RE: palladium bleeding, loooonnnnnggg results

Chris, IN your test of various am0unts of Ferric to metals, did you see an
increase in contrast or speed?

With your left over pieces of Platine are you seeing a uniform paper
quality? When wet are you seeing any areas that are more translucent than
others?

Eric Neilsen Photography
4101 Commerce Street
Suite 9
Dallas, TX 75226
http://e.neilsen.home.att.net
http://ericneilsenphotography.com
 

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Christina Z. Anderson [mailto:zphoto@montana.net]
> Sent: Saturday, August 12, 2006 3:23 PM
> To: Alt, List
> Subject: palladium bleeding, loooonnnnnggg results
>
> 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 08/13/06-08:09:23 PM Z