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Re: Selenium
> Sandy King wrote:
> >
> > There was some discussion a few weeks back re: the possibility of toning
> > salted paper prints with selenium. It was suggested that Kodak Rapid
> > Selenium Toner would not work because it contained sodium thiosulfate
(or
> > was it something else?). I actually tried it at a dilution of 1:100 as
> > someone suggested and found that it reduced the image to an unacceptable
> > degree. I would now like to try plain selenium, and have two questions.
1.
> > Is selenium the same stuff one can get in health food stores? and 2. Has
> > anyone actually tried this with salted paper? If so, would appreciate
any
> > help.
> >
> > Sandy King
Hi Sandy
If you are going to go to the length of making up toner, perhaps a safer
route might be to make up Gold Chloride toner. All the chems are available
and given the very toxic nature of selenium (especially in powder form) this
might be a Good Idea. All the sources I have read on toning salt prints
recommend gold toning rather than selenium anyway.
FWIW I tried KRST (12 mins at 1:100 after a recommendation on this list) and
it worked; some image reduction occurred, but I allowed for this in the
exposure and the final result was fine. But I only tried that because I live
so far from anywhere that sells photographic chemicals and I happen to
always have KRST around the place. I can't see any point in going to great
lengths to find the chem to make my own selenium toner, not to mention the
health hazards that would be involved.
Rod