[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
cyan-info-type for Don
Hi Don,
I don't know if this information will help your printing any, but it's
pretty much step by step of my printing process that has formed from
experimenting on my own... My apologies to anyone not interested in
cyanotype or my process...you may want to delete now....
>Do
>you process your ortho in Dektol? What brand of film?
The film is the Arista stuff from freestyle, and the developer is most
likely very much like dektol but is the premixed lauder brand
concentrated paper developer (1:32) I used to use HC110... and my next
plan is to use a tray of each to increase the range of tones for the
lith film...I have this idea to develop for low contrast in the paper
developer...then a quick dip in the HC110... It's hard to find room in
my darkroom for enough 20"X24" trays... Some wall or something is
gonna' have to move soon!
>
>So are you doing New Cyanotypes or traditional? I've used a foam brush but
>for the prints that I've done lately I've used a wet hake brush.
I've mixed up the new cyanotype following instructions from Mike Wares
web site, (I look forward to meeting him at the Chrysotype workshop
next month!) and had good results from the prints. But when I compare
the results from the new and the traditional - and compare the labor
and costs involved with mixing the two formulas...I settled with the
traditional. (although I do add a few drops of tween and citric acid,
maybe I just imagine it, but I think the chemistry adheres better and
the highlights clear better with these two additional things?) A paper
that works good with cyanotype chemistry(meaning what you think looks
good and like...) and negative densities that work well with your
choice of paper... For me, I think I can get a tonal range that is very
hard to tell the difference between the new and the traditional. ( I
don't have anyone to compare results with...) And that's my impression
from fresh prints. As I watch framed prints hanging on my walls age
over the past three years, I think the new formula has a harsher edge
to the color and less of a tonal range. The feeling I get from looking
at the traditional formula (Bea Nettle's Breaking The Rules) is that
that the softer and lighter shades are absent from the new, and I think
this is due to the chemicals aging differently... But then my simple
mind hasn't the desire to learn skills in scientific measuring... so I
have to sluff off my impressions as "just a feeling" I get.
The papers I have gravitated toward... if I'm printing a sharp 5x7 pmk
negative with sharp detail, I've been using a cranes paper. I suppose
if cranes was easily available in large sheets I might use it for
everything. But for the lith negatives that don't have the sharpest
detail and the need for the smoothest surface, I'm now using Arches
Platine, and before the Arches I preferred Windsor Newton hotpress.
These get the deepest blues for me and yet clear from the highlights
also.
I built a rack for drying my papers from a old grocery store bakers
rack. Made a bunch of screens, and wrapped the outside in black
plastic. (I made my drying rack and washing system much larger than I
really need because sometimes the alt classes from the local schools
come here and print... but it's very nice having all this space just to
myself!) I do have a small electric heater in the bottom, that warms
the air, but does not directly blow onto any of the papers, preventing
uneven drying. The drying rack is light tight enough that I have left
papers (without heat) 24-48 hours before printing...but this does
change the exposure time a bit and makes it a little more difficult to
make one print match another...
My prints are too big to measure anything by drops...so I dip the foam
brush, and shake off excess chemistry. I used to coat the paper very
gently in just one direction with the foam brush. But after noticing in
some classes I helped t.a. the students who brushed vigorously back and
forth...to the point of paper fibers building up on the brush...had
better prints than others. So now I brush gently back and forth in one
direction and then back and forth in the other, coating a evenly as
possible, without damaging the paper surface, and I only coat once even
though I hear some people like two coats.
I recently enlarged my UV light box, it now is eight, 48"BL made by
Phillips. The local lighting store ordered them, and I think they were
about $12 each. The bulbs sit about 3" above the printing frame.
Exposure time for the redwood was 28 min. with some dodging in one
corner. But would have been much less time with the new formula. The
light box is plugged into a lab timer and buzzes when it's done...
I too have no idea what the ph of my water is. It comes from a series
of wells in the mountain above my house...It's nice drinkable water. I
made a washing system by adding 3/4" pvc drains to two 30"X40" photo
trays. The trays sit on the counter at different levels. Fresh water
flows into the highest tray, and drains into the lower tray, which
drains into the sink. I wash first in the lower tray about ten-twelve
minutes, then in the fresh water for another eight-ten minutes... too
long and detail washes away, not long enough and bleeding/streaking
happens...then hang the dripping prints from a line.
ok...enough for today...happy printing! I wish I had nothing else I
had to do...
garimo