The Tombstone Portfolio

Yes, I squeezed three posts out of three prints. You know that's fair, for a one eyed old guy. Printing will be more continuous when I have my own printing room at my house. That begins the 16th when Harry arrives and phase I goes into affect. The week after Thanksgiving is when Harry arrives for the completion of phase II, the actual printing room. I will also be building a second printer, now that we know this setup works as well as it does.

PJ was kind enough to print three more negatives for me this morning, which I then rushed to the darkroom to print. They confirmed the earlier negatives of the same densities before them, this is the optimal density range, with corresponding print time, for a final print with a full tonal range, or at least one desired. The entire tonal range of the negative can be manipulated, altering the densities in two aggregate groups. One group representing Zone 1, 2, 3, and a smidgen of 4. The second group controlling Zone 6, 7 & 8. By stretching or contracting those grouped densities, the image can be controlled quite closely. The values I assign are for my tastes, and might be printed slightly different for another rendition, but I believe I have shown that the density range is proportional as expected for the lighting conditions presented, being full sunlight.

I have worked on this print through numerous iterations of the image. This is what I had been working towards all along. As in all the other prints, the paper is Revere Platinum paper, using the salted paper process; 2 2/1% salted paper; 13% silver solution- 2 coats. This one was a seven minute print. It could have been an eight minute print. I saw this, after the toning and fixing of course.....

Now notice the Kallitype print below the salted silver print. Same negative, same toning, but what you see is the silver levels. 

Palladium toned Salted Silver Print
"Stagecoach on Main Street" ~ 8"x10" ~ 1/5
Tombstone, Arizona

Inkpress negative; Spectral density using green over a scaled negative I refer to as 'bright'. The use of spectral density as a valuable tool cannot be overstated.










Palladium toned Kallitype
Same negative, same palladium toning

The most obvious difference between the two images are the stronger blacks of the Kallitype. Some of this visual difference can be accounted for by personal error, copying the print then preparing it for posting can lead to unintended shifts. Basically though, the I have tried to print the image as demanded by each process. I was able to print down the salted silver print until everything had been printed in. For the Kallitype I had to follow rough protocol, being about 50%-60% of print time before development.



Printing conditions are basically the same between the two prints. Same paper, same negative and same palladium toner. Print time for this Kallitype was 5 minutes; 7 minutes for a salted silver. With exception to wanting to add one minute to the salted silver print image, both prints were for all practical purposes spot on. Full tonal range print in direct sunlight, everything in textura sl tonal range.

The real beauty of hand coated printing methods is the ability for each photographer/printer gets to create their own interpretation of any given image. I am a traditionalist, sort of.... I shoot and print pretty much like I was hoping to take my portfolio to Gallery 291 to see Alfred about a show. That's just me. By the time this post is being read I'll be at PJ's having negatives printed, more images for the Tombstone Portfolio. I plan on having fifteen prints for that portfolio. Portfolio II is already being organized.