DEAR
ETIENNE,
You
really should consider Pyro developers if you want negs that print well in both
alt processes and silver gelatin. My 8X10 negs that print wonderfully in palladium
with just a little platinum also print very well with a contrast #1 filter with
most variable contrast fiber base silver gelatin papers.
CHEERS!
BOB
From: etienne garbaux
[mailto:photographeur@nerdshack.com]
Sent: Monday, April 13, 2009 9:11
PM
To: alt-photo-process-l@usask.ca
Subject: Re: pt/pd stops
Chris wrote:
I am interested in the utmost capability of a pt/pd print in terms of
stops--to compare with bw, cyanotype, gum, etc. I have gone back and started
reading Mike Ware's Cyanotype book again and find it is SO worth reading
because each time I return to it I find more.
Indeed. Would that all photo process books were that well researched and
presented.
In the BW darkroom I did an interesting visual of printing a Stouffers
with every filter in the Kodak filter pack to illustrate the tonal range/number
of stops each filter produced. Very illustrative of the effect of
filters! I'm tempted to post one more visual :)
But no one would print with a 1 or
0 filter which, if memory serves correctly and I am too lazy to go get the step
wedge prints, gave the longest tonal range.
Yes, the lower the filter numbers (which were originally intended to more or
less match the contrast "grades" of graded papers), the longer the
exposure scale ("ES"). But why wouldn't one use grade/filter 0
or 1 if s/he had negatives that had a DR comparable to the ES of paper
grade/filter 0 or 1? To print my Pt/salt paper/albumen/cyano negatives
straight onto SG paper, I would need grade/filter 0000 SG paper. Lacking
that, I have to resort to tricks (masking, latent image bleaching (SLIMT), copy
negatives, etc.) if I want SG prints from those negs. Granted, most
people who make "normal" negs don't generally need grades/filters
below 2 or above 4 or 5, unless they are making split-contrast prints.
But if you make negs that have a DR that matches the exposure scale of
grade/filter 0 or 6 and want full-scale prints, you need grade 0 or 6 printing
materials. Ditto, if you want to make prints that have either less than
full scale or blocked shadows and/or highlights, from "normal"
negatives. If it's what you need, it's good to have.
Best regards,
etienne
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