Response to TMAX 400 grainy negatives

One interesting way to reduce the appearance of grain is to add diffusion in printing. No, it does not reduce grain in the neg, but still it's a useful salvage technique depending on the type of image (OK for portraits to eleminate "sandpaper" skin, NG for landscapes where you want all-over clarity of image). To add diffusion, get a good work print, increase print time by about 20% while you hold a plastic "baggie" over lens for about 20-50% of total print time. Hold the thing about halfway between lens and easel, moving it slightly but constantly. Make a bunch of prints at varying diffusion rates and see what works best. Diffusion blurs edges and the first thing to soften up is the grain. Give it a try and good luck!

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