Focusing the negative image on the enlarging paper can be difficult when the negatives are dense or have no sharply defined lines that you can see in the projected image.

Focusing is easier and more consistent when you use a magnifier or grain focuser. A grain focuser magnifies the negative grain structure by 10X to 25X. This magnification allows you to focus the actual grain structure of the image. A grain focuser provides you with the sharpest focus you can get from a given negative.

The projected image of the negative is reflected by the mirror of the grain focuser to the eyepiece. The distance from the mirror to the eyepiece is equal to the distance from the mirror to the easel (fig. 11-11); therefore, when you see a sharp image of the grain structure in the magnifier, the image projected on the easel is equally sharp. The area of the negative visible in the magnifier is extremely small. You are not actually looking at details of the image but at the grain structure of the negative that actually produces the image.

To use the grain focuser, you should enlarge and compose the picture normally on an easel. Place the grain focuser on the easel with a sheet of focusing paper in it, so a central portion of the projected image reflects from the mirror into the eyepiece of the grain focuser. Examine the grain structure through the eyepiece and adjust the fine focus until the grain structure is in absolutely sharp focus.

CREATIVE CONTROLS IN PRINTING

Because of the many ways you can control the final appearance of the photograph, enlarging is a creative procedure. You can use printing exposure to make your prints lighter or darker, and the contrast can be altered by your choice of printing filters. You, also, have other creative controls available, such as cropping (composition), dodging, printing, or burning in, vignetting, diffusing, correcting image distortion, and so on.

You should devote as much attention and care to printing as to making the original negative; otherwise, you do an injustice to your skill and reputation as a photographer.