06/01/2026
Here’s a shot of Richmond Lock and Footbridge. It’s a black and white darkroom handprint on RC paper. The second version is a spare which i did less work to, but decided to Sepia Tone it rather than bin it. I quite liked the light hitting the smaller branches of the tree on the left, as it comes across as a chaotic splattering of light. To enhance this effect and focus attention on the centre of print I used bleach to brighten the highlights in this area, and the ripples of water under the bridge. Bleach is a good way to lighten highlights without affecting midtones too much, which comes across as a contrast boost. Useful for lightening small areas of a print where dodging is tricky. With the aim of drawing the eye to the highlights of the branches and water I then burned in the sky, especially the top right corner as there was a significant amount of glare in that corner. The framing of the dark branches, the foreground bank, and bridge draw your eye to the water to create a balanced print. The sepia print was bleached to completion, which when toned matches the Victorian architecture of Richmond Lock.
