
that the photographer not be drawn to the sharpest
contrast in the subject to the exclusion of the back-
ground and the other details in the periphery of the
photograph. It is often these aspects, which deter-
mine the range of contrasts throughout the image,
that are essential to consider when exposing the
film. The range of contrasts helps determine
shape, location, and texture of the various things
in the field of the photograph, and is as important
in color photography as it is in black and white.
The negative contrast is influenced by the range
of tones in the subject being photographed as well
as the development of the film. Altering developers
and altering the development time are both
straightforward methods of changing negative con-
trast. The speed of the film, that is its sensitivity to
light, and its brand also influence both contrast
and sharpness of image. Some films produce
more grain in the image than others, and the pre-
sence of this grain may reduce both sharpness and
apparent contrast. The various densities through-
out the negative determine the overall contrast of
the negative. These can be seen and estimated by
eye or they can be measured using a transmission
densitometer. The negative is the opposite of the
print (the positive), so the lightest area of the
negative produces the darkest area of the print.
The darkest area of the negative is the most
exposed and thusly produces the brightest high-
light area in the print. A low contrast negative
will have a short or small density range between
the highlights and the shadows. It will typically
have a sort of flat look and print gray appearing
highlights and shadows unless special attention is
given in printing. A negative with a large or long
density range will conversely print with dark sha-
dows and very light highlights producing a ‘‘high-
key’’ image. If the average density range negative is
printed, it will appear with bright, detail-contain-
ing highlights, and dark shadows without either
appearing in extremes. Unless one is doing
research, really enjoys testing film and chemistry,
or is working in alternative processes using a den-
sitometer is rarely necessary. Most photographers
deal with these issues visually and intuitively.
Photographic print paper contains in the emul-
sion the elements that determine its contrast.
Photo paper may be obtained both in fixed
grades of contrast or as variable-contrast paper,
variable-contrast papers being more widely avail-
able in the late twentieth century than are fixed
grade papers. Variable contrast papers depend
upon the use of filters or variations in the mixture
of colored light being beamed through the nega-
tive to expose the print. The filters are typically
numbered in a fashion as to approximate the
various paper grades. Each photographer must
work out the nature of their system, as all of
the factors that determine the final output are
variables. The enlarger light source, the type or
brand of printing paper, the particular set of
filters, and the chemical developing process all
affect the final print contrast.
The changing of filters or the color of trans-
mitted light is the way in which print contrast is
adjusted. There are parts of the paper’s emulsion
that are sensitive to green light and others that are
sensitive to blue light. By changing the amount of
blue in the light with filters or by adjusting the light
source, silver particles attached to these various
dyes are variably activated and different contrasts
print during development.
The presence or absence of contrast is what gives
a photograph its character and its ability to interest
or move the viewer. Highlights without any con-
trast are just stark whites, often simply the color of
the printing paper. As small areas of contrast
appear, they impart detail into the highlights and
this sense of texture or something being there is,
more often than not, desirable. As more color or
tone appears, the mid-tones appear and various
shapes can be seen. These shapes or objects are
defined by the contrast between them and sur-
rounding items. The shadows are the dark areas.
The print areas without any contrast are maximum
black. The darkest shadows are those that are just
discernible from total or maximum black. It is the
beginning of contrast that creates this separation
and as contrast increases, detail appears in the
shadows. As with starting with the highlights, one
moves toward the mid-tones so that from darkestCONTRAST