Although this technique has a number of strong advantages over conventional contraction techniques, it has one outstanding characteristic in particular. It can be used to produce extreme contractions that retain full highlight contrast and detail. With such contractions, the highlights are almost always of tantamount importance, yet conventional contraction techniques invariably render highlights in a muddy and unpleasant form. The Highlight Method will produce highlights that are fully detailed and sparklingly crisp, regardless of the degree of contraction.

The Highlight Method is the last of three new contraction techniques I developed during the 1980’s. I believe that together with my other two contraction techniques, the "Monobath Method" and "Selective Latent Image Manipulation Techniques," my techniques provide sufficient diversity that any photographer needing contraction (film contrast reduction) will find one or more of these to be satisfactory for the particular job at hand.

The Highlight Method, like my other two contraction techniques, solves some of the problems inherent in older contraction methods. The Highlight Method produces a speed loss of zero at any level of contraction. Also, original negatives receive normal development (Highlight Method negatives can be developed right along with normal-contrast negatives), making uneven development nearly impossible. This is markedly different from traditional contraction methods.

Though much simpler to apply, the Highlight Method is similar to the Monobath Method (see above), in the sense that contrast is reduced primarily in the midtones, rather than in shadows and highlights. I laid out a complete rationale for this effect in "Zone System Contraction — A New Theoretical Approach."

The Highlight Method is designed to be used by itself, or as a technique complementary to the Monobath Method.^{footnote 1} With the Highlight Method, no original negatives are ever put at risk, and contrast reduction is limited almost exclusively to the midtone region of the curve, regardless of the degree of contraction. In fact, in those cases of extreme contraction where the Monobath Method begins to lose highlight contrast, the Highlight Method is immune to such loss. For me, this technique is a solution to the problems of extreme contraction, and I don’t recommend it for contractions of N-1 or N-2.

The Highlight Method differs from my other contraction techniques in one very critical way. It requires the making of a second original negative for each image, which negative will carry a record of the highlights only. (This is not a masking technique.)

The Highlight Method is very simple. You’ll need the materials below:

1. One box of 4x5 or 8x10 Kodak Professional B&W Duplicating Film, Type SO-339 (formerly Type 4168).
2. One roll of 3M Photographer‘s tape (this is about 2 inch wide, black and looks a little like narrow crepe paper). You may find that some other type of tape works just as well.
3. One contact printing/proofing frame, or a simple piece of glass and a piece of foam rubber. Luxury equipment is not required.
4. An ordinary lightbox or illuminated table.

In addition, you must prepare a developer which is a slight variation on the old “Beutler” formula — a high acutance compensating developer. It is reproduced here in Table I. Prepare the stock solutions shown in Table II. Use these stock solutions to make the working strength modified Beutler developer as required.

If you are not inclined to mixing photo-chemistry, you can employ the Highlight Method using pre-packaged chemistry. I will discuss this in more detail later in this article.

The Highlight Method

To employ the highlight method you start by exposing at least two different negatives of your subject.

The first negative is made using your standard B&W camera film and is exposed for the shadows (as usual). This negative will hereafter be referred to as the “shadow record negative.”

Expose the second negative, also using your standard film, such that the subject’s lightest tones (not counting specular highlights) fall on Zone III — In other words, you will be making a grossly underexposed second negative so that highlights fall on Zone III and shadows and midtones don’t appear on the negative at all. From here on I will refer to this negative as the “highlight record negative.”

An additional highlight record negative exposed for Zone IV, instead of III is a good idea as a back-up. Making additional original negatives of both shadow and highlight records is always a good idea.^{footnote 2}

While shooting these negatives you must use extreme caution to ensure that tripod and camera are completely locked down. No movement of any kind between shots is allowable. The two images must register precisely. Though far simpler than it sounds, this is not a technique for rickety tripods and cameras.

The aperture you use for the shadow and highlight records must be the same in order to keep the images in register. Therefore, the only way to change exposure is by manipulating the shutter speed or using neutral density filters. Altering shutter speed alone is almost always sufficient.

Any film format from 35mm to 8x10 can be used with the Highlight Method. The only limitation is that SO-339 is not available in sizes larger than 8x10. You can use any continuous tone B&W film, including films with shoulders, for the original highlight and shadow record negatives. (To my knowledge, this is the only technique that will allow shouldered films to be used for contraction.)

