5. Extreme Contrast Kodak Technical Pan Film 2415 is a virtually grainless and extremely contrasty film. Expose it at EI 125 and develop it in Kodak D-19 developer (or have a custom lab develop it, if you don't do your own film processing), and print the resulting negatives on grade 5 (high-contrast) paper. The resulting images will consist only of black tones and white tones, with no gray tones. Simple, and effective. Kodak Technical Pan film, developed in Kodak D-19 and printed on grade 5 or 6 paper, yields prints containing no gray tones—just black, and white. Photo by Mike Stensvold

6. Push-Processing Push-processing is the opposite of pull-processing: you underexpose the film, then overdevelop it to partially compensate for the underexposure. Why underexpose the film? So you can shoot at a faster shutter speed, at a smaller lens aperture, or in dimmer light. The important thing to remember is that a push-processed image won't be as good as a properly exposed and developed image. The pushed image will have more grain and contrast and less sharpness and shadow detail. But pushing can allow you to get the shot when the film you have isn't fast enough for to do the job. Most pro labs can push-process film for you. Some films push better than others—check with your lab as to the best films and film speeds to use. Generally, black-and-white films and color-slide films "push" more successfully than color-print films. Most of our pushing is done with ISO 100 Kodak and Fuji slide films (to EI 200) and Kodak T-Max P3200 (to EI 6400). But many other films are quite pushable. Top Tri-X exposed at EI 2400 and push-processed in Perfection Super Speed developer allowed the photographer to sharply record sumo action in available light with a 200mm f/4 lens. Photo by Mike Stensvold Bottom The ultimate in push-processing: Kodak T-Max P3200 was exposed at EI 25,000 (per an incident-meter reading at the subject's position) and developed in Kodak T-Max developer per instructions to get this simulated surveillance shot. Grain is huge and shadow detail is lacking (two characteristics of pushed images), but you can identify the subject. Photo by Mike Stensvold

7. Toning Black-and-white images don't have to remain black and white. You can tone them by using different papers, print toners, or digitally using your image-editing program's capabilities. There are warm-tone and cold-tone papers, as well as colored papers. You can also print (or have a lab print) your black-and-white negatives on standard color papers, and use filtration to add a tone. Print toners are available in a variety of colors—probably the most popular are sepia, which produces a warm brown tone, and selenium, which produces a cool, slightly blue tone. The effects of a given toner will be different on different printing papers. Selenium toner is also often used to extend print life. If you've "gone digital," you can convert your black-and-white images to RGB color (or scan them in color), and add any color you wish. You can also tone only selected portions of the print, by covering the parts you don't want toned with rubber cement or frisket before using the toner, or digitally via Photoshop or other image-editing program. Toning can add color to a black-and-white image (as sepia toning did here). Selenium and sulfide toners also improve the stability of conventional black-and-white prints. Photo by Jay Jorgensen

8. Pull-Processing "Expose for the shadows; develop for the highlights." This old axiom for holding detail throughout the picture when photographing contrasty scenes is the basis for pull-processing. Basically, you're overexposing the film to assure good shadow detail, then underdeveloping it to keep the highlights from becoming too dense to print. How much you overexpose and how much you underdevelop depend on how contrasty the scene is. Start with one or two stops of additional exposure and reduce development to 60-70% of the standard time, and go on from there based on the results. (Ansel Adams' Zone System is a great way to handle all kinds of black-and-white shooting situations in scientific fashion—see his books The Negative and The Print from Little, Brown for details.) Top: Pull-processing reduces contrast—handy when you have to shoot in harsh lighting, like direct sun. Photo by Mike Stensvold Bottom: Extreme pull-processing can help you record a tremendous scenic brightness range: While something probably will be lost in reproduction, the original print showed detail in the darkest part of the underpass (which registered 0 on a digital spot meter) and the street lights (which registered 14). This shot was made on Kodak Tri-X, processed in Perfection extended-range developer. Photo by Mike Stensvold