Practice question · Multiple choice
Shadow values reach full development early on the toe, whilst highlights keep building density on the straight line. What follows from this physical asymmetry when attempting to rescue an underexposed negative in the tank?
Hints
- Where do the weakly exposed silver halide crystals sit along the characteristic curve?
- What happens to the highlights while you wait for non-existent shadow detail to emerge?
Show the answer
A. Extended processing blows out the highlights without lifting shadows
Why
Confusing contrast expansion with overall density gain leads photographers to ruin usable highlights. Because toe crystals exhaust rapidly, prolonged immersion merely drives highlight values into unprintable blocking rather than recovering unexposed shadow detail.
Practise Contrast Control
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More questions on Contrast Control
- A photographer raises the developing time by half and finds the highlights much denser while the shadows have…
- A scene has a subject brightness range of nine stops. A normal print holds about seven. How many zones of…
- Sort each scene by the development it calls for.
- Complete the account of contrast control.
- Arrange the contrast-control decisions in the order they must be taken.
- Which are true of compensating development?