This process involves lightening an area of a print. An example where dodging would be effective would be a face shaded by a broad brimmed hat. The face would print dark and facial features would be lost, so light from the enlarger would be held back (dodged) in the face area to lighten it and restore facial features.

Students could make two prints from the same negative, one that has not been dodged and a second to show the effects of dodging on the finished print.

Students can make their own darkroom tools for doing the basic enhancement techniques.

This process involves adding light to create a darker area or add light to a lighter area on the print.

Students could make two prints from the same negative, one that has not been burned and a second to show the effects of burning-in on the finished print.

The basic composition features of vertical or horizontal format need to be considered.

Sometimes it is not possible to foresee potentially distracting elements in the viewfinder of the camera when the image is recorded on film. It then becomes necessary to enhance the composition by cropping with the easel or using the enlarger to recompose the image, to alter or remove the disruptive elements.

For a different cropping effect try blocking the enlarger light except for one element in a negative allowing that area to be printed. This is sometimes referred to as vignetting.

Students can sandwich the negatives and produce a print or print the lower part of one negative and the top part from a second negative. For example, an image with a cloud filled sky can be combined with an image that has a cloudless sky.

Accessory manufacturers market different types of screens or special filters that will create interesting effects for finished prints.

Toners are used to change the appearance of a finished print. The toning process can be done with a black and white print after it has been fixed and washed. Some printing papers accept toning better than others. If students are to do a toning assignment, select an appropriate printing paper. The manufacturer of the paper will indicate in its data if the paper is suitable for toning prints.

There are a number of toners available to use with black and white photographs. These include:

• Sepia produces a brown tone.
• Selenium produces a range of tones from a purplish blue to a reddish brown depending on the strength of the solution.
• Blue and other colours are available.

It is possible to tone parts of a print selectively by carefully masking areas of the print to produce a photograph with a unique appearance.

Caution: Rubber gloves, waterproof apron, eye protection and good ventilation are mandatory safety items when handling toner chemicals, as they may be acrid or toxic and corrosive.

This can be a tricky process to control if consistent results are required. Solarization during the developing process produces a partial reversal of tones in the print that produces a surreal image.

This process is also referred to as the Sabattier effect and can be used with film or paper.