From: Breukel, C. (HKG) (C.Breukel@lumc.nl)
Date: 01/16/03-05:34:48 AM Z
Neil,
Some suggestions (FWIW I have processed VDB with the same chemistry and
double coating, I do not have the problems you describe, but..)
I use a acidified first wash for 5 minutes (a samll spoon of citric acid in
a tray of water)
I would strongly suggest to do a gold toning (Pt or Pd) step, before fixing,
do rinse after tone and before fix. The toning increases permanence
considerably, cahnges the colour (favourably IMHO), and bleaching in the fix
should (hardly) not occur.
Do a 2 bath fixing step 5% hypo, about 2 min. per bath(fix in the first
bath, discard this one, than to the second bath, which becomes first bath
after that and pour fresh fixer in the second tray)
See also: http://unblinkingeye.com/Articles/Vandyke/vandyke.html
Best,
Cor
-----Original Message-----
From: Neil Miller [mailto:neil@miller.gioserve.com]
Sent: Thursday, January 16, 2003 11:10 AM
To: alt-photo-process-l@usask.ca
Subject: Vandyke brownprints - silvery deposit
Hello.
I have recently started making vandyke brownprints and am having a problem
with a silvery deposit over part of the image, not unlike that often seen on
old b&w photos. It occurs about 70% of the time and is most apparent on
darker areas of the print and on papers I have double-coated (which usually
exhibit a silvery or white line where the top coat has not overlapped the
bottom coat).
It appears to be a very fine layer of sparkling crystal deposits that is not
only on the surface of the paper, but trapped within the upper fibres. It
is more pronounced on papers with a rough surface, but is still very
apparent of BFK and Saunders Waterford. The only paper that does not have a
trace of the problem is Daler 96gsm smooth white cartridge from an artists
sketchpad, but this is too thin and wrinkle-prone for me to process
succesfully.
I make three solutions up, each with 35ml of distilled water. (A) has 10g
of green ferric ammonium citrate, (B) has 1.5g tartaric acid and (C) has 4g
silver nitrate. All are well stirred until dissolved. (A) is added to (B)
and well stirred then (C) is added drop by drop while stirring. The
solution is left to age, filtered, then applied with a hake brush or a foam
applicator. The paper is left to dry in a warm, dark room overnight or is
force-dried with a fan heater. All work takes place in a windowless room
illuminated with a 100watt bulb, positioned well away from the work area. I
have used a 40watt bulb and a red safe light, but can see no difference and
no evidence of fogging, so have gone back to the 100watt bulb.
I expose for between 4 and 15 minutes (depending on the neg) under a bank of
UV lights, rinse under running tapwater for 5 mins, fix in a bath of 25g
plain hypo crystals in 100cc of tapwater for 2 mins then wash for 20 mins.
I used to use 50g of hypo crystals to a litre of water and fix for 5 mins,
but this seriously bleached the prints to an unacceptable degree. The print
turns a gorgeous colour when it hits the fix, but then fades away, hence the
lower concentration (2.5%?).
I am tempted to think that the fix is not removing all the residual silver,
but I have heard of people who omit the fix altogether and they have not
reported this problem. I do change the fix frequently. If anyone has any
ideas, I would be very grateful to read them.
Many thanks,
Neil.
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