New Prints from New Negatives ~ The Sweet Spot

I'm late. I know. Life and paying dues to the Trickster. I did make it to PJ's darkroom for a quick printing session before an appointment, then squeezing in a third print afterwards just because the new negative formula is right on. The sweet spot, the ten minute print, fully scaled. We have adjusted for every conceivable contamination scenario and now every print is a pristine print. The Puddle Pusher, can't say enough good things about that thing.

The original task was finding the correct density range/print time to print in silver, tone in palladium. The "Poor Man's Palladium". We've begun with the salt paper process to use as a baseline for print time, being one prints to visual completion in the salt paper process. That is, print in the image to where you would want the value to look like when the print is finally dry. There are considerations to make to do that. The above has caveats, one being toning choice. Toning in gold doesn't come out the same as toning in palladium. Then a small change after fixing, as a slight lightening, before that is mostly nullified after dry down.

The palladium toning lightens up the print image, mostly seen in the lower tonal range, where areas of black of about Zone 2 opens up, or lightens up to something closer to a Zone 3. The longer the density range, longer print time, this affect of lightening in the blacks decreases a bit. The negatives I have been working for, and how have, are effectively scaled for a full density range in the print, from pure black (Zone 1) to perhaps blank white (Zone 8), but certainly show the fully textured whites for the most part. I reprinted the Horse Head negative to fit the new negative formula and printed it today as a salt paper print, then toned it in palladium. I was after holding the majority of the white horse in the Zone 7 range of full texture, with the highlights in the white area, like along the upper mane, to be Zone 8, but just below complete paper base white.

The three prints were printed on Revere Platinum paper; salted 2 1/2% ~ Silver Ag 13% - 2 coats
Toned in palladium/citric acid

Palladium toned Salted Silver ~ Salt Paper
"Horse Head" ~ 8"x10"
Tombstone, Arizona