From: Phillip Murphy (pmurf@bellsouth.net)
Date: 07/29/02-05:57:52 PM Z
Creating Daguerreotype *prints* via contact printing is not as difficult as you
might think. Simply secure your film positive (which you've made from one of
the methods explored on this list) to a piece of glass over a diffuse light
box. You'll need to improvise on that. I suggest getting an early contact
printer and taking the platen off. A rheostat on the light box, assuming that
it is an incandescent source, will help you with correcting exposure; however,
not a necessity. Accelerators such as bromine or chlorine are not a necessity
either since you can expand your exposure time readily. Some care must be taken
in laying the metal plate onto the film positive. Place a small weight to the
back of the plate to insure good contact. Use the same amount of care when
removing the plate. No need to worry about contamination of your camera
negative since you'll be working from a film positive that can be replicated. I
have a few film positives that were made eight years ago that show no signs of
damage from contacting the iodized plate.
Something else you might consider, if you have a large crisp monitor with a
flat screen, is to make an in-camera daguerreotype of the monitor screen from
your computer generated image. This is the equivalent of a make-shift film
recorder. This method can give you even greater control than the film
positive, assuming that it wasn't a computer generated film positive. To
answer your question as to what you lose from this method, it is often the
three-dimensional volume that exists in an exquisite Daguerreotype. Contact
methods rarely give you that depth, however, it does offer a great deal of
freedom and control in your image making.
good luck,
Phillip
> >From: Paul Martinez <paulmartinez@telocity.com>
> >Reply-To: alt-photo-process-l@sask.usask.ca
> >To: alt-photo-process-l@sask.usask.ca
> >Subject: Daguerreotype Question
> >Date: Fri, 26 Jul 2002 07:45:28 -0700 (PDT)
> >
> >Hi-
> >
> >I'm in the process (still) of assembling equipment for
> >a foray in the wild and wooly world Dags and I have two
> >general questions...
> >
> >Does the material of the plate that going to get coated
> >eventually matter? There is a place in St Louis that
> >will silver plate brass instead of copper and I would
> >think that it shouldn't matter as long as the polishing
> >is good.
> >
> >Also, (and this is kind of a dumb question) can I
> >contact print with regular negs instead of retrofitting
> >a camera or building something new? What does you lose
> >if you contact print (other than the inherent cache of
> >toting a handmade camera around)?
> >
> >thank you.
>
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.5 : 09/19/02-11:11:01 AM Z CST