As stated above, the fixer acts as a catalyst for the potassium ferricyanide, speeding up the bleaching action while at the same time neutralizing the bleach. By thoroughly rinsing those areas of the print where bleach has been applied before resubmerging the print in the fix, I can mute the catalyzing action. Using this procedure, only the bleach embedded in the emulsion will be catalyzed by the fix. If I fail to rinse the bleached area prior to resubmersion, the catalyzing action may be so strong that it bleaches away all existing tonalities.
Note
If the bleaching solution is too strong, it will work too fast to control. That’s critical to remember, for most people who have difficulty bleaching tend to mix too strong a solution.
After 15 or 20 seconds in the fix, all further bleaching action is completed—unless the bleach is so concentrated that a yellow stain is still visible, in which case bleaching will continue. I then remove the print from the fix, place it on the plastic sheet, and inspect it for results. If additional bleaching is desired, I repeat the process as many times as necessary to reach the desired tones. There is a limit, however, to the amount of bleach that can be applied—and the degree of lightening the print will accept—from numerous repetitions. If overdone, the print will stain yellow and the stain cannot be removed. The limits of bleaching vary from paper to paper.
Always remember to follow these important steps:
Prior to applying bleach, rinse the print
Apply the bleach
Quickly rinse the bleached area again
Resubmerge the print in the fix
Then inspect it to see how far the bleaching has gone
Note
Reducing (bleaching) does not produce the same effect as dodging!
If you watch the bleaching take place until densities are reduced to the desired level, then rinse and resubmerge the print in the fix, it will almost certainly go too far! Again, don’t mix too strong a solution, for it can become uncontrollable if it isn’t adequately diluted.
Some papers contain an additive that resists potassium ferricyanide reducer. (The additive also makes these papers resist selenium toning; see below.) If you use a paper that fails to respond to the bleach as outlined above, try using a more concentrated bleach solution, and do not rinse off the fix prior to applying the potassium ferricyanide. This usually overcomes the resistance. However, it’s quite difficult to accomplish subtle amounts of bleaching with such papers. It’s like trying to push a door that’s stuck—nothing happens as you push harder until it finally gives way and you go flying through! Ilford Multigrade IV notably resists bleach and toner. Surprisingly, Ilford’s Multigrade Warmtone responds well to both bleach and toner, though the same manufacturer produces both papers.
Reducing can be used under many circumstances. If an area of a print is too dark, the bleaching procedure can lighten it and even bring out unseen details in black areas. If an area of a print is too small or intricately shaped for successful dodging during exposure, the ferricyanide treatment can do the job after the print is developed. Note that brushes of any size can be used, from tiny ones for bleaching minute areas to large ones for lightening broad areas at once. When tiny, intricate areas require bleaching, it is best to squeegee the water from the print’s surface, paint the bleach on the precise area that needs reducing, then rinse and proceed as usual.
Reducing can also be used to lighten small areas throughout a print, enhancing highlights or opening up shadow detail. This is especially useful in cases when going to a higher contrast paper would make the overall print too harsh, or when a lower contrast paper would make the overall print too flat.
Potassium ferricyanide reducing increases contrast; dodging does not. Reducing removes silver equally from all areas bleached, whereas dodging lightens all areas proportionately. Let’s look at what this means. Suppose an area of a print contains a range of tones from light gray (say, 30 units of exposure under the enlarger) to medium gray (say, 200 units). If the area is dodged for one third of the exposure time, the light gray area would drop to 20 units, and the dark gray would drop to 133 units. Both tones would be lighter, but the relative contrast between them would remain about the same. However, if the same area is reduced with 20 units of light (or silver) taken away, the light portion would drop to 10 units, which is the threshold of print tonality, and the dark area would drop to 180 units, or only a slight change. Contrast between the two tones would be greatly increased by ferricyanide bleaching.
Contrast increase can be a double-edged sword—beneficial in some cases and detrimental in others. Many times I have tried to salvage an image that was printed too dark, only to find that as the overall tonalities started looking good, the highlights disappeared! On the other hand, if I have a print that needs a local contrast increase, I can print it slightly too dark in that area, then bleach it back, gaining additional contrast via the procedure. To bleach areas that are rather light in tone, I dilute the bleach far more than usual to slow its action and give me greater control.
Potassium ferricyanide reducing is deceptively difficult. I have ruined many prints—particularly through excess bleaching in the highlights. It’s a fabulous tool when necessary, but I advise you to use it only when absolutely necessary. I use it only if I must.
The intricately carved wooden doors attracted my attention, and to my eye they appeared lighter than the surrounding stonework. Instead, they were darker. I was fooled by the attractive door carvings (Figure 10-14). To direct the viewer to the doors, I printed for the stonework while dodging the doors throughout the exposure, then burned the sidewalk in front of the doors extensively using a concave-shaped card. At this stage, the doors were slightly lighter than the stonework. I then carefully bleached the carved doors, preventing any area from bleaching back to pure white. The bleaching gives the doors a bronzed metallic glow, thus exceeding my goal (Figure 10-14).
Figure 10-14. West Doors, Bath Abbey
Recently, I found out that if too much bleach is applied, there may be a way to correct the situation. Instead of rinsing the print and placing it back in the fixer, place it back in the developer where some of the reduced density may return to the image. Then move it to the stop bath and fixer. Not all of the density from the bleached image will return, but some of it may—and it may be enough to salvage the print.
I have several examples of extensive use of potassium ferricyanide reducing. One photograph from my English cathedral series is of the west doors at Bath Abbey, two magnificently carved wood doors set in a sandstone wall of nearly the same color. Working hastily at the scene, I metered the doors but not the stonework; it appeared to me that the doors were slightly lighter than the adjacent stone, and I figured I could increase contrast through expanded negative development, thereby lightening them even more in relation to the stonework. But my seeing was wrong: the stone was actually slightly lighter than the wood doors, and the extended development pushed them further apart tonally, in the wrong direction! I wanted the viewer’s eye to gravitate toward the doors, not the stonework. Frantic dodging of the doors did little more than make them slightly lighter than the masonry. So I turned to reducing.