Re: POP process

Hi,

I'm interested in the selenium toning as well. I probably wouldn't use
it, but I'm curious about the use of it for POP prints. I have used
POP and gold toned, and don't really have anything to add to what
everybody else has said here. I liked it very much and thought they
made for rich prints with interesting tones... and found that, for me,
the end result was much better if I really over-exposed the image
initially. And wear the white gloves, definitely. And unless you have
good storage for the paper, it does go bad fairly quickly, I think.
I'm in a humid climate, and I couldn't allow a box to sit on a shelf
for any real length of time. And when gold-toning these (as with any
toning, I guess), but more so with this...really stay there and agitate
the tray..definitely keep the print moving. Just my experience. I
liked the results, but I do think it's expensive.

And someone on this list in the last few months gave a link to Linda
Connor's POP printing method, which I thought was interesting, so it's
in the archives somewhere. Maybe they sent it back in the summer?

  But I'm curious about the selenium, because I had wondered if you
could use selenium to tone these, instead of the gold, and the folks at
Chicago Albumen Works strongly advised against it and pretty much
implied I would have a ruined print on my hands if I tried it. I never
bothered, since I didn't have any on hand anyway, but I had just
wondered..

Diana

On Nov 8, 2004, at 8:44 AM, Jeff Sumner wrote:

> Would you please elaborate on the Selenium toning that you do? I’ve
> run out of gold toner far in advance of my POP and I’d like to use the
> rest. My experimentation with POP and selenium toning turned the paper
> completely black.
>
> JD
>
>
>
> From: David & Jan Harris <david.j.harris2@ntlworld.com>
> Reply-To: <alt-photo-process-l@sask.usask.ca>
> Date: Mon, 08 Nov 2004 06:02:11 +0000
> To: <alt-photo-process-l@sask.usask.ca>
> Subject: Re: POP process
>
> Donna
>
> I have very recently started using POP paper, here are a few
> observations:
>
> 1. Toning is (near) vital with this paper. Without toning the result
> is a strong orange/brown which does not suit too many images, and
> exposure times may be excessive due to bleaching in the fixer.
>
> 2. Very different results, particularly in image colour, but also in
> contrast range, exposure requirements and possibly tonality can be
> obtained using different toning strategies. This is a benefit (wide
> range of possible results) but also may be the paper's achilles heel
> (difficult to achieve consistency due to toner exhaustion).
>
> 3. The "classic" toning involves gold toning before fixing. This
> reduces the bleaching effect, so keeps exposure times short. I have
> found it to give cool tones in the highlights and brown midtones and
> shadows at short toning times, up to overall cool tone with longer
> exposure times. Dmax with this toning is around log 2.1.
>
> 4. I have tried palladium toning but wasn't happy with the results
> (some prints failed to clear in the highlights, and it was hard to
> achieve a high Dmax).
>
> 5. Selenium toning (using dilute toner) after fixing works quite well,
> giving a more neutral colour (slightly warm highlights, slightly cool
> shadows). The bleaching effect in the fix is more significant, so
> exposure seems to be three times that required for gold toning before
> fixing, this does still give a good Dmax however.
>
> 6. Care needs to be taken not to handle the paper, I use cotton gloves
> and process in one tray to avoid handling during processing.
>
> 7. The only strategy for contrast control is to change the toning.
> This may be a problem for you if your nagatives are fixed, the
> negative contrast and characteristics might not suit the paper. The
> only thing to do is to try it!
>
> Dave
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
>  
> From:  DHTalman@aol.com  
>  
> To: alt-photo-process-l@sask.usask.ca  
>  
> Sent: Monday, November 08, 2004 3:16  AM
>  
> Subject: Re: POP process
>  
>
> Hello Shannon,
>
> Thanks so much for  responding to my question.  You are the only one
> who responded   Perhaps that means few people use POP paper.
>
> You mentioined Azo  paper.  From the web, I see that it's a paper
> Kodak makes and that it  comes in #2 and #3 contrasts.  It is glossy?
>
> What can you recall  about the problems of exposing the POP paper?  I
> recall you said that it  had been a couple of years since you have
> used it.  And also, you  mentioned that you had problems toning it,
>  What were the  problems?
>
> Why did you begin to use the POP paper and what made you stop  using
> it?
>
> I'll be very grateful for your help.
>
> Donna
> www.donnahamiltalman.com <http://www.donnahamiltalman.com>   
>
>
>
>
Received on Mon Nov 8 08:10:32 2004