(Camera: Agfa Isolette II; Film: Kodak Tri-X 400)
That’s Okanagan Lake in the background with the city of Penticton along its shoreline.
I made a print of this negative, which I’m quite pleased with. It was relatively easy. The main challenge was to retain the highlights in the foreground bunch grass while adding contrast to the rest of the scene. A little burning of the sky was also needed to even out the overall contrast. Both these tasks were made easier by using split-grad printing.
Have a look here for my full review of the wondrous Agfa Isolette II medium-format folder.
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Gary,
Really nice tones and contrast. You mention split-grad (grade?) printing… something I’m not familiar with, so I had to look it up, I think it was explained as usually two full-print exposures on a multi grade stock, calculated to first establish a set of tones and then a second one to lay down the darker, more contrasts ones. Corresponding filters would be used with both. Did I get that right? Never knew about this except for dodging/burning. One might duplicate this in Photoshop with layers… or maybe one could, with landscapes and a tripod, with the camera film itself?
Thanks Bob.
You have the basic idea correct. The main benefit of split-grade printing is the ability to control the highlights and shadows separately. That’s huge, in my opinion. You can then dodge and burn separately as well, working on the highlights without affecting the shadows and vice-versa.
Gary