From: Jack Fulton (jefulton1@attbi.com)
Date: 09/11/02-10:00:33 AM Z
Yes . . as far as I know, Weston primarily used Amidol. Azo was a paper he
used. Regarding printing w/light bulbs: we "inherited" one of Ansel's
printing 'boxes' @ the Institute. None of us then were wise enough to use it
but, for a simple explanation it covered the 8x10 negative format (maybe was
slightly larger) and was a hefty box with multiple bulbs inside that you
could switch on and off with a single switch for each bulb. It remeinded me
of one of those sci-fi b/w movies where the 'scientist' would flip multiple
switches to get power up and runnning.
For your interest . . Amidol is an excellent film developer also.
Below is Edward Weston's print formula.
Start with cold water 750 mls
Add Sodium Sulfite 30 grams
Amidol (Diaminophenol) 9 "
Potassium Bromide .6 "
Benzotriazole 60 mls
Water to make 1 liter
If you have trouble dissolving the Sodium Sulfite use warm water . . .
however, do not mix in the Amidol into the warm solution as it oxidizes
rapidly.
Use the developer immediately . . it doesn't keep well. You can preserve
it slightly by adding 5-10 grams of Citric Acid. However, this will reduce
the activity of the developer somewhat.
Amidol developers are interesting in that they can be diluted without
changing the color of the print (most developers will print more brown than
black when diluted). Also, if one wishes, extended development time can aid
greatly with troubling negatives which need contrast in the print. One's
safelight ought to be checked. If fogging of the paper edges occurs with,
say, a 4-5 minute development time, add a bit more Potassium Bromide.
The Benzotriazole in Weston's time was made by Haloid (he also used their
paper) and was called, BB Compound. There is a Benzotrizole formula still
made by Edwal called 'Liquid Orthazite.' It does contain stuff other than
the Benzotrizole but is primarily a fog restrainer like Pot. Bromide.
Jack
> Wasn't Weston a big fan of the Azo - Amidol combination?
>
> Azo it might not be a *modern* paper, but you can buy
> it at the store and the scale is pretty long. I
> knocking out some contact prints over the weekend and
> with a 15 watt enlarger bulb, printing times are at
> least a few minutes.
>
>
>
> On Tue, 10 September 2002, lrryr@attbi.com wrote:
>
>>
>> Wrap some tape around the bulb, leaving a smaller and
>> smaller area open untill you get what you want. At
> 7.5
>> watts heat shouldnt be an issue.
>>
>> Larry
>> > My excuse for asking this question is that we
>> discussed a month or so
>> > ago the fact that Weston printed with a light
> bulb.
>> It was suggested
>> > that you could do this nowadays by using a 7 1/2
> watt
>> bulb and
>> > regular silver gelatin paper. I did that today,
>> somewhat
>> > successfully, but the printing times were really
>> short, like 8
>> > seconds. The light bulb is about 40" above
> the paper,
>> as high as I
>> > can reach. IT's an unfrosted bulb. I had a
> reflector
>> on it but that
>> > caused hot spots, so I took it off. How can I
> slow
>> these times down
>> > to have more time to manipulate the print? These
>> modern papers are
>> > shockingly fast! And their scale is shockingly
> short!
>> >
>> > The other burning question is: would Weston have
> used
>> Swiffers to
>> > clean his negatives?
>> >
>> > --shannon
>> > --
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