Gary Miller (gmphotos@earthlink.net)
Thu, 18 Nov 1999 23:39:51 -0800
Ginger;
I have found a few things that you may want to think about in the very
unpredictable world of Polaroid transfers. In fact, we should make Polaroid
transfers honorary members of the alternative process community because of
their unpredictable nature. The temperature of the soaking water, really
the pre-soaking of the watercolor paper if you are doing a wet transfer, is
very critical. It should be in the 75-100 F range. I prefer to stay more
in the 85-100 range. I find if it is too hot, then the image layer can melt
and keep adhered to the Polaroid side, and even pull up some of the
watercolor paper like you described. It is also possible to press/roll on
the transfer too hard. You will know it is too much pressure being applied
if you see inks oozing out on the edges under your negative. Pressing on
the transfer too hard usually just gives you a fuzzier image and some smear,
but not any 'melting'. Also, you should let the rolled over Polaroid rest
on the watercolor paper about 90 seconds before peeling off the backing so
the dyes have a chance to completely transfer to the paper, and then you
should peel off the negative very slowly and starting from one corner. If
you re getting too much liftoff, the peel can be done underwater, which
should lessen the lift off effect. But if the water you started with was
too hot you will get lousy results. Another thing to consider is that
Polaroid varies greatly from pack to pack, and your student just may have a
bad lot. Polaroid has been known to replace poor lots, so your student may
inquire. There are many variations to this technique, but I would try some
of these things that I mentioned as a starting point. Good luck;
Gary Miller
----- Original Message -----
From: gingers <gingers@suninternet.com>
To: <alt-photo-process-l@usask.ca>
Sent: Thursday, November 18, 1999 6:03 PM
Subject: Polaroid Transfers
> Hello!
>
> I am now at the end of the semester teaching color photography (you may
> remember I was supposed to teach Alternative Processes and got switched at
> the last moment). Recently, I demonstrated the Polaroid Image transfer
(the
> ink, not the emulsion) made with a Vivitar Daylab and my student's slides.
> Everything went smoothly.
>
> Then, one of my students spent some time doing transfers on his own. He
> had done fine during the supervised lab. He brought me the results - a
> disaster. When he peeled back the Polaroid from the Watercolor Paper, the
> image, and even part of the watercolor paper peeled off. I have never seen
> this before. The only one that remotely worked had smeared ridges of ink
on
> the surface, instead of sinking in. I questioned him about his methods. He
> had used the same paper we used in the lab. He soaked the paper and then
> squeegeed it dry. All I could guess was that he either pressed too hard on
> his image during transfer (is that possible?) thus grinding it into the
> paper, as well as leaving the ridges of ink. Or, after burnishing, he
> placed the image on a warming tray that was too hot and the inks melted
> into the paper. Or, maybe a combo of the two (he is strong).
>
> Have any of you ever seen this? Please let me know any explanations or
> suggestions you might have.
>
> All the best,
>
> Ginger Sheridan
>
> PS - I will be teaching alternative processes next semester, so taking the
> color class was worth it.
>
>
> GINGER SHERIDAN
> 802 Second Street, Neptune Beach, FL 32266
> ph: 904.242.7931 fx: 904.242.0495 email: gingers@suninternet.com
>
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