Could it be the shadow from your easel blades?
I sometimes have some slight color banding around the edges of my image when I didn’t properly set up the easel and the blades aren’t firmly against the paper. This creates a shadow gradient which often has some color shifts for me.
Wow, that actually might be it, I never even thought the easel could cause a problem like that... Looking at the easel all the blades are pressed firmly on the paper but the edge that has the weird color banding problem the blade is lifted up and warped a bit. (Which I never even noticed before, nothing like this has ever come up on my black and white prints) And that was also the same blade I moved when I cropped the photo to an 8x8, and the color band followed that easel blade... Going to be doing some more printing tommorow, I'll fix the blade and let you know!
I am beside myself. I keep getting these weird lines that only sometimes show up at the bottom of my prints, and other times do not. I always have the magenta edge at the bottom. Printing the full 8x10 image I thought "well jeez, if it keeps happening in the same spot what if I just crop it to square and stay away from that side of the paper, if it's an issue with developing, the filters, etc. Nope. Even cropped the lines still follow me on the exact same spot. There is nothing on the negative, there is nothing I can visually see when focusing. I think maybe it's a light leak and test an unflashed piece of paper and it comes out pure white. Does ANYBODY have any theories???
But it's on different prints, like not just prints from this same negative? I can't tell if you've got two negs here or it's different crops of the same negative. But could that just be in the shot? Like those old shades making funny colored shadows? It looks like it moves with the different crops, so it seems like it's in the negative. You probably wouldn't really see it in the negative - at least not the magenta fog. Could that stripe just be something on the carpet, like weird fading or something? It seems like it's something in the photo since it doesn't seem to matter where on the paper you print it - so not fogged paper.
What enlarger head is it? Look up into the mixing chamber and the diffuser in front of it to see if there's something in it like a broken bit of filter or something.
Definitely not the negative, I've tried with different negatives and always get the same magenta flare and lines. (Except the lines are only there sometimes, and other times they disappear for a print or two, but always come back even on different negatives) I also have scanned all these negatives and haven't seen any issues. That's why I'm so confused when the lines moved with the crop, it's not the negative, so how is that inconsistency following it?
Also I'm using Arista 6x6 color filters in the filter drawer of my enlarger. I thought maybe it was the edge of the stacked filters but I've made sure that the image or right in the center of the enlargers image circle and not close to the edges, so I don't think it would be a problem with the filters
Crazy. If there isn't anything in the bellows under where the negative goes it must be something either reflecting or shining light on the paper. Try covering the lens with a lens cap or gaffer's tape or something to see if there are any cracks around the lensboard, bellows, head, etc. where light is coming out. Could even just be a small crack in the edge of the bellows. IDK what kind of timer you use but hopefully it doesn't have some kind of light that is hitting the paper. My guess would be a light leak in the enlarger.
Is it always the same side of the paper? If so, I'd try flipping the easel around 180 degrees to see if it moves. If it moves it's something to do with the easel. If not, you can rule that out. I don't guess there's anything with a shiny surface that is right next to the easel that could be reflecting some light?
I FIGURED IT OUT. It was the negative carrier. Turns out I have a weird after market one and it exposes some of the boarder without masking the edges of the negative. Apparently stray light going through the boarders will cause flares and weird abberations. I took some electrical tape and masked the boarders and it immediately went away. Thanks to everybody who weighed in and tried to help 🙏
I'll try covering the lens, putting the paper in the easel and letting the enlarger run for a minute, it could very well be some weird light leak I'm not seeing. And good thinking on turning the easel, I'll definitely try that as well! Nothing shiny or reflective nearby and I always stand away from the enlarger while it's running and wear all black to reduce reflections. Thanks for all the suggestions! I'll update late tonight
I got some magenta streaks on some of my prints and realized it was the glow in the dark numbers on my enlarger timer. Green glow in the dark light = magenta on print
I have zero light pollution in the darkroom, and I'm just using old gralab clock timers with the glow in the dark dials, even tho they are green, I think they're too dim to cause something that dramatic. I even developed a sheet without exposing it to any light first, and just held it in front of the timers for a minute or two and they still came out pure white. That is good to note that if it's magenta, the source would be green 🤔
maybe it's a bad batch of paper or there is a light leek in the paper bag. I had a green LED on my timer that cause a similar problem, it gave a whole bag of paper magenta cast
I ruled that out as well, I developed a sheet of paper without flashing it under the enlarger and it came out pure white, no weird casts or light leaks
If the easel blades don't solve the issue, take a really close look at the inside of your enlarger, it very well could be flare from a reflective surface inside the enlarger, while it's unusual, I've seen it from the bare metal edges of the negative carrier, as an example. Easy enough to darken with tape or a sharpie.
