Welcome ~ Finally

My thanks to you for landing on this blog and staying long enough to read the material. This is the first post of this new blog, as I have put much time and effort over the past five years blogging on writing, and digital publishing. That's the dicey part of having more than one interest in life. There are times, however, when said interests are combined to satisfy both mediums. I have written on black and white film photography, focusing on the black and white negative, and the basics of photo chemistry that controls most aspects to the outcome of negative development.

It is not the case I blog because I have way too much time on my hands, even being in the retirement mode. I come up with the time to blog because doing so has been beneficial to those who come after me, as independent writers, or black and white photographers learning their craft. If you want to read about writing in general and independent publishing using print on demand platform services, that's the other blog; www.brothercoyotepublications.com It is there you will find the books I have published under my Brother Coyote Publications brand, and the most recent book on black and white photography.

Thirty years ago, photography was all done on film, and chemical developing out methods were used on the negatives and subsequent silver gelatin prints, both in color and in black and white. I worked exclusively in black and white, specializing in that medium, when no one else did, or would. There was a really good reason why I chose this historical path. Truth is, I'm all but color blind in Red and Green. I would not be the go to person to print your color negatives. Having one eye, well, that's another story. I see panchromatic tonalities just fine, and understand how those tonal ranges are related to negative densities, and what that has to do with successfully printing photographic images using historical processes. Not same same printing silver gelatin images using projected enlargement. Hand coated printing processes are way better. But that's just me.

I still have a portfolio of salted silver prints in the 5"x7" format they were shot, from those thirty years ago, as well as a half dozen gum prints left over from that time. I learned even from looking over those prints of long ago. I attribute that to the ensuing years of learning, offering the larger perspective on things, from hindsight. Having very recently come across access to a darkroom facility, my deeper urges to print once again has become unruly enough that I am now printing in two mediums, teaching the nice gentleman who operates the darkroom the processes. We began with the gum dichromate process. Although it is still referred to as the gum bichromate process, it is but historical tradition that continues this practice. The bichromate has long since been replaced with the more sensitive dichromate version, before I was born even, and I'm a great grandfather.

It will be this gum process I will begin with. Printing has begun with my new darkroom friend. I showed him how to build a simple printing frame for gum printing, that allows for correct registration of the print, which is one of the two primary demands of this medium. The other demand being correct contract index & density range of the negative. My friend learned a lot about the density range of the negative on his first test print. Not nearly enough. My first test print will not be an exhibition print because of its flaws. What was to be determined for me was how far the density range can be taken to overcome the inherent drawbacks to gum printing; texture and detail. Gum prints have historically tended to be dark and sort of muddy, with sometimes swirls of color. The primary reason for flat gum prints is flat negatives. Back in the day, I had to rely upon paper negatives for my enlarged gum prints, and that has a limited tonal range. Now, I have the advantage of digital printers printing the negatives, to size and with the aid of Lightroom 4 to enhance and dictate the negative curve. The outcome is nothing short of amazing, in comparison to paper negative gums.

Much can be said about preference and process, and will likely all be said, but for now I just wanted to begin the blog and say hello. I'm posting the first test print of the gum "The Flute Player". The flaws are visually obvious, with the micro-cracking in the darker tonal range. It was the boundary to just how thick one can mix the gum arabic before it begins to crack in a print. This is important. There is a handshake between the thickness of the gum mixture and the paper sizing. This is to keep the watercolors, suspended in the gum arabic solution, from direct contact with the  paper, thereby staining the paper and ending that print. I will be posting the basic procedure and mixing percentages later. For now, here's what a gum looks like with my idea of a negative with the correct contrast index for a gum print.