alan frost photography

When developing a negative film and printing in the darkroom, a split tone would often be applied to a black and white photograph at the printing stage. In doing so a photographer  could change its appearance to artistically enhance the feel and emotion in the image. I have never worked in the darkroom but speaking to those that have, there is a great deal of skill, patience, expense, not to mention trial and error involved to achieve the results envisaged by the photographer.  To produce a body of printed work  is even more challenging,  as this must require real dedication and a consistent approach to how a series of pictures are printed.

Six versions of the same image – read on to see larger versions of each one

I greatly admire those photographers who still work in a darkroom and one day I may go on a workshop to learn more about it. For now though I am happy to try and apply these darkroom techniques in a digital world where the likes of Lightroom and Photoshop make the process so much easier.

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