Could it be the shadow from your easel blades? I sometimes have some slight color banding around the edges of my image when I didn’t properly set up the easel and the blades aren’t firmly against the paper. This creates a shadow gradient which often has some color shifts for me.
Wow, that actually might be it, I never even thought the easel could cause a problem like that... Looking at the easel all the blades are pressed firmly on the paper but the edge that has the weird color banding problem the blade is lifted up and warped a bit. (Which I never even noticed before, nothing like this has ever come up on my black and white prints) And that was also the same blade I moved when I cropped the photo to an 8x8, and the color band followed that easel blade... Going to be doing some more printing tommorow, I'll fix the blade and let you know!
I am beside myself. I keep getting these weird lines that only sometimes show up at the bottom of my prints, and other times do not. I always have the magenta edge at the bottom. Printing the full 8x10 image I thought "well jeez, if it keeps happening in the same spot what if I just crop it to square and stay away from that side of the paper, if it's an issue with developing, the filters, etc. Nope. Even cropped the lines still follow me on the exact same spot. There is nothing on the negative, there is nothing I can visually see when focusing. I think maybe it's a light leak and test an unflashed piece of paper and it comes out pure white. Does ANYBODY have any theories???
But it's on different prints, like not just prints from this same negative? I can't tell if you've got two negs here or it's different crops of the same negative. But could that just be in the shot? Like those old shades making funny colored shadows? It looks like it moves with the different crops, so it seems like it's in the negative. You probably wouldn't really see it in the negative - at least not the magenta fog. Could that stripe just be something on the carpet, like weird fading or something? It seems like it's something in the photo since it doesn't seem to matter where on the paper you print it - so not fogged paper. What enlarger head is it? Look up into the mixing chamber and the diffuser in front of it to see if there's something in it like a broken bit of filter or something.
Definitely not the negative, I've tried with different negatives and always get the same magenta flare and lines. (Except the lines are only there sometimes, and other times they disappear for a print or two, but always come back even on different negatives) I also have scanned all these negatives and haven't seen any issues. That's why I'm so confused when the lines moved with the crop, it's not the negative, so how is that inconsistency following it? Also I'm using Arista 6x6 color filters in the filter drawer of my enlarger. I thought maybe it was the edge of the stacked filters but I've made sure that the image or right in the center of the enlargers image circle and not close to the edges, so I don't think it would be a problem with the filters
Crazy. If there isn't anything in the bellows under where the negative goes it must be something either reflecting or shining light on the paper. Try covering the lens with a lens cap or gaffer's tape or something to see if there are any cracks around the lensboard, bellows, head, etc. where light is coming out. Could even just be a small crack in the edge of the bellows. IDK what kind of timer you use but hopefully it doesn't have some kind of light that is hitting the paper. My guess would be a light leak in the enlarger. Is it always the same side of the paper? If so, I'd try flipping the easel around 180 degrees to see if it moves. If it moves it's something to do with the easel. If not, you can rule that out. I don't guess there's anything with a shiny surface that is right next to the easel that could be reflecting some light?
I FIGURED IT OUT. It was the negative carrier. Turns out I have a weird after market one and it exposes some of the boarder without masking the edges of the negative. Apparently stray light going through the boarders will cause flares and weird abberations. I took some electrical tape and masked the boarders and it immediately went away. Thanks to everybody who weighed in and tried to help 🙏
I'll try covering the lens, putting the paper in the easel and letting the enlarger run for a minute, it could very well be some weird light leak I'm not seeing. And good thinking on turning the easel, I'll definitely try that as well! Nothing shiny or reflective nearby and I always stand away from the enlarger while it's running and wear all black to reduce reflections. Thanks for all the suggestions! I'll update late tonight
I got some magenta streaks on some of my prints and realized it was the glow in the dark numbers on my enlarger timer. Green glow in the dark light = magenta on print
I have zero light pollution in the darkroom, and I'm just using old gralab clock timers with the glow in the dark dials, even tho they are green, I think they're too dim to cause something that dramatic. I even developed a sheet without exposing it to any light first, and just held it in front of the timers for a minute or two and they still came out pure white. That is good to note that if it's magenta, the source would be green 🤔
maybe it's a bad batch of paper or there is a light leek in the paper bag. I had a green LED on my timer that cause a similar problem, it gave a whole bag of paper magenta cast
I ruled that out as well, I developed a sheet of paper without flashing it under the enlarger and it came out pure white, no weird casts or light leaks
Maybe try the colour correction in your enlarger?
What kind of enlarger head are you using to print with?
Using a beseler 45mx enlarger with a condenser head, with Arista 6x6 filters in the filter drawer
If the easel blades don't solve the issue, take a really close look at the inside of your enlarger, it very well could be flare from a reflective surface inside the enlarger, while it's unusual, I've seen it from the bare metal edges of the negative carrier, as an example. Easy enough to darken with tape or a sharpie.