I´m getting weird lines in my prints when I mask..

[totifoto]

I was making some prints tonight and got these weird lines in them when I tried to darken the sky a bit. Do you have any idea what is causing this?

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3656/3440117394_4bcd2ee784_o.jpg http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3306/3440119028_eaea21d54b_o.jpg

[antistatic]

Weird sky??

Sorry if you were hoping for something useful from me :o

[calexg]

I have no idea how those big red lines appeared in your print...totally bizarre! ;)

[jwhitley]

It's hard to tell from your scans, but it does appear that you could be bringing in detail that is really on the negative. Have you checked the neg under a loupe? Also, check the negative to see if you've got drying marks that went unnoticed before -- you might just need to clean that up.

If the sky detail is really on the negative, but you want a smoother look, one approach is to do a dual exposure. Burn in the sky just a bit with the original negative, then switch to a negative of a "blank" surface (smooth wall, etc.) for additional burn in with a bit of grain, but a reduction in unwanted detail.