If you use sheetfilm, remember not to shoot out to the edges of the film. A few millimeters of superfluous image around all four edges of the film is imperative. Also, the Highlight Method will work only for enlargements and not contact prints.

Develop both the shadow and highlight record negatives normally in your standard developer, right along with the rest of your normal negatives. For even stronger contrast and detail in the highlights, you may sometimes wish to develop your highlight record negative for an additional 20 – 30%. Alternatively, highlight record negatives can be intensified in Selenium toner for additional density and contrast. Fix and wash as usual.

The Sandwich

The Highlight Method works by employing a sandwich of two negatives. One is an original negative containing a normal contrast image of only the subject’s highlights (the highlight record negative).This is why it is impossible to lose highlight contrast with this method.^{footnote 3}

The other negative in the sandwich is a duplicate negative containing the subject’s shadow tones (the shadow record negative). The duplicate shadow record negative has been bleached and redeveloped in a very low contrast developer so that it has severely flattened (reduced contrast) midtones and highlights.

When printing such a sandwich it is necessary that their emulsions face each other. This allows exact registration and simultaneous focus of both images on the paper. Obviously, in order to do this, it will be necessary that one of the images (the shadow record negative) be reversed from left-to-right so that its image faces the same direction as the image in the highlight record negative when the sandwich is made. All of these problems are easily solved by employing Kodak’s Professional Duplicating Film (hereafter “PDF”)Type SO-339.

PDF is a remarkable product that allows direct duplication of negatives with amazing ease. It has grain and resolution rivaling or surpassing Technical Pan and can duplicate most any negative, with NO quality loss, or a loss so small as to be inconsequential. PDF is orthochromatic and produces a direct reversal image without any special chemistry. In fact it can be developed in ordinary Dektol 1:1 OR 1:2 in just 2 minutes.

Making a good duplicate negative on PDF is just as easy as making a good contact sheet, and just as fast. Here’s how it’s done:

Sandwich the shadow record negative you wish to duplicate, emulsion-to-emulsion with a sheet of PDF. If you’re using small-format negatives, you may even wish to cut your PDF sheets into smaller pieces. Place this sandwich, original negative on top, in your contact printing frame. All surfaces must be absolutely clean and dust-free. Expose the first sheet of PDF with your enlarger elevated to about 12 to 2 feet above the frame and out of focus. Bracket test exposures centered around 40 seconds, just like test strips for paper. Develop in a tray of Dektol 1:1 for 2 minutes, stop, fix, and wash. Use your film fixer, not your paper fixer.

In a correctly-exposed duplicate negative, the portion not exposed to any part of the original negative or its non-image containing, clear base, will have no density above base-plus-fog (B+F). In addition, the original negative‘s base (non-image area) will reproduce on the duplicate with a density just slightly greater than B+F. This means that the duplicate shadow densities should be nearly identical to the original negative. With sheetfilm originals you may need to cut off a small piece of the original’s non-image edge before duplication, in order to make this comparison. If no part of the test duplicate negative received correct exposure, try again.

Remember, this is a reversal material. More exposure means less density and vice versa.

Once you’ve found the correct exposure for making duplicate negatives from one type of original film, future duplicate negatives from this film become a fairly easy task, as they will all require the same exposure.

After determining correct exposure for your duplicate negative, make three or four extra copies. This will keep you from having to go back and make more later if you make any errors down the line.

Thoroughly fix and wash all duplicate shadow-record negatives, then prepare the bleach and modified Beutler formulas shown in Tables I to III. If you wish, you can treat your duplicate negatives with Photo-Flo, dry them, and store them for treatment at a later date.

Finishing the Duplicate

Before you can start printing, you must bleach the duplicate shadow record negative, then partially redevelop it using the modified Beutler formula mentioned previously. The resulting characteristic curve resembles Figure 1.

This bleach and redevelopment process removes most of the density and contrast from the duplicate‘s midtones and highlights, and leaves shadow density and shadow contrast largely untouched. After this partial redevelopment, the duplicate negative is fixed again, to remove the unwanted silver halide remaining in the emulsion.

When the partially-redeveloped, duplicate shadow record negative is sandwiched with the normal contrast original highlight record negative, the characteristic curve they produce together is much like the one in Figure 2. The contrast loss is limited almost exclusively to the midtones.

Here are the practical steps for the process of bleaching and redeveloping the duplicate shadow record negative.

