How to Print a Pinhole Photograph
- 1). Set up your darkroom chemistry as you would for regular black-and-white photographic printing. If you have a pinhole paper negative that's 8 by 10 inches or smaller, you can use a standard contact printer. If you have a larger contact negative, you'll need to use an appropriate-sized piece of plate glass to cover the negative and create pressure for good contact.
- 2). Remove the negative carrier and adjust the enlarger so that the circle of light falls outside of the contact printer, bathing it with even light.
- 3). Adjust the enlarger aperture all the way open (f:4 on most lenses).
- 4). Turn off the enlarger light.
- 5). Place a sheet of printing paper (emulsion side up) in the contact printer.
- 6). Place the pinhole negative facedown, and close the glass hinge so that the two pieces of paper are clamped together and good contact is made.
- 7). Set the enlarger's timer to 1-second intervals.
- 8). Place a No. 2 filter in the filter holder if you're using polycontrast paper. If you're using graded contrast paper, start off with a No. 2 grade, but have other grades on hand to maximize the potential of the print.
- 9). Test for the optimum exposure by taking a heavy piece of cardboard in one hand and masking off all but 1 inch of the contact printer so that a strip of the paper and negative will receive light.
- 10
Press the expose button on the timer unit, making a 1-second exposure. - 11
Repeat the above in successive exposures, exposing a narrow strip of paper each time until all the paper has received at least 1 second of light. - 12
Process the print in the developer and check to see if you've arrived at the right exposure. You're looking for a good black and a white highlight somewhere in the print, with a wide range of gray tonalities. - 13
Retest if the longest of the exposed areas on your test print still doesn't have the above criteria. Start with the longest time - and again work with 1-second exposures - until the entire page has received light (see Tips). - 14
Make a working print once you've determined the right time. Set up the contact printer with a fresh piece of photographic paper, and expose the entire surface evenly according to the time arrived at in the testing process. - 15
Evaluate the print on its tonal merits. If the print seems too contrasty, change your filter from the No. 2 to a No. 1. If the print is too gray, up the contrast by using a 2.5 or 3 filter. - 16
Retest the time either by decreasing the amount (if you've dropped your filter number) or increasing it (if the filter number goes up). - 17
Make another working print based on this test, and evaluate it. - 18
Make your final print after you've found the correct time and filter to use with the negative.
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