Recently I was browsing the book, Photographs : Annie Leibovitz 1970-1990. Aside from being completely blown away by her work, I noticed that in some photos, the sprocket holes of the film were noticeable. Did she use a glass negative carrier? This got me to examine my own 35mm negative carrier. I noticed that about 1 or 2 mm of each side of the frame was cropped! I usually print full frame anyhow, and this now bothers me that what I thought was full frame actually is not. Can I file down the negative carrier on my 23C, and if so, how can I accomplish this? On a side issue, I also noticed that most of Annie's photos had a slight brown hue to them. Is this toner? I've toned in sepia before, but can't seem to manage getting that pleasant subtle hue. Maybe a property of film? I've been able to come closer to this by using Tmax 100, but still can't seem to get there. Thanks in advance!

-- Paul Klingaman (Paul.Klingaman@Veritas.com), June 07, 1999

Answers

You can file out the carrier or buy one from Beseler. Note that some find that sprocket-hole stuff rather pretentious.

-- John Hicks / John's Camera Shop (jbh@magicnet.net), June 07, 1999.

I agree that the sprocket hole stuff is pretentious. Also, check with a machine shop about grinding out the negative carrier. I think for 20 bucks you would end up with a much better job than trying to do it yourself with a file.

-- J.L. Kennedy (jlkennedy@qnet.com), June 07, 1999.

I filed my beseler negative carrier down years ago, which didn't require any great skill. However, I later read an article that says the white light around the edges of the negative can have an adverse effect on print quality--I can't say that I've noticed it, but it's something to consider before you file too much. A lot of people like the black border around the print, though there are other ways to get it. I would recommend that you don't file the hole any larger than your negative.

-- Ed Buffaloe (edbuffaloe@earthlink.net), June 08, 1999.

As for the brown tones, it is a combination of paper choice and toner. I doubt that Annie has printed her own photographs in years-- she probably uses a professional printer.

-- Ed Buffaloe (edbuffaloe@earthlink.net), June 08, 1999.

Another way to get the ragged negative edge effect is to make a mat to cover the image and rough up the edges a bit. Then make your print, cover the paper with the mat and a weight, remove the negative from the enlarger, open the lens wide open and expose for about 5 seconds to get a completely black border.

-- Gene Crumpler (nikonguy@worldnet.att.net), June 08, 1999.

I think you'll find that the machine shop bill will be closer to $100. Even in NH they min. at $65 hr.

Visit a machine tool supply co or a jewelers supply and buy yourself a nice 8" long file with two or three "safe" edges. The file doesn't look like the hardware store "bastard", it looks more like a triangle file that has been squished flat, it tapers to a nice point. The cut of the file should be rather fine, like a 0 cut. Pick up a handle for 50c and you're set. I use an old bottle of Kodak Flat Black for the edges. It's just flat black lacquer. I assume that somewhere at the homestead you have a metal vise for holding neg carrier and you'll pad the jaws with something to prevent marring the carrier. No vise, you can hold or clamp the carrier to edge of ...(the dining table!) :-)

Sprocket holes? Old Leica III (model F, not IIIf) have a rather "loose" way of guiding the film and I used to end up with image part way acros

-- Larry Welker (lwelker@turbont.net), June 10, 1999.

Let me offer some insight into the book prints that you have asked about - The negative carriers were all made with a standard hand file that can be purchased at any hardware store. The rough edges were then sanded with a fine sandpaper to remove rough edges and then the exposed silver edges were covered by running a black magic marker over them. Several different carriers were used in the printing of the book and the exhibition, as well as different enlarger heads (cold light, condenser,etc.) , lenses, papers and developers. The final selection of each combination was based on the needs of each individual image. eg - papers used ranged from Ilford Multi RC , Agfa Portriga, Ilford Fiber, etc. None of the work was toned - all color was achieved through developer/ paper combinations. Paul- the color you are seeing in the book is a result of the ink color used in the printing of the book - not the actual color of the prints. This is not an uncommon practice in having a book printed. The selected photos are printed with the necessary combinations and one is selected out for basic ink color for the reproductions. Also - those that feel that black boarders (rough or clean) are pretentious - the images that appear in the Leibovitz's book spans 20 + years of work and the use these are there to reflect the period when these images were created. Also note that the images in the book were shot on just about ever film you can think of and developed in the same. If you can get the chance to see the images in exhibition rather than reproduction , it would benefit you. If in NYC stop by MV Labs for a look - we would be happy to show you.

-- jim megargee (jim@mvlabs.com), June 10, 1999.

These are some of the best responses I've ever received from a post. Thanks very much for the detail and thought to which you've put into your responses. I will try filing down the carrier by hand. As far as pretention and sprocket holes are concerned, I'd think that crisp, perfectly cropped borders under a single or double white mat in a black brushed aluminum frame would be more pretentious than anything else. Consequently, this is how I see about 90% of black and white work displayed. I think seeing something different is refreshing, not pretentious. Guess I'll following the "If I like it, it gets printed that way" philosophy, and not worry if others feel I'm being pretentious.

-- Paul Klingaman (Paul.Klingaman@Veritas.com), June 11, 1999.

Rather than file away a 23 carrier I made my own out of black matt board, then colored the edges with a black Sharpie. Use about the same thickness board, same width etc. Try this cheap method prior to hacking up a good neg carrier. I thought the whole black frame thing came from the early prints done on Ic enlargers....T/F?

-- Joe Hughes (rotab308@uswest.net), June 13, 1999.

In response to Larry Welker's comment that a machine shop would charge $100: that is probably true if you walk into most machine shops. I have cultivated a bit of a relationship with an old guy who owns a machine shop, and he does small things like this for me cheaply. He made two knobs for an old Star-D tripod for $25 and has done a few other things for $20-$25. It is occasionally valuable to have such a source. Aside from that, however, I emailed Jim Galvin who advertises machine work for photographers in View Camera Magazine and he said he would do it for $35. I would go this route because, unlike the average machine shop, he would have an understanding of why he was doing what he was doing. Hope this helps.

-- J.L. Kennedy (jlkennedy@qnet.com), June 15, 1999.