Bleaching

Use the bleach from Table 3. until it is exhausted, which for me is after about a dozen uses per 500ml bleach. Simply insert the well-washed negative (wet or dry) emulsion side up in the bleach tray. Bleaching is always carried to completion. If you are in a hurry, agitate constantly. If you aren’t, occasional agitation is adequate. Bleach time is approximately 2 to 5 minutes.

Bleaching is not complete until, upon turning the negative emulsion– side–down in the tray, you can see that all traces of blackened silver have disappeared. You can still see the image after bleaching, but it will be very transparent and have a decided magenta^{footnote 4} color. Wash the negative with constant agitation in running water for 2 minutes.

Redevelopment

Do not exhaust this developer (modified Beutler acutance formula). I recommend redeveloping no more than two duplicate negatives in 250ml of this developer. Immediately before use, add 3 to 6 drops of Kodak Photo-Flo for each 250ml of redeveloper. Redeveloper temperature should be maintained constant at 20°C, and of course, everything can be done in white light.

The ideal redevelopement time is the minimum time which almost completely redevelops Zones I through III (the shadows)^{footnote 5}. This can be arrived at empirically by simply trying different redevelopment times and comparing shadow densities in the redeveloped negatives to those of the original. Longer times may often prove useful, but shorter times will only destroy much needed shadow detail. It is my experience that 4 minutes is about right for full shadow redevelopement.

I set my clock for the minimum redevelopement time (or the time I am trying) and insert the negative emulsion side up. I immediately rock (no shaking) the tray vigorously for the first 10 seconds. Then I repeatedly turn the negative face up and face down until the elapsed time is 30 seconds. At 30 seconds, I leave the negative resting face up under the solution and don’t disturb it until 2 minutes have elapsed. At the 2 minute mark, I agitate the tray for 5 seconds or turn the negative face up and face down three times. Then I don’t disturb the tray again until redevelopment is completed. If your redevelopement time is more than 4 minutes, agitate at each 2 minute mark. The secret to this redeveloper is minimum agitation with long periods of undisturbed development.

Watch your negative while it’s redeveloping. If significant unevenness occurs, and has not evened out by the 2 minute mark, rinse the negative thoroughly, bleach, and start over. You haven’t ruined the negative. Besides, it’s only a duplicate, so you can always make more.

If uneven development persists even with careful work, it’s possible the negative was inadequately washed, has fingerprints, or some other surface defect. Select another duplicate negative.

Once you’ve successfully redeveloped a shadow record duplicate negative, you may wish to redevelop any remaining duplicate shadow record negatives at longer times in order to have several slightly different negatives to choose from later. When finished with the redevelopement process, all shadow record duplicate negatives must be properly fixed, washed, and dried.

At this point you will have separate negatives representing both the highlight record and the shadow record. They are reversed left to right from each other and can therefore be sandwiched emulsion-to-emulsion as follows:

Place the shadow record duplicate negative, emulsion side up on your lightbox. Place the highlight record original negative, emulsion side down on top of the first negative. Line up the two negative’s images so that they coincide exactly. This is actually very easy with large and medium-format negatives. However, accuracy with 35mm negatives may require a registration system. Use the photographer‘s tape mentioned previously to tape the negatives together at two opposing edges. With sheetfilm originals, you may have to trim some border off two sides of the highlight record negative to tape it to the shadow record duplicate. This is unimportant as you obviously will never use this extremely specialized negative for any purpose other than such a sandwich.

If you use 4x5 PDF to make a duplicate from a smaller-format original, a significant amount of clear film will be exposed in the negative carrier. Cover this clear area with photographer‘s tape before inserting the sandwich in the carrier. Otherwise, extraneous light passing through the clear film base will reduce print contrast.

You will find these sandwich negatives a snap to print. They require somewhat more exposure than an ordinary negative, because of their double B+F density. Otherwise, they are no different to print than any other negative. However, as I explained in article 002, “Zone System Contraction — A New Theoretical Approach,” almost all contraction negatives print best on grade 3 or 4 paper.

Alternate Method Shadow Record Duplicate Negatives

You can forego the complications of mixing chemistry, bleaching and redeveloping negatives by using a Selective Latent Image Manipulation Technique (SLIMT) instead. For more SLIMT information, see article 002, “Selective Latent Image Manipulation Techniques.”

