"Double coating" can mean several things to people. I was particularly
referring to using two complete coats of sensisitzer. Martin Axon (Platine
paper inventor" recommends a second coat of just plain water, with perhaps
a small addition of glyerin. Others use half as much sensitizer with the
same amount of water and coat twice. Though this is a fairly uncommon
practice, it does not use twice as much of the precious chemistry.
It is also possible to achive near perfect controls with traditional
chemistry. About 5 years ago Dick Arentz got on my case about my chemistry
changing (Dick and I are good friends, so it was a friendly spat). We went
around and around replacing the various chemical components. Dick is a
precision sensitometrist and Pt print maker as well. Just as all
possibilities had been eliminated as far as the chemistry was concerned,
we went back over the problem - to wit - the print times were going up. I
asked to describe it again. He said that he now had to set his platemaker
to a much higher number of units. I said "HUH?" "What's a unit" He said it
was some gizmo on the platemaker that connected to a photo cell that
measured the light. To make a long story short, after the gizmo was fixed,
the print times right back on the money. Dick now claims he can calibrate
his platemaker to our chemistry.
Last point: Dmax.
I guess it is possible to make a violin sound like a viola. You could
probably breed Dobermin Pincers to look like German Shepherds. But why
bother? Platinum by nature is an exquisite midtone process. Those who are
lucky enough to be able to see a show of great Pt work from the classic
period (1890 - 1920) will see that virtually none of the prints will have
anything near a true white or a true black. Clarence White, Steiglitz.
Steichen, Kasebier, Coburn, Day, you name them, there are virtually never
blacks or whites just grays. You have to see it to believe it. A.A. has
left a legacy for the silver print, but I'm afraid we're trying to play
violin music on violas when we use his dictims for Pt printing. If Adams
were alive today, I think he would agree. In some ways, his reaction in
the 30's was just the opposite, to free silver from the "unatural"
dictates of the Pictorialists. That is people were making silver bromide
look like gum and platinum. We are far too slavish on the issue of Dmax. I
had dreams in the early days of seeeing Brett Weston's negs printed in Pt.
No more.
Dick Sullivan
Bostick & Sullivan