BL light box 'blues'
Have recently decided to intensify my interest in non-silver, I constructed my new UV light-box using 10 BL tubes presently 5 inches above my printing frame. So that I could use the same negatives for both silver-gelatin, Cyanos and VDB I switched to Pyrocat as a developer... and I must admit, they do look "sweet". A few years ago my southern Alberta summer sunlight exposures for Cyanos were running around the eight minute mark... which expanded to around two and a half hours in the rather weak December sun. The exposure times I expected using the new 24" BL tubes are nowhere as short as I had hoped... Cyanotypes seem to be requiring around 40 to 50 minutes while I have not yet reached the 'end-point' for acceptable VDB exposures, it seems as if 60 -70 minutes might be the absolute minimum. I do not have a stouffer wedge to assist reaching my standard exposure times, my patience is wearing (as my frustration level rises). I have just put a VDB out on the deck to enjoy some natural UV rays from the sun for a time comparison... Are my BL light-box test exposure times "out of line" with times experienced by others? Ken Quando omni flunkus moritati (R. Green)
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