To use a SLIMT bleach for making your duplicate shadow record negative, mix part A from a Kodak Sepia Toner kit (bleach) in one liter of water as a stock solution. You then dilute small quantities of this stock solution for use, starting with 1:1000.

After exposing a shadow record PDF negative, bleach the latent image 3 to 5 minutes in the above (contrastwise) bleach, then develop normally in Dektol, as previously described — stop, fix, wash, and dry. Alter the SLIMT bleach dilution until you achieve the proper amount of contraction in your duplicate shadow record negative.

The advantages to this approach are its increased simplicity and time savings. Its disadvantages are that it will not produce contraction as severe as that produced by redevelopement. In addition, it does not seem to conserve shadow density as well, and therefore requires an exposure adjustment when making the PDF duplicate shadow record negative.

Flashing

Another variation you may wish to try is flashing. PDF responds to flashing like nothing else, providing a unique opportunity to affect the highlight densities of your duplicate shadow record negatives. This one I’d better explain:

If you were to take a sheet of PDF from the box and develop it without the benefit of exposure, you would get a completely blackened negative of considerable density. This is because PDF is pre-exposed at the factory so that it has received just enough exposure to reach its D-Max upon development. Without going into a long dissertation on latent image effects involving desensitization or reversal, suffice it to say that some types of exposure can actually be reversed (latent image destroyed) by exposure to light of different quality or circumstance. Solarization and the Herschel effect are the most common examples of this.

So, when you expose a sheet of PDF you are actually destroying the latent image already build into the emulsion, to a degree exactly proportionate to the densities of the exposing negative. Whatever image remains after you have committed this mayhem is developed in Dektol. (This also makes uneven PDF development extremely unlikely.)

Remember that the maximum density is built into the film and any exposure (above threshold) will reduce this maximum density. In fact, this is exactly the way flashing works with PDF. A sub-threshold flashing exposure prior to the main exposure, substantially reduces the minimum amount of light needed to affect the film. This allows higher densities in the exposing negative to affect the film (PDF) sooner, reducing the contrast of a duplicate negative. Flashing works in this case by reducing highlight density rather than by increasing shadow density. Exposure compensation of the PDF film is of course necessary, as flashing affects the entire emulsion.

Adding Shadow Density

PDF gives you the unique opportunity to increase shadow density in contraction negatives. Many times, photographers wish they had given a contraction negative more exposure to avoid losing quite so much shadow density to contracted development. With PDF and the Highlight Method, this problem is easily solved, assuming your original shadow record negative was not underexposed. If you would like to have a flatter curve and find that lessened redevelopement causes a loss of shadow detail, simply give less exposure to the next PDF shadow record negative. This gives all the shadows greater density, conveniently providing you with extra density you can afford to lose.

Expansion Technique Variation

There’s just one more little surprise left in the Highlight Method.

Unique among all contraction techniques, the Highlight Method can also be used for expansion!

This expansion variation of the Highlight Method works with any B&W film. It can be used with any format, including 35mm (with proper pin registration equipment), and can produce any practical expansion you like. Follow these easy steps:

1. Use your normal B&W film and expose it for the shadows as always. Ignore the highlights. Develop normally, right along with your other negatives.
2. Using a densitometer, step tablet or your own experience, determine how much additional highlight density is needed to give this negative a normal range. Expose one, or bracket several PDF negatives so that only a highlight record is made. This means overexposing the PDF negative. Process this negative normally. (Expanded development of the PDF negative may be desirable on occasion).
3. Sandwich the original negative with the newly-made PDF highlight record, and print. That’s it.

You can add any amount of density you wish with this method.

David Kachel

1. The Highlight Method works well in conjunction with the Monobath Method because both require normal exposure/normal development negatives to start. In addition, both are post-development techniques. This enables the photographer to choose between the techniques at a later time, switch back and forth between them, and even use both techniques in combination.











2. Extra shadow record negatives (3 to 5) are mandatory if you plan to use the Monobath Method in conjunction with the Highlight Method.









3. Because highlights are exposed on Zone III or IV of the highlight record negative,they are somewhat lower in contrast than they would be if exposed and processed normally (i.e., exposed on the proper Zones for highlights). However, the shadow record negative also contains a low contrast record of the highlights. This adds to the overall contrast of the highlights and brings them up to normal.








4. T-grain films will have a magenta color. Other types of films may exhibit some other color.









5. It is impossible to get the shadows back to exactly the contrast and density they had prior to bleaching. However a close approximation can be achieved.