Re: pyro developed negs for cyanotype?

Thanks, Joe. This was Fujifilm, but I've never used b&w 4x5 Fujifilm,
so I don't know how new it is, or whether it is suffering the same fate
with the film base as TMAX 100, but it sounds like it. A 4 hour
exposure would have been about right, I think! I'm glad to hear of
your experience, too...I was really at a loss...because, as I said, the
negatives just looked so perfect.

Anyway..thanks for your input.

Diana
On Oct 31, 2004, at 4:59 PM, Joe Smigiel wrote:

> Diana,
>
> There has been some recent evidence and online discussion of the fact
> that the new TMAX 100 and Plus-X films have a new film base that
> incorporates a UV blocking layer. That might be the problem.
>
> I recently had a similar experience with one of my students who
> attempted without success to make a cyanotype from a new TMAX 100
> negative. Visually and as measured on a non-UV transmission
> densitometer, the negative should have printed wonderfully but it
> failed
> even with greatly extended exposure. The skinny is that the new films
> block between 2-3 stops of UV exposure. A standard one-half hour
> cyanotype exposure with older negatives would require a 4-hour
> exposure
> if the new film was used and the new film base blocked 3 stops.
>
> Joe
>
>>>> dhbloomfield@bellsouth.net 10/31/04 1:10 PM >>>
> Hi all,
>
> I have a question about negatives developed in Pyro. I taught a
> cyanotype workshop yesterday, and while it all went well, there was a
> man in the class who brought, what appeared to be, some of the most
> beautiful 4x5 negatives I've ever seen. In fact, I thought they would
> have been perfect for platinum printing. We had light boxes, and
> people also used the sun. But when he tried to print these gorgeous
> negatives, the exposure time (in the light box) was stretching an hour
> or more..and still, he was losing so much, especially in the highlight
> area, and basically getting faint, washed-out images. He tried
> exposing for nearly 2 hours, and he just wasn't getting anything. We
> tried various options, with coating, with different papers..but these
> negatives, though "perfect" by my estimation (and not bullet-proof in
> appearance), were just impossible for making a decent cyanotype. He
> then told me, towards the end, that he had developed these in Pyro. I
> thought Pyro was great for platinum..and would have thought okay for
> cyantype. Haven't I read that before? But not so in this case.
> That's the only explanation I could think of (the Pyro stain). Can
> anybody tell me if this was the problem, and if so, why don't Pyro
> developed negatives work for cyanotype?
>
> If this has been discussed innumerable times before...I apologize...but
> thanks for any help.
>
> Diana
>
>
Received on Sun Oct 31 16:27:37 2004