[alt-photo] Re: New Platinum Prints

[etienne garbaux]

Edward wrote:

>I ma very interested to hear comments on these prints
>They are all done on Fabriano 50-50
>Let me know what you think

I apologize if these comments appear critical, but do remember that 
you asked for comments in a forum in which there are any number of 
folks who have been making Pt prints for decades (nearly 4 in my case).

These are OK beginner prints showing a number of the common 
mistakes.  The brush texture is very prominent and detracts greatly 
from these images, IMO.  You should without much difficulty be able 
to reduce it to insignificance with changes in technique (rod coating 
has much to recommend it -- I haven't used a brush since the early 
'70s).  It's hard to tell from the digitized versions (especially 
because they are so small), but it appears to me that your Dmax is 
also quite a bit less than you should achieve, perhaps because you 
didn't get enough solution onto the paper and/or did not fully expose 
them with negatives of appropriate DR.  Finally, again it's hard to 
tell from the digitized versions, but the tonal rendering doesn't 
appear to have the characteristic lush smoothness one expects from Pt 
-- I suspect because you're using a contrast agent rather than making 
negatives with the proper DR for the process (generally, somewhere 
between 2.1 and 3.0).

If you experiment intelligently, pay careful attention, and take good 
notes, after another 100 or so you should be starting to make prints 
to be proud of.

Best regards,

etienne