Photography I / Contrast Control
Practice question · Select all that apply

Which are true of compensating development?

Hints
  1. Three describe how it works and what it buys; one claims benefits it does not deliver.
  2. High dilution and long times are not usually a route to fine grain.
Show the answer
  • B. It uses high dilution and minimal agitation
  • C. It compresses the density range without flattening the mid-tones as much as a short normal development would
  • D. The developer exhausts locally in highlight areas while continuing to work in the shadows
Why

The fourth is the price rather than the prize. Compensating development tends to make grain more evident and results harder to repeat, because it depends on local exhaustion, which depends in turn on exactly how much you agitated. What it buys is the highlight compression, and that is worth the trade often enough to be standard practice.

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