For this second test instead of using a studio flash we used a small speedlight flash gun, and we covered it was two neutral density filters. This meant the exposure would still be short, but it would instead be less bright than the studio flashes we used last time.
Again we rested objects on the paper to create a photogram and held a piece of card over the top, uncovering the paper with each flash of the flashgun to create a test strip of tones.
This is the test after it came out of the machine, and it worked!
I was really happy with the result as it means I now know how many flashes it takes to reach black, but also how many it will take to create a variety of grey tones.
Something I hadn’t thought of was how using the flashgun would affect the appearance of the shadows that objects left on the paper. Normally in the darkroom where the enlarger uses a soft light, objects leave a fuzzy shadow when they rise up from the paper and aren’t in direct contact with the surface. Eggs would for example have a soft fuzzy edge, but here they had a straight and very defined edge. This is because the flashfun has a very small lightsource and is very harsh, light shoots out in very straight lines and doesn’t get to bounce around as much as a softer light source, hence in this test the straight defined edges of the objects.
For the next test I will try bouncing the flashgun off a reflector to see if I can create softer edge.
