Today’s featured photo of the day! Obscure Darkroom Magic

Here is today’s featured photo. I am featuring an extra special event of featuring a reflection of my favorite part of being in the darkroom…making art out of a regular photo! Here is another set of photos of a rural setting with a barn in the hay-days of the 80’s near Monee, Illinois! Date – 1981.

Colorized with sepia toner.

This is the original shot with no embellishments.

Photo taken with a Nikon EM-through a Nikon 26 mm lens, filter=Polarizer, Aperture=22 f/stop, shutter-speed 1/125th second, loaded with Kodak Tri-X Black & White 135 Negative Film ISO (ASA) 400 (raw grain) processed with D-76 Processing Chemicals, and a fiber paper print using the Kodak Professional “warm-tone” enlargement paper developed with Kodak Dektol chemicals onto a 3½x5″ matte-gloss print.

☼FACT:  Sepia toner yielded a more prominent, higher contrast photo than its less subdued alternative selenium toner which was also available in a sepia color. The above photo almost looks like a completely different shot, but the crisp red tones on the barn make it a classic, whereas if selenium would have been used, the darker tones would have still shadowed in the foreground. Nowadays, selenium toners would be frowned upon, because I do know I used Plexiglas to prevent the chemical from coming into contact with my skin and eyes, even though I also used goggles. Sepia despite the odors was much safer to use. ☼

See you tomorrow with another fine darkroom magic photograph!!
© 2020 Versatileer

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