RE: Colour of Van Dyke Prints...

Christina,

I suspect the mottling is caused by having the paper unevenly dry when exposing. There also seems to be some abraded areas. This can happen when too much emulsion solution is applied and reworked over the paper. The mottling is also usually the result of too much emulsion pooling on the paper and when this excess is reworked, abrasion can follow, so the two defects may be related to the same cause-excess emulsion.

Once the emulsion begins to soak into the paper, the paper becomes very fragile and a brush or emulsion coating rod can abrade the surface. A steady stream of water in the wash can also remove the surface or it can happen when two prints rub against each other in the wash or process steps. (I also never squeegee an alternative process emulsion due to the fragility of the image layer.)

When I have the mottling problem from insufficient drying, some areas look grayer than others. Using less emulsion, just enough to cover the image area without pooling, and thorough drying with a hair dryer set to cool air drying (no heat) usually eliminates the problem. It is better to coat several thin coats of emulsion than a coat with too much emulsion.

Joe

>>> darvida@gmx.at 11/14/04 11:01 AM >>>
Ok, so I fixed it in paper/film fixer.

The first one I fixed is ok, the the other look like this when dry...

http://www.fotografisches.at/vandyke.htm

So what´s the problem?
Is it because I developed in "normal" water, then fixed and then washed in
normal water?
Thanks for your help,
Lg
Christina

-----Original Message-----
From: Loris Medici [mailto:loris_medici@mynet.com]
Sent: Sonntag, 14. November 2004 16:41
To: alt-photo-process-l@sask.usask.ca
Subject: RE: Colour of Van Dyke Prints...

Christina, the suggestion made by Sandy below is very important! After
reading Sandy's Kallitype article, I immediately included a citric acid
bath before washing. The results were spectacular indeed: very clean
whites and absolutely no staining.

-----Original Message-----
From: Sandy King [mailto:sanking@clemson.edu]
Sent: Sunday, November 14, 2004 5:24 PM
To: alt-photo-process-l@sask.usask.ca
Subject: RE: Colour of Van Dyke Prints...

Example 2 -- Most sources recommend a first wash/developing in a
running water-bath for 1-2 minutes. This is fine if the water is base or
slightly acidic, but disastrous if the water is alkaline because in that
case the residual ferric salts that were left in the print after
development reactions will be changed to iron hydroxide, causing
staining that is virtually impossible to remove. Instead of the running
water bath I recommend soaking the print for 2-3 minutes in a bath of
water that has been made acidic by the addition of about 1/2 teaspoonful
of citric acid per liter water. This will clear virtually all of the
ferric salts. Follow this with a 1-2 minute running bath.
Received on Sun Nov 14 10:59:37 2004