RE: palladium bleeding, loooonnnnnggg results

Since you are both in the same town, it should be easy enough to check two
important aspects. Where does your ferric come from as well as what batch #
of Platine is being used. The heating may be a big part of it as well. I
have not found the use of a dry mount press required to flatten Platine but
I can see where it would smooth out a rough surface paper. You may need to
help a weak contact printing frame with a flattening of a paper like
Platine. Although, it sounds like you may have more going on that differs
from Chris in the application of the solution as well as volume there of if
you are getting buckling of the paper.

I have not seen bleeding with platine in quite some time. . If your blacks
are good and rich but just not sticking to the paper, I'd look at your
soaking and drying as the problem. If your blacks are weak and you are
getting wash off, you may indeed look to your ferric.

I would also suggest adding some Oxalic Acid to the ferric and see what that
does.

Do you both keep your houses at the same RH and store the paper the same?

Eric Neilsen Photography
4101 Commerce Street
Suite 9
Dallas, TX 75226
http://e.neilsen.home.att.net
http://ericneilsenphotography.com
 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Camden Hardy [mailto:camden@hardyphotography.net]
> Sent: Saturday, August 12, 2006 4:30 PM
> To: alt-photo-process-l@usask.ca
> Subject: Re: palladium bleeding, loooonnnnnggg results
>
> I'll chime in with my experiences in the last few weeks (for those of you
> that don't know, Chris and I live in the same town). I'm not sure
> humidity has a whole lot to do with this issue, because I've been printing
> on Platine without humidifying my paper all summer.
>
> This may be something, or it could just be ridiculous (it may be downright
> wrong), but I've modified my printing workflow on Platine over the last
> few months and have not experienced any bleeding since then. Of course, I
> only saw minimal bleeding to begin with, but my coating method may work
> for you, Chris.
>
> After coating, I only allow the paper to become dry to the touch, so the
> sensitized area of the paper is still quite damp. As soon as the surface
> of the paper is dry enough, I stick the paper in a hot press for about
> 15-25 seconds to get rid of wrinkles; this ensures a nice, solid contact
> with the negative during exposure. The hot press is optional; I just hate
> to see those big blurry spots on my prints, so I take the extra
> precaution.
>
> I've found that this method has two big advantages. First off, no
> bleeding. The second one is sharpness. I've found that when I expose my
> images while the paper's still damp, the image compresses when it dries,
> and turns out to be quite a bit sharper than a straight digital print. Of
> course, the image isn't as big as the original...
>
> Anyway, this may be worth trying. Then again, it may just be a bad batch
> of paper/chemistry/etc.
>
>
> Camden Hardy
>
> camden@hardyphotography.net
> http://www.hardyphotography.net
>
>
> On Sat, August 12, 2006 2:22 pm, Christina Z. Anderson wrote:
> > OK,
> > I cant believe I gave up a nice relaxing breakfast with Mark Nelson to
> > stay
> > at home, pack, attend a wedding, and maniacially expose tonal palettes
> all
> > the while, but here it is before I leave town....
> >
> > All am citrate--I decided to use the developer that has produced more
> > bleed
> > for me.
> >
> > Follows all Platine:
> >
> > 10 drops sensitizer--lotsa bleed
> > 10 drops sensitizer + 2 drops extra ferric--lotsa bleed
> > 10 drops sensitizer + 6 drops extra ferric--lotsa lotsa bleed and bled
> > continually in the clear and the water wash afterward
> > 10 drops sensitizer + 1 drop Tween--minimal bleed
> > 10 drops sensitizer + 2 drops methylated alcohol--minimal bleed, more
> than
> > Tween tho
> > 10 drops sensitizer coated onto wet paper--no bleed, lots of printout
> > before
> > development and a weak print that did not clear well of ferric in EDTA
> > Tetra
> > plus sodium sulfite (of course, because I coated wet paper which one
> > wouldn't do--I wanted to really test the extreme of humidity)
> >
> > Follows, Cranes Platinotype/Cover and Arches Platine am citrate
> developer:
> >
> > 10 drops sensitizer with new ferric oxalate on cranes cover: no
> bleeding
> > 10 drops sensitizer new ferric oxalate on cranes cover with humidified--
> no
> > bleeding
> > 10 drops sensitizer new ferric oxalate on cranes cover with 2 drops
> > methylated alcohol--no bleeding
> > 10 drops sensitizer new ferric oxalate Arches Platine 2 drops methylated
> > alcohol--lotsa lotsa bleeding (?? don't know why this is the case except
> I
> > am using leftover chunks of Platine and therefore they may be from
> > different
> > batches of paper for all I know...)
> > 10 drops sensitizer new ferric oxalate Arches Platine very little
> bleeding
> > 10 drops sensitizer new ferric oxalate lots tween--no bleeding
> >
> > Well, can one possibly draw conclusions here with all these "one little
> > tests"???
> >
> > I conclude that this batch of Platine bleeds more than cover. It could
> > only
> > be because cover is more absorbent. My guess is that either by humidity
> > or
> > tween or methylated alcohol and using the right paper, the solution
> sinks
> > into the surface better and doesn't sit on top and bleed when it hits
> the
> > developer.
> >
> > Decreasing the ratio of metal salts to ferric did not work, but I have
> not
> > tried increasing the metal salts to see if that has an effect.
> >
> > My droppers all are 20 drops to the ml.
> >
> > My ferric could have been getting old. I tested it in some potassium
> > ferricyanide and it immediately went brown and then slowly had a wave of
> > green in it. However, I did the same with my new ferric and it was
> close
> > to
> > the same effect. But you will notice that overall I got less bleeding
> with
> > the new ferric.
> >
> > What I will need to do when I return home is increase humidity in my
> room,
> > use methylated alcohol or Tween (maybe the alcohol first choice only
> > because
> > Tween was a bit...soapy?...and I actually got a smoother tonal scale and
> > more printing in of the highlights on Platine with methylated alcohol).
> > But
> > I don't think either is needed for Cover--only increase in humidity in
> the
> > room and perhaps switching to sodium citrate. I do think the developer
> > comes
> > into play as well as that my batch of Platine may just be sized
> > differently
> > than the last.
> >
> > I think why troubleshooting is so hard with this particular issue is it
> > looks like it is a combination of factors at work. But you all can look
> > at
> > the data and see what major point I am missing.
> >
> > Now to look at all the 101 tones in each tonal palette and see how they
> > relate to the different methods, above--paper, Tween, methylated
> alcohol,
> > etc.
> > Regards,
> > Chris
> > CZAphotographycom
> >
> >
> >
Received on 08/13/06-08:09:12 PM Z