U of S | Mailing List Archive | alt-photo-process-l | Re: solarized gums?

Re: solarized gums?



Hi Ilana,
My own experience, observations and tests don't support the notion that failure to clear (aka pigment stain) is a function of underexposure, so I wouldn't agree with your tentative conclusion that "parts that should clear are not, because they have not received enough light." If you're interested, some test strips showing the lack of relationship I found between stain and exposure are here:

http://www.pacifier.com/~kthayer/html/stainexposure.html

It sounds like what is happening to your highlights, if I understand the description accurately, is a phenomenon some people call "tonal inversion." For my take on this phenom, see

http://www.pacifier.com/~kthayer/html/tonalinversion.html

Hope any of that is useful to you,
Katharine




On Feb 13, 2007, at 9:47 AM, ilana wrote:

Hello Friends,
With all of your added input I am getting the handle on things--at least
understanding how each element reacts and how to manipulate it to my needs.

Something weird is happening: I am getting highlights that look solarized.
The edges are white and the insides are dark. However, other details in the
print are coming through, and appear as they should be. At first I thought
my negative was printing negative. It has happened with two negatives: 1)
which had very dark areas [strong highlights] and 2) a test print I'm doing
where I having layered two exact copies of a negative onto one another and
exposed it together [all digital, 300 dpi, negative, with adjusted levels]

I realized it could be 100 million things, however, I'd like to see if my
thought are along the right path: The negative is too dense now and the
parts that should clear are not, because they have not received enough
light. Solutions: 1) use only one layer of neg 2)increase exposure, less
dichromate, and less pigment, 3)??

Has anyone else ever had this happen?

Thanks,
ilana