lawless (lawless@ic24.net)
Tue, 12 Oct 1999 02:17:35 +0100
Hi,
I make enlarged negatives in the darkroom, so do not have much experience of
using original camera negatives for alternative printing processes, but I
have some suggestions.
Most alternative processes (Pt/Pd, kallitype, cyanotype, etc.) like a
negative with a density range from about 0.2 to 2.0 (a range of 1.8). In
his book on cyanotypes, Mike Ware suggests that a similar range is obtained
by overdeveloping by 70%. I have not tried this myself, but I would suggest
also overexposing by 1-2 stops to ensure good shadow detail.
If you have a good, well exposed negative, bleaching and redeveloping it in
PMK increases its density and contrast, and makes it quite suitable for alt
work. The density increase is due to the brown stain which PMK adds to the
original silver. Use the bleach that comes with a sepia toner, until the
negative appears a dull grey colour FROM BOTH SIDES. Then wash until the
yellow stain disappears, and redevelop for 15 minutes in PMK at its normal
working strength. A fix should not be necessary after developing for ths
time (as all the silver has been redeveloped and there is nothing left to
fix), but a fix does no harm. (If all the silver was not redeveloped,
fixing makes the image lighter.)
If your negative was developed in PMK, it will be intensified by this
redevelopment.
Or, bleach your negative as above, then wash and put it in a sepia toner. I
have only done this once (tonight!) and the negative - an old one on T-Max
100 - did not change colour very much, but it became more opaque to UV light
and gave a reasonable cyanotype. But I think PMK redevelopment is better.
Gum printing needs a different type of negative, I believe, but others can
tell you about that.
Hope this helps,
Liam
----- Original Message -----
From: Songryong Ock <molar@chollian.net>
To: <alt-photo-process-l@usask.ca>
Sent: Monday, October 11, 1999 2:52 AM
Subject: TO ALTERNATE THE B&W NEGATIVES
> Hi!
> I have many concerns to make alternative negatives(like E. J. Bellock's
works).
> Are there any chemical methods to damage my gelatin silver negatives.
> If you know that methods or reference books about technique,
> Pls let me know,
> Bye!
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