Tone control

Darkroom specialist Mike Crawford talks about the importance of tonal balance when it comes to making a fine black & white print

mike Crawford talks about the importance of tonal balance in b&w prints

When working in the darkroom, controlling tonal balance is a very important consideration in making a fine print. It should not be confused with compositional balance, that is, how the contents of the frame are aligned in the photograph – but there is a close and symbiotic relationship between the two. Indeed, controlling the tonality by changes to the contrast and depth of tone should emphasise and strengthen the composition so the viewer will correctly ‘read’ the image, not from left to right as with text but to be guided by the weight of the tones and how they lead the eye in to the focal point.

With tonal balance we can control areas of the photograph by making changes on how light or dark to print different areas. This will not only emphasise key subjects, but will also hopefully reduce distractions that may take the viewer’s eye away from more important elements of the print. While this is achieved through selective choices of contrast and exposures for different parts of the print, this article is not so much about how to dodge and burn, but why we dodge and burn.

Why we dodge and burn

This is certainly not exclusive to photography; indeed it is a fundamental part of art theory. I find it worthwhile to study books on photographers and painters, or if possible view their work in a gallery, to see how an individual artist or photographer has used different tones to control the balance within the work, whether on canvas or photographic paper. Sometimes it can be a very subtle thing. While careful manipulation and dodging and burning can transform an image and often convey a different story to the intentions of the original photograph, a print may sometimes just need some selective darkening on one side, or in a corner, to hold the photograph together and remove distracting highlights.

Our eyes will instinctively go towards large areas of light or dark tones, despite there being no interesting content there. In such cases the differences between two such prints may not be initially obvious to the viewer, but when shown both together, the print in which the tones have been balanced will usually be preferred, even if at first glance there seems to be little difference between the two.

This is not to say that we should aim to make our prints regimental or symmetrical in tone, far from it; instead we should consider how the tonal values of a print work together. I know printers who recommend holding a print upside down, or reflected in a mirror, with the idea that a well-balanced print should work tonally both ways – a practice taken from painting. Some photographs will naturally be higher key, comprising predominantly of highlights with darker compositional lines and details in the shadow range. These may require extra burning in or print flashing to smooth the lighter

tones, especially where they meet the print border. Alternatively, a lower key print consisting of more shadows and midtones may need selective dodging to accentuate the highlights.

Flashing

Flashing is a very useful tool when correctly applied and can bring in just enough detail to register information in the highlights. I certainly find it essential sometimes for balancing out bright skies or other distracting light areas. It can also be applied selectively, using card to cover most of the print or even cutting out a mask to only add tone to one area. Like dodging and burning, it is important to keep the mask moving during the flash exposure. If the flash is too long, the print will soon look grey and degraded though there are occasions when a longer flash will be useful and appropriate for darkening a burnt-out highlight towards a deeper tone.

While it may sound theoretical, generally there are no strict rules for controlling tonal balance, as shown in the examples printed for this article. Each image usually requires a different approach from the next. When working on a series of prints, particularly of the same subject for an exhibition, this choice of controls will help to unify the work. The compositional details will change, and the depth and key of each print may vary, but hopefully the tonalities will be well balanced so that there is a consistency to the work while still making each photograph individual.