From: Christina Z. Anderson (tracez@mcn.net)
Date: 02/12/01-08:53:40 PM Z
I just thought maybe, even though this isn't totally alt process, you would
want to know my final results on this topic. I tried quite a few different
papers, and different times, and low contrast and high contrast negatives,
and negatives printed from a halftone press (Donnelly, I think) and here's
what I wrote up. I will say that the process is fun, if just because it is
different. Such lovely colors...(this is written up for a class so it may
be a bit elementary).
1. Use as contrasty a negative as you can. And I mean really contrasty.
The resulting print will have a very soft/low contrast anyway, so a low
contrast negative will produce an even lower contrast, unappealing look.
2. Take a piece of paper out of its packet under safelight so you do not fog
the rest of the pack. Put it in a contact-printing frame, in contact with
the negative, emulsion to emulsion. You can also tape the paper and the
negative tightly to a piece of glass, or sandwich both between two pieces of
glass tightly so there is no movement of the sandwich, or gaps between the
negative and the paper, which will produce an unsharp area in the print.
3. Place in the sun. Direct sun is best. Expect exposures to be around 45
minutes in direct sun from 10 AM to 2 PM during the winter. You can expose
outside at later times during the warmer seasons, but in winter, for
example, a 2-hour exposure from 4-6 PM produced a very pale print.
4. When it looks well exposed (dull blue or brown, or other color,
depending on the paper), bring it inside and put into the fixer. You will
see the print immediately bleach out and change color. The bluish tones may
change to pinks and mauves, the brownish ones to peaches and terra cottas.
The color depends on the paper brand, and whether it is warmtone or coldtone
paper. The longer the exposure outside, the more intense the color of the
final print will be. It does not necessarily mean that the print will have
more contrast, but the color will be deeper and more pleasing.
4. Fix for the time recommended by your fixer brand. Agitate continually
in the fix, because if you let it sit, it can bleach out unevenly. Wash,
and hypo clear if you want. Wash in running water for 30-60 minutes for
fiber base paper, 5 minutes for RC.
Some colors that I have observed: Forte warmtone produces a lovely
pink/peach/terra cotta. Kodabrome produces a warm brown with peachy/pink
highlights. Ilford produces pinky peachy highlights and dark mauve shadows.
Ilford warmtone produces a beautiful amber, but takes more exposure because
it is about half the speed of other Ilford papers. Luminos Flexicon is a
cool brown, but takes so long to expose that it isn't worth it. It is
probably the slowest paper I tested. Portriga produces a cooler brown.
Kodak Polycontrast produces a warmer, pinky brown. Kodabrome produces a
pinky brown, too. Half the fun is seeing the color combinations emerge in
the fixer.
The strength of the image is its overall tone, probably as much as the
content of the photo. The process produces a high key, soft, look, and
lends itself to applied color incredibly well.
I'm off to Savannah and the SPE conference on Wednesday, if anyone else
is going to be there! I'll be working at the registration table.
Chris
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