[alt-photo] Re: tintypes

[Christina Anderson]

Richard,
Yes, it is not a reversal developer but my guess is a fogging developer that fogs where the more silver is deposited (in the shadows of the image on the negative image on the plate since you print from a positive which in turn then makes the negative parts of the image lighter and the highlights which is what they should be). But the confusion is that Rockland LABELS their tintype developer "reversal" developer, so that is why Mary calls it that.

Mary, you know me, I "tell all"....so when I write it up I'll let you know. I have figured out that the cost to make your own is about $14 to Rockland's $25 per gallon so honestly unless one is into chems I think Rockland is the way to go--in other words, is your time mixing and ordering worth that extra $11? Although, mixing your own small batches--yes that would be cheaper for sure.

The gang lab tintype--let me tell you  I am NUTS. It was a gang lab, 18 students, both tintype on metal of course and then liquid emulsion on paper. First there were not enough red safelights working so we were really in the dark. Then can you imagine that many students coating and drying tintype plates? What a mess. BUT the blessing is that once I nailed in the exposure time for the digital contact negative a la PDN, we could immediately print out every tintype plate at that exact time (I had printed each student's negative in the previous lab so those were ready to go). With two trays of developer set up we could develop all immediately one after the other, too. Then the next problem, where to wash 18 delecate plates with no touching. Oh my.

I always learn all kinds of problems the first time I do a gang lab. Anything that can go wrong will. Including one student printing another student's negative on her tintype because you really can't see a red digineg under red safelight. At least it looked good!

Then, the Rockland developer worked like a total charm.

Only problem was the evenness and thickness of coating and the adherence to the metal. We did sand with 600 grit paper lightly, but we really needed to probably varnish the plates, too.

Nevertheless, the resulting tintypes looked great, very evocative, and the purpose of making the students experience tintype was achieved. 
Chris


Christina Z. Anderson
christinaZanderson.com

On Nov 4, 2010, at 8:56 AM, Mary Donato wrote:

> Chris,
> 
> Please let us know about your results when you have a chance to make and test your reversal developer recipe.
> I had a lot of fun a couple of years ago making dry-plate tintypes with the Rockland kit (in-camera, tiny, square format things, so cute).
> Then I ran out of developer :( and everything came to a screeching halt.
> I didn't want to order a gallon, and it's pretty expensive, anyway. As I recall, the shelf life of the developer is fairly short. I didn't have any joy with the exhausted fixer thing. So I'd love to be able to make small batches of developer. Bet I'm not the only one, too!
> Thanks for sharing the info!
> 
> Cheers,
> Mary
> 
> http://alternative-ego.com