U of S | Mailing List Archive | alt-photo-process-l | Re: BL light box 'blues'

Re: BL light box 'blues'



Maybe your Pyrocat negatives are way too dense? They can get perfectly 
bulletproof negatives (in case of overdevelopment) while they fake like
being thin; the brownish stain is a pretty strong UV light blocker!

What film, EI, Pyrocat dilution (A?B?H2O?) and development time (and
regime) have you used for the negatives? Maybe someone with good
experience with Pyrocat may evaluate this info and tell you if you're
indeed overdeveloping the negatives.

Regards,
Loris.


30 Mart 2009, Pazartesi, 11:48 pm tarihinde, Ken Sinclair yazmış:
> 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)
>
>