Toning

Digital Toning :

Open the image and create a new layer. Pick a colour, such as red and use the fill bucket. Change the layer so that you are happy with the result, for example, here I used the 'Soft Light' layer.

I think that this in an effective technique however I don't think that it really added anything amazing to the photograph and therefore probably wouldn't use it again.

Man Ray : Solarisation

Man Ray - Solarisation 

Man Ray is an artist known for his solarisation photographs. To do this, you need to pick a photograph with a good contrast. Expose your photograph as normal and then place it in the developer. As soon as you see the image start to appear, take the photograph out of the developer and expose it immediately in a bright white light for 1 second. Then, place the photograph back in the developer and continue as normal. I created slightly different effects at different tries:

Leslie David : Layer Painting

Leslie David has a unique technique when creating their work. It involves layering different paints on top of an image, and blending the colours together. I think that it is an interesting effect and also would work well in adding colour to black and white prints. I tried to recreate my own versions :

I like how the paint builds textures and layers onto the photographs, however I think that the blended colours made the photograph even darker. I personally like the top one best as it has the most variety of colour in it. Overall, I like the different textures, but it's not something that I particularly think works well with my prints.

Dark Room Experiments : Dodging

Dodging

Dodgers are used to reduce the exposure time in a particular area of a photograph. For this technique you need thin wire, sellotape, thin black card, scissors and wire cutters.

Cut 25cm of wire and also cut out a circular shape of black card, then stick them together with the sellotape:

Then, expose the image for half the time (or whatever works best for your photograph). Then, when you go to expose the print for the rest of the time, place the dodger over the place which you want to be lighter:

I decided to lighten the lipsticks, so I moved the dodger around when the photograph was exposed. This didn't work too well as you can see where the dodger was, but I think it is a useful technique to know.

Dark Room Experiments : Press Printing

Press Printing

I created the one above by exposing the image and then dipping a fake flower into the develop and letting it drip over the image. As you can see, there is a thumb print on the left hand side which I think makes an interesting effect as it draws attention to other parts of the image.

I created the one above using the same method as before, but this time I smudged the flower over the image, and I particularly like how you can't see all of the perfume bottle, which distorts the image in an interesting way.

I created this one by placing my hands in the developer and pressing them over the image. I like how one hand is more visible than the other, and how they are layered.

Overall, I really like this effect, and would like to use it in future experiments.

Dark Room Experiments : Highlighting areas of interest

Highlighting areas of interest

Choose an image and expose it for about half the time. Then place objects on top, for example, I chose different sized coins. Then expose the image for the rest of the time. It actually worked better for me by exposing the image without the coins for longer than exposing the image with the coins, as it gave a better effect.

I think that this technique is interesting and effective, but not my favourite experiment that I have tried.

Dark Room Experiments : Vignetting

Vignetting

To create a vignetting tool :

Take a piece of think black card and fold it in half.
Then cut out a semi circular shape so that when you open the card up it is a even circle/oval shape
Place across the photo paper when you are exposing your print:

To create a softer effect, do the same as above, but when you're exposing the picture, move the black card slightly :

I personally like both effects. The first one shows more of the photograph, but the second one has a dreamier and softer effect to it.