Out of focus

[Arnigassan@aol.com]

<< I'll have to try this with negs - after I figure out
 how to make a slightly out of focus dupe! :) >>

Well, the easiest way is to make a contact print from your
original film image. One assembles masking film (emulsion
down, overlaid with a EK diffusion
sheet, original image to be masked) emulsion up, 
cover glass (I always use a 3/8 inch "float" glass,
hand selected at the glass store to find a piece to cut to
about 11x14 and avoid scratches. Now use your
enlarger to make the exposure. For an 8x10 area of *focused*
light with a Besseler 4x5 enlarger the exposure was about one
second with development in HC110 Sol, B for 1.5 to 4 minutes in
tray with agitation of the tray for 30-40 seconds and then "still
development" for the balance of the time; just let the film lie
there emulsion up and don't "move a thang."  The agitation helps
the dev. penetrate evenly, the still development enhances edge
effects.

After being fixed, rinsed, and dried (less that half an hour if one
used a "hypo clearing stock" and wash for 5 minutes only, which
is plenty, one has an orginal image and a fuzzy reversal (because
of the diffusion sheet. Set aside the EK sheet in a same place and
handle it carefully because scratches are permanent density marks.
On a light table, register the mask and the original, preferably using
EK red lithographers tape: the adhesive is the best and I have in my
files bound sets that were assembled 15 years ago! with no creeping
cement oozing out to smear into the image.

Play with the layering: there are subtle changes in the effect of the
unsharp mask depending on what's on top, etc.

After doing it once it becomes swiftly mechanical. I used to make
about six of these in an hour, and more if I used 8x10 film and
created an array of negs that filled the masking film. . . you know,
4 4x5s, etc. Even works well for 6x6 cm rolll film. Just imagine
you are making an ordinary contact print. You can bind them in
register emulsion-emulsion or you can bind them support-support
(with what is obviously more diffusion.

Arnold
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