RE: Ware/Malde-Ziatype-DOP palladium,was RE: "New" Paper for Pt/Pd (and other iron processes, too)

[Eric Neilsen <ejnphoto@sbcglobal.net>]

Doug, Your Dmax WILL suffer at lower humidity IF you are using ONLY
palladium at LOW humidity. PD is SLOWER FOR ALL AFO or FO based processes at
lower humidity. Dmax doesn't really suffer as much as SPEED. Readjust your
speed and you'll see. 

Eric Neilsen Photography
4101 Commerce Street
Suite 9
Dallas, TX 75226
http://e.neilsen.home.att.net
http://ericneilsenphotography.com
Skype ejprinter

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Doug Wade [mailto:apl@san-francisco-nudes.com]
> Sent: Friday, December 01, 2006 8:18 PM
> To: alt-photo-process-l@usask.ca
> Subject: RE: Ware/Malde-Ziatype-DOP palladium, was RE: "New" Paper for
> Pt/Pd (and other iron processes, too)
> 
> Quoting Camden Hardy <camden@hardyphotography.net>:
> 
> > Interesting.  I read somewhere (I was going to cite it, but alas I can't
> > find the source...maybe I dreamt it) that ziatype, in its basic form, is
> > fairly constant between 20%-80% RH.  Another look at the official
> ziatype
> > article on the B&S website (http://www.bostick-sullivan.com/techart.php)
> > showed me that 50%-65% RH is recommended.
> 
> My experience so far (maybe 30 prints) is that if the humidity is
> around 55% - 65% that's a bit of a "sweet spot" and everything goes
> very smoothly.  If it's around 40% even if I put the print in front of
> a humidifier for a minute or two it will print a bit warm and I think
> the maximum density may suffer but have no actual measurements to
> prove it.  It also seems to coat a bit less evenly.  I can make it
> work but I just feel like I'm fighting the process.  I know that's a
> bit of a fluffy description, but it will have to do for the moment.
> 
> I haven't tried toning it chemically since the instructions say that
> sodium tungstate also changes the contrast and frankly it's one more
> variable than I care to deal with at the moment, epsecially since the
> neutral color is very nice.
> 
> Doug