Products: Darkroom & Educational

Selective Masking Articles on CD – At Last!

The Selective Masking articles I wrote back in 1999 have finally been updated!  Want to turn a difficult negative into a straight print?  This technique has worked well for me in the over 20 years I have been refining it.  The original introductory article has been enhanced from the original, and the balance of this instructional text – Computer Techniques for the Traditional Darkroom – has been completely rewritten to reflect more sophisticated digital techniques.  The current offering is what I am calling a Beta version.  What that means is that I would like to have some feedback before I say that I have covered all the major points in an understandable fashion.  Incentives to get current on the articles now:  Everyone purchasing a Beta version will get the “final” version free of any extra charge AND anyone who gives me input / feedback that I wind up incorporating will get a credit at the end of the texts.  $30 plus $5 USPS mail.  Download available, please specify in your order and skip the postage fee! Foreign addresses email for shipping costs if disk requested.

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Selective Masking Negative Carrier / Starter Kits

Want to start masking?  You can be up and running in minutes without the hassle of trying to find and assemble the basic materials.  These Starter Kits are available for all Beseler and Omega/Saunders 4×5 enlargers.  The kit consists of a “universal-format” masking  negative carrier, a format cut-out template and 3 sheets of black paper and 3 sheets of 8.5×11 artist’s Mylar.  $35 plus $15 Handling/USPS Flat-Rate Priority Mail.  (Cost is to ensure safe transit of the carrier.)  Please specify Beseler, Omega/Saunders or Omega D-5 top plate (Add $15 for this- see below).  Want to add the updated Selective Masking CD?  Add $30.

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Selective Masking Top Plate Adapter for Omega D-5 Series.

Since traditional Omega D-2 > D-5 series enlargers have separate top-and-bottom components to the negative carriers, all one needs to be masking-ready is an Omega-shaped diffuser to replace your existing top plate – regardless of format!  Because of the machining involved, these are $50 + $5 USPS Priority mail. Illustration shows the adapter in position over an existing Omega 4×5 bottom plate.

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Diffusing Acrylic for custom masking negative carriers.

Acrylic diffusing material 1/16″ thick, cut to size.  $0.25/sq inch (1/16 accuracy charged at the next largest full inch) plus $5 USPS postage & handling.  Minimum $5 charge for the diffuser, please!

Plexiglas ® equivalent diffusing material in 1/8″ thickness is pretty easy to find at most any glass and mirror shop, and it’s what I use for my 8×10 masking carriers.  For 4×5 format and smaller, I prefer a 1/16″ thick material since it gives me somewhat better control of masking detail – but it’s often hard to find.  I’ll cut it to your specs, though +/- 0.5 mm is the best I can promise.

Variable-Contrast Printing articles on CD.

In the mid to late 1970’s, when I was Ansel Adams’ assistant in Carmel, no one cared much about how variable‐contrast papers worked.  Almost no “serious” photographer used them; graded papers were the clear choice. Now in the first decade of the 21st Century it is hard to even find a graded paper.

Times do change, but in looking over these four articles on Variable Contrast printing I wrote for Camera Arts Magazine in 1999, I can’t think of anything that really needs updating. I hope this re‐publication gives anyone who missed the original articles a boost of confidence through a greater understanding of this incredibly flexible, high quality printing medium.  $25 plus $5 USPS mail.  Download available, please specify in your order and skip the postage fee! Foreign addresses email for shipping costs if disk requested.

Temperature probe clamps for Comp-n-Temp and Zone VI Timers.

The Vernier temperature probe that works with the Comp-n-Temp darkroom timing software shouldn’t be fully immersed in a liquid, so I designed and make this spiffy little clamp  that keeps it dry.  It has two holes – one positions the probe straight up-and-down and a second one that positions it at a 60° angle.  After years of wrestling with the probe for my Zone VI timer, I’ve also made clamps for its larger diameter probe. These will also work for the Vernier probe, but with a sloppier fit.  $25 including postage to all 50 states.

PS.  The little notch in the back edge of the tray makes it easier to install and remove the clamp.