RE: Fixing Lumin Prints

Liam -

Thanks for the explanation. It sounds like this may be a fun thing to do, but
if one is to think in terms of archivability then this would just not be
something to continue on.

Cheers -

george

--- Liam Lawless <liam.lawless@blueyonder.co.uk> wrote:

> George,
>
> It's another of those things I did donkeys' years ago and don't remember in
> too much detail now. But what I meant was to expose paper to a negative
> under the enlarger in the darkroom, develop the print part of the way
> (possibly using a somewhat weaker dev; I don't emember now), then wash it
> and transfer to an *extremely* weak dev before blasting with sunlight. Not
> all - and maybe not many - of the papers of 15 or so years ago worked well,
> but with a few that did the results were magnificent... until fixed!
>
> Doing it as a toning process (by bleaching a fixed & washed print) was
> something that occurred to me later, but gave different results. Again, not
> many papers worked well; Ilford Multigrade III RC was one that did, funnily
> enough. The colours are not nearly so vivid, but I think I remember that
> they're more resistant to change in the fix.
>
> Pot. iodide is one of the fixing agents that Fox Talbot tried and liked,
> though it doesn't do the same thing as hypo. Rather, it converts the other
> (more soluble) silver halides to silver iodide, which is virtually
> insensitive to light in the absence of halogen acceptors. Iodide doesn't
> work like a toner (since silver iodide is whitish), but the reason that
> Talbot liked it is that it preserved the colours of his print-outs. But on
> the other hand, maybe more of his work would have survived if he hadn't
> liked it! The image may not be absolutely stable, but it should have a
> reasonable life. Instead of darkening, iodide fixed prints are at risk of
> fading, especially if the iodide solution was too strong.
>
> Mike Ware talks about iodide fixation in his "Mechanisms of Image
> Deterioration", but I can't find any formulae for an iodide fixer. I'd
> suggest starting at 0.5% and going up from there in small increments if you
> need to. One of Dallas Simpson's party tricks was to bleach a print in 4%
> pot. iodide and dry it without washing. It would print itself out in
> daylight, but fade away again in the dark at night.
>
> Hope that's some help. Can't answer any more for a while - UK bedtime in a
> minute & I'm away for a few days in the morning.
>
>
>
> Liam
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: George L Smyth [mailto:glsmyth@yahoo.com]
> Sent: 13 September 2005 01:56
> To: alt-photo-process-l@sask.usask.ca
> Subject: RE: Fixing Lumin Prints
>
>
> Liam -
>
> I just wanted to get a better understanding as to what you were saying. Do
> you
> mean that you would fog the paper, develop with a weak developer without
> fixing, then continue from there? I can see where that would help with the
> exposure (or at least make it different), but don't you still have the same
> problem when it comes time to fix? If you are right that fixing changes the
> way the light is reflected (I think you are probably right in this), then I
> would think that you still encounter the same situation.
>
> Also, can you elaborate on the idea of using an iodide bath? Would it do
> anything similar to toning?
>
> Cheers -
>
> george
>
>
> --- Liam Lawless <liam.lawless@blueyonder.co.uk> wrote:
>
> > RE: Fixing Lumin PrintsI think the loss of colour in the fix is
> unavoidable
> > because fixing removes silver halides and thus alters the configuration of
> > the silver grains (compacting them) so they don't reflect light in the
> same
> > way. Whether the fix is strong or weak, if it does what it needs to do,
> > it'll remove the silver halides.
> >
> > Missed the start of this thread and therefore not sure if I'm talking
> about
> > the same thing, but something I used to do was to develop a print somewhat
> > lightly, rinse and transfer to a very weak dev - something like D-163 at
> > 1:500 or 1:1000 if memory serves - and then take into bright sunshine for
> > development to continue and colours to appear. Yellows, greens and browns
> > on cold papers, blues, pinks and purples on warn, but they all turned
> > grey-brown in the fix. Maybe an iodide bath would stabilise the halides
> > without removing them?
> >
> > Papers ain't what they used to be, but I used to get interesting tones by
> > bleaching a silver print in ferricyanide-chloride or similar, then
> > redeveloping under a bright light in (e.g.) D-163 at 1:200. If it's
> > redeveloped to completion, it shouldn't need fixing.
> >
> >
> >
> > Liam
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Baird, Darryl [mailto:dbaird@umflint.edu]
> > Sent: 12 September 2005 15:30
> > To: alt-photo-process-l@sask.usask.ca
> > Subject: RE: Fixing Lumin Prints
> >
> >
> > I think this is a very good question. I also tried a 10% solution of
> hypo
> > and the colors largely faded (those were on the bottom row of my
> examples).
> >
> > I'm about to try a 2% solution, similar to the argyrotype process for
> two
> > miutes and see what happens...this will be on a dark-stored (one week)
> > image.
> >
> > ...to be continued
> >
> > Darryl Baird
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: George L Smyth [mailto:glsmyth@yahoo.com]
> > Sent: Sun 9/11/2005 9:46 AM
> > To: alt-photo-process-l@sask.usask.ca
> > Subject: Fixing Lumin Prints
> >
> > I have tried flowers and am not getting great colors. Unfortunately,
> when
> > I
> > fix the paper the majority of them go away. I tried fixing with 10%
> > sodium
> > thiosulfate but that is way too strong. My question is "how little can
> I
> > fix
> > with the hopes that the paper will be properly fixed?" How far can I
> > dilute
> > the fix and still have it effective, or am I just out of luck?
> >
> > Cheers -
> >
> > george
> >
> > Handmade Photographic Images - http://www.GLSmyth.com
> > DRiP Investing - http://DRiPInvesting.org
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
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Received on Tue Sep 13 06:15:18 2005