The Smooth Guide to Photography
              How to get started ...
  • Basic Camera Equipment
    • Standard Camera Lenses
    • Equipment and Materials
    • Etiquette
    • Camera Care
    • Picture Elements
  • Health and Safety
    • Responsibilities
    • What the Law Requires
    • Safety in Photography
    • Safety in the Darkroom, Processing Room + Studio
    • First Aid
  • Film
    • Shutter Speeds
    • Aperture
    • Exposure
    • Lighting Conditions
    • Film Processing
  • Black + White Film
    • Developing Times
    • Processing
    • Tank, Spiral + Core
    • In the Darkroom
    • Printing Papers
    • Exposure for Multigrade Paper
    • Assessing Negatives
    • Printing Film
    • Making a Contact Sheet
    • Making a Test Strip
    • Processing the Print
    • Using the Enlarger
    • Film Cropping
    • Burn-In and Dodging
    • Photograms
  • Technical Term Glossary
    • A
    • B
    • C
    • D
    • E
    • F
    • G - H - I
    • L
    • M - N - O
    • P - R
    • S
    • T - U - V - W
ASSESSING NEGATIVES

  • Examine and evaluate the negatives - frame by frame - using a magnifying loupe.
  • A good negative shows a full range of tones from dark to light.  Details should be clearly visible in both shadows (the clear areas) and the highlights (the dark areas).
  • The deepest shadows should be as clear as the unexposed film edges.  These (sprocket) edges should be clear and the film type and film numbers should be visible.
Remember:
  • Light areas in the negative = dark areas on the print.
​​
When evaluating negatives, look for:
  • Contrast - changes from light to dark tones
  • Details in the shadows - the clear parts of the negative.  This can identify the correct exposure.
  • Sharpness - check through a 10x magnifying loupe for the quality of the negative.
​​
Under-exposed Negative
  • The under-exposed negative is too dark with poor shadow details and contrasts.  The negative looks pale and thin.

Over-exposed Negative
  • The over-exposed negative is too light with poor highlight details.

Fogging
  • Fogging is an ill-defined dark area on the negative.  If the fogging extends outside the frame area, it would suggest that the film was fogged outside the camera.

Buckling
  • Buckling is when the processing chemical fails to reach part of the film, leaving it undeveloped.  this would most likely occur with the film being buckled in the spiral.
ACCESSIBILITY AND FONT ADJUSTMENT
SITE MAP
Acknowledgement:  
Tutor:  Peter Perry

These notes are an accumulation of those written by myself - or obtained from the College during the course.
  • Putney Public Library
  • Wandsworth Reference Library
  • Earlsfield Library

​This is not a commercial site.
Polly Healy  - Course Work :  2000
SOUTH THAMES COLLEGE,  LONDON, SW18 2PP
______________________________________________________
Copyright:  THE SMOOTH GUIDE TO PHOTOGRAPHY - How to get started ...
pollyhealy@live.co.uk
_____________________________________________________
                        See other Smooth Guide sites:
www.animalsandenglish.com
www.englishlanguagetips.com
www.smoothguide-mahjong.com
www.smoothguide-internetfundamentals.com
www.smoothguide-kenyacoast.com
www.healyshandyhouseholdhints.com
www.smoothguide-sunbury.com
  • Basic Camera Equipment
    • Standard Camera Lenses
    • Equipment and Materials
    • Etiquette
    • Camera Care
    • Picture Elements
  • Health and Safety
    • Responsibilities
    • What the Law Requires
    • Safety in Photography
    • Safety in the Darkroom, Processing Room + Studio
    • First Aid
  • Film
    • Shutter Speeds
    • Aperture
    • Exposure
    • Lighting Conditions
    • Film Processing
  • Black + White Film
    • Developing Times
    • Processing
    • Tank, Spiral + Core
    • In the Darkroom
    • Printing Papers
    • Exposure for Multigrade Paper
    • Assessing Negatives
    • Printing Film
    • Making a Contact Sheet
    • Making a Test Strip
    • Processing the Print
    • Using the Enlarger
    • Film Cropping
    • Burn-In and Dodging
    • Photograms
  • Technical Term Glossary
    • A
    • B
    • C
    • D
    • E
    • F
    • G - H - I
    • L
    • M - N - O
    • P - R
    • S
    • T - U - V - W