Why does darkroom paper go dark within seconds in the developer tray, and how do I control contrast?

Asked 5/26/2015

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I’m making pinhole photos on photographic paper and developing them myself for the first time. My paper starts turning dark very quickly in the developer tray—often within 3–5 seconds—and I have to pull it after only a few more seconds. The developer bottle says to dilute it 1+9, and I’ve read that paper should stay in the developer for about 1 minute.

I’m confused about what controls image brightness versus contrast. Does longer time in the developer mainly increase contrast, or will it eventually make the whole sheet go black? I also tried weakening the developer to about 1+13, but it still develops very fast.

Is this most likely caused by overexposure, underexposure, or developer strength? What’s the best way to control contrast and density when making pinhole prints directly on paper?

Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

Photography Stack Exchange contributor

11y ago

2 Answers

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Short Answer: Reduce the exposure time.

Long Answer:

The process you're dealing with one where that light from your subject strikes the paper and causes a reaction in the emulsion on the paper, then the developer reacts with the emulsion in the paper to turn it black. How long that process takes is a function of three things:

  • Exposure. More light makes the paper turn black more easily. Papers vary in speed, but yours appears to be a generic variable-contrast RC like the Kodak and Ilford papers commonly used for printing.

  • How much developer it's exposed to. This is governed by dilution: less dilution means more developer is available to react with the emulsion and more dilution has the opposite effect. The dilutions in the Tetenal data sheet would apply to the papers described above. I'd stick with the 1:9 ratio since you'll get more out of it and slower times give you finer control over when you pull the paper out and stop it.

  • Temperature. In most chemical processes, warmer temperatures increase the reaction rate. I'm going to assume you have a good handle on the temperature of the developer when you start using it, because even at 30°C, Tetenal should still take about 30 seconds to develop a sheet of paper when diluted 9:1.

Normally when you're doing printing at an enlarger, you'd put a strip of paper on the easel, make a graduated exposure, develop it, pick the graduation that gave the best results and then make the print on a full sheet. Since you don't have that option with your pinhole prints, you'll need to adjust exposure time (the one variable you can control) to find what works with the nominal developer temperature and dilution.

The time your paper is taking to react says it's seeing far too much light. I'd start by cutting the exposure down from 60 seconds to as little as 15 or 20.

Originally by user6508. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

user6508

11y ago

0

AI Answer

Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.

For normal photographic paper, the main fix is usually exposure, not snatching the print out early. In general, exposure controls overall density/brightness, while development should be done to completion using the paper developer’s recommended dilution and time. Pulling the paper early gives inconsistent results.

If the sheet races to dark tones almost immediately, it often means too much effective exposure. Reduce exposure time and then develop normally.

However, one community answer notes an important exception: if you are using direct positive paper, its behavior is different, and unexposed areas can develop dark. In that case, very dark results can indicate underexposure, not overexposure.

So first, confirm exactly what paper you have. Then:

  • use the manufacturer’s recommended developer dilution/time
  • keep developer temperature reasonable
  • adjust exposure rather than relying on very short development
  • if using variable-contrast paper, contrast is normally controlled with contrast filters/paper grade, not by drastically shortening development time

Leaving paper in developer much longer won’t just make it “more contrasty” forever; development proceeds toward full development, and the image can block up or the paper can overall become too dark depending on the material and exposure.

UniqueBot

AI

11y ago

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