Re: Rex: myths and magic

Mark

Unfortunately I threw away the CDRP! Foolish I know. However I suspect the lightest tone would have been around G255 R30.

I think I could now get a paper white if I were to bleach the print. It is possible to do so without visibly affecting the darkest tones. The results can be very nice as they are less blue, and tonality doesn't seem to suffer.

I'm glad you liked the prints.

David

  ----- Original Message -----
  From: Ender100@aol.com
  To: alt-photo-process-l@usask.ca
  Sent: Sunday, July 23, 2006 7:01 PM
  Subject: Re: Rex: myths and magic

  David,

  Out of curiousity, you mentioned below that in case #1 you got nowhere near a paper white on the CDRP and ended up using RGB Grayscale negative/color. In case #2 you mentioned that you expect to get a paper white square on the CDRP.... but I am not sure what it is in the printing/chemistry that is the difference between the two?

  My other question is, for this process, though you didn't get a paper white square on the CDRP, what was the lightest square you got? My reason for asking is that sometimes certain altprocess & ink combinations give surprisingly different results than one would expect.

  By the way I looked at the prints you made at the website (indicated below) and liked them. I liked the subtle tones and the tonalities remind me of a nice hi key pt/pd print. Nice to see all the different comparisons in toning, etc.

  Thanks in advance for your feedback.

  Best Wishes,
  Mark Nelson
  Precision Digital Negatives

  In a message dated 7/23/06 9:59:24 AM, david.j.harris2@ntlworld.com writes:

    Some interesting myths about Cyanotype Rex seem to be circulating on this
    list:

    1. The process lacks Dmax.
    2. The process is inherently flat.

    I have seen quite a few Cyanotype Rex prints over the past 18 months or so,
    and envying them greatly. Despite the fact that many of them have been
    bleached slightly (to reduce the depth of blue), they all had much greater
    Dmax than my traditional cyanotypes (which had never looked weak in
    isolation). So there goes myth number 1. It will be interesting to see
    Loris' views on Rex v New cyanotype insofar as Dmax. I would be surprised if
    Rex loses that battle.

    The prints I've been admiring were made from negatives suited to salt
    prints. The photographer concerned, who is most definitely not digital,
    found this to be a great advantage as he could use the same negative for
    both processes. In fact, he has come to prefer Rex for his style of
    photography.

    Jan and I have been trying out Cyanotype Rex for just a few weeks, using
    digital negs. One thing we found is that it does require a high density
    digital neg, even greater than we needed for POP, and certainly greater than
    Pt/Pd or trad cyanotype. Those who use PDN will understand what I mean when
    I say that we got nowhere near a white square when printing the colour
    density range palette (on Epson 2100 with +15 ink config). So we use black
    ink printing.

    So far as myth #2, this does suggest that the process is quite low contrast.
    However, I have never heard anyone when talking about salt prints say in a
    derogatory way that the process lacks contrast. When the negative is matched
    to the process prints display plenty of contrast, believe me. Like
    traditional cyanotypes, prints can flatten up when toned, but they can also
    gain contrast depending on the technique. I suspect I could get a white
    square on the CDRP now if I tried it. It might be worth a try.

    Initially we obtained great results, then we ran into a problem with grain
    and reversal. This took a few weeks to fix, but finally we did so. The
    culprit was a dodgy batch of one of the chemicals. So its fair to say that
    the process is sensitive to poor quality chemicals. Not unlike most other
    processes. In fact, I identified the cause when the same chemical gave weak
    traditional cyanotypes. I should have realised that the solid didn't look
    quite right.

    If people are interested, some of our prints are at
    http://homepage.ntlworld.com/david.j.harris2/Alt%20process%20prints/Cyanotype%20Rex/

    If some of these look grainy, its because of the aforementioned grain
    problem.

    David
Received on 07/23/06-12:15:58 PM Z