From: Sarah Van Keuren (svk@steuber.com)
Date: 06/17/00-12:05:15 PM Z
I have sun-printed in vandyke from an unairconditioned studio in a suburb of
Philadelphia and at summer workshops in other humid places with good
results. It sounds to me as if you may have overexposed your prints. If the
coated paper was too moist when exposed you would have gotten gray tones,
not warm browns.
If you happen to have noted the exposure time for a good print from a
particular negative in the artificial UV light that is no longer available
to you, try comparing it with test strips from that negative in full sun
(and also in overcast?), and see what the ratio is. You might find the best
sun exposure is half the time or less of the artificial light exposure.
With practice you can learn to sense the intensity of the light as if you
were a light meter yourself, becoming conscious of how much your pupils are
contracting, for instance, and the difference in sensation on your skin as
the sun goes behind a cloud and then comes out again. It is important to
slow down enough to sit with your print for the half minute or so needed to
expose it to feel the light.
Sarah Van Keuren
> I have a few questions regarding sun exposure as opposed to an artificial
> UV light source. I've been using an excellent UV light source at the school
> where I teach. Now, however, the powers that be have rearranged studio
> spaces, leaving my equipment in storage for the summer. So, now I'm trying
> to move my operation home and use sunlight for exposure of Van Dyke prints
> or cyanotype prints. I've always had a controlled environment in which to
> work, so having the number of variables increased has me wondering what to
> try next.
>
> My initial tests with sunlight VDB were hideous! The highlight steps of the
> step wedge had yellow stain, the entire print had a much warmer, reddish
> color, and the contrast was very low. My prints are usually a rich, dark
> chocolate color (on Stonehenge) with nice cool white highlight. Could the
> differences in light sources have cause the color difference....or is it
> more likely to be caused by the other changes in environment (temperture,
> humidity, water).
>
> I live in the Missouri Ozarks where it's extremely humid and often very
> hot. The rooms I'm using to coat and dry the papers are not air
> conditioned. I have the opportunity to move to another air conditioned
> darkroom for coating and developing, but would need to use sun exposure.
> Does anyone have recommendations for my next tests or experience with
> various humidity levels?
>
> Thanks,
> Gwen
>
>
>
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