Black & White photographic paper - Contrast

One of the simplest means of controlling contrast and to some degree tone in the photograph is the selection of the paper contrast. Tonal differences can either be exaggerated to make the image more contartsy or repressed to flatten it. Selection of appropriate paper contrast can create an image that has a gentle sweep of tones, the shades of grey delicately distinguished one from another, or it can virtually eliminate gradations in shade, leaving an image with only stark blacks and whites.

It is worth remembering that controlling this contrast can not be separated from other factors, lighting of the scene, exposure, type of film and paper, even the type and light source of the enlarger used can alter the final image. Contrast can not be separated from the distinct shades of grey that a photograph contains. 

High Contrast paper, by increasing the difference between tones, eliminates the subtle variations in tone, there are fewer variations visible, fewer can be recognised. In the process the loss of variations emphasizes extremes of tone. One of the problems with contrasty paper is that whole areas of information can drop out in the white areas or merge in the blacks. It is like listening to music but being able to hear only the high notes and the low ones with the various mid range notes pushed to either end of the spectrum. Higher contrast paper can be selected to add sparkle to a print that has been shot in dull light, or one that has been under exposed or underdeveloped.

 

Conversely, low contrast paper can reproduce more tonal variations that exist in the negative, increasing the number of distinct shades. It can be used to bring out detail in shadows or highlights that might only be visible only after much dodging and burning in. Low contrast paper does not eliminate extreme tones if they exist in the negative, but lowers the tonal difference between them. One of the problems with lower grade papers is that they may produce neither a rich black or a white with all the tones represented in the mid range. This can block up areas of the print in a different way and make the image look flat. lower contrast paper might be use to soften a print where the negative has extremes of shadow highlight information that needs to be revealed, or to lower the contrast of an over exposed or developed neg.

 

an example of a photograph printed on from left grade 0 to grade 5 on right See how the image on the left is much flatter than the one on the right. From habit, many photographers use only one grade of paper, but it is a valuable experiment to print the same image on the full range of grades.

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