Salt Paper Print ~ Salted Silver

In past posts I covered silver printing in general, including the various printing methods using silver, including salt paper, Kallitype, Van Dyke Brown and Albumen. There are actually a couple more offshoots but I want to keep the focus on the primary methods, the ones that endured over time. When I began printing with hand coated methods I began with the earliest and simplest form of the procedures; the salt paper print, or as I refer to the method, salted silver prints.

As I also noted, back in the day there was no internet to go to for information, we relied on the tried and true method of finding a book on the subject. Quaint, that. Not quite the same as clicking on Google and keying in a question, which Google then completes with a list of potential options.... My option at the time was "The Keepers of Light" which remains a very good source of information on photographic methods and techniques. My first foray was the salted silver, as it was something I could afford at the time, and, which promised a finished print that was, for all practical purposes, something akin to a platinum/palladium print. I knew first hand what those prints looked like as I represented five platinum/palladium printers at that time in my gallery. I really liked those hand coated prints.

The principle of the salted print is very simple. Two elements need to come into contact while being exposed to ultraviolet (UV) light; salt and silver. That creates the black left on the paper after exposure. Bringing those two elements together on paper to create a finished image is not an absolute or fixed method. There is a fair amount of accommodation available to compensate for the density range of the negative, by altering the two constituent elements respectively. As I have noted in earlier posts, the density range of a negative, beyond being "thin" or "thick", is measured using the D Log E curve densitometric notations; Log E 1.2 to 1.8 densities respectively for printing in most hand coated methods. I will explain the concept of D Log E, as well as the related procedures of expansion and compaction in a following post for a better understanding of this concept. For now, it is assumed the photographer has a negative with sufficient densities to print in hand coated silver.

Salted Paper "Binder";
Sodium Chloride ~ Table Salt (try to use unprocessed salt) I use Sea Salt

Silver Solution;
Silver Nitrate; (crystals)

Mixture ratios for negative densities;
For negatives that have a density range of Log E 1.2 - 1.8 (preferred density range)

Salt ~ 2% - 3%
Silver ~ 12% solution

For negatives with a density range below Log E 1.2 (thinner negatives)

Salt ~ 1% - 1 1/2%
Silver ~ 10% solution

The above mixture ratios are standard issue from most sources available today. Just know they are just that, standard applications from which one begins from. As I have posited many times, black and white photography is very malleable, and can be applied in many various ways. The relationship to take away from the above ratios is simply that thicker negatives require increased portions of both salt & silver. By substituting the amount of salt solution percentage as well as silver solution, it is possible to accommodate a range of negative densities. Testing of course is very desirable.

My silver/salt printing ratio for the images I've been posting.
Silver Nitrate ~ 13% solution (saturated solution)
Salt (table salt) ~ 2 1/2% solution

Paper Preparations; (My formula)

Water (at 120 degrees)                         1000 ml
Salt    (2 1/2% solution)                           25 g

After pouring the salted water into a developing tray, slip the printing paper into the tray and agitate enough to keep the paper from laying flat on the bottom of the tray. Soak the paper for at least thirty seconds, making sure all areas are evenly soaked, then hang to dry. I used a length of twine hung above the sink and wooden clothes pins strung along the twine for pinning and hanging the paper after soaking. That's it. Paper that has been salted can be stored in a dark, dry area for a good length of time without deterioration.

Application of Silver;

I used the above formula of salt with a silver solution of 13%, which is a saturated solution of silver. I always double coated my prints with the silver solution, drying the first coating before applying a second coat. My reasoning for this was simple. The old silver saturated papers of the past were so much more richer than the newer papers. More silver, saturated deeper into the paper, should, theoretically return a richer print with deeper blacks, leaving a print with more visual depth and texture. From my experience, that position was vindicated after comparing a one coat print with a two coated print.

Once the paper that has been coated with the silver solution it can be stored in a dark dry place as well, for awhile. I use old printing paper boxes for storing my treated paper, well marked to keep the different papers separated. Personally speaking, I do not store a silver coated paper. I print as soon as it is properly dried. The pre-salted sheets of paper can be kept in a printing paper box for a week or more, ready for applying the silver when needed, without any deleterious effects.

When I began printing hand coated silver, I had only the sun as my UV source. That takes a bit of experimentation to realize a printing time, according to a "sky choice". I used the north light method, keeping the printing frame in north light shade, aiming the print towards open blue sky, away from direct sunlight. That will be about as constant as once can get using sunlight. It is very important to meter the sky you will be using and noting the intensity, usually in lumens, to keep tract of printing time. This is important.

There is a relationship between light intensity and print contrast. The lower the light intensity and longer the printing time, the more contrasty the final print. With caveats. Hence, if the print is faced into the direct sunlight, the printing is much more rapid, affecting the high density ranges far more quickly than when in low light, thereby tending to 'flatten' the image more. Using the north light, lower intensity input tends to lengthen the tonal range of the print as it prints in much slower. This relationship allows the printer to use either, or both methods combined, to control the printing process further. If the negative is very dense at the upper end, one can print in much of the print using north light, then turn it to full sun for a minute or so to burn in the upper tonal range, usually Zone 7-8. Reciprocally, if a thinner negative is used, one can use strictly north light only to increase the final tonal range to the maximum amount for that negative.

Upcoming posts will focus on selecting a paper for printing, and a method of scaling a negative for the correct density range for printing hand coated processes.