The more I wade into printing in the different printing mediums of even silver, the more it becomes clear to me that there are variations upon the theme, with much wider boundaries than imagined. The medium I printed in over the years, back in the day, was salted silver prints, the salt paper process. What I began printing last year was the Kallitype, which I've become quite fond of. As I mentioned in an earlier article, the Kallitype process is pretty much identical to the platinum/palladium printing process. Although I'm learning that a palladium process print can be printed to be developed out, or, it can be printed out, without needing a developer, just the EDTA clearing bath. I confess I recently learned that from reading to different 'Bibles' on hand coated processes, two different authors. Then you weigh in with Dan Burkholder for a third perspective.
There are things I know, because I've done it and have print in hand, or, there are things I've learned from updated reading of said authors writing the books on procedures. One of the things I've come to know is that printing with silver, or palladium salts, enjoy a wide range of printing styles, with a selection of developers for each medium, and even printing out processes can be altered to include a developer, such as the salt paper process. Black and white photography can be a very malleable process. Two such overlapping developers are sodium citrate and sodium acetate. Both can be used printing a Kallitype or a palladium print. EDTA is a better agent for clearing the iron from the paper than citric acid. The different between the two procedures is percentages of the constituent solutions. Kallitypes use 10% silver solution and 20% ferric oxalate. Palladium printing uses 15% chloropalladite solution with 27% solution of ferric oxalate, although one can use ferric ammonium oxalate for more contrast, as per said Bible on the subject. Just know, using the same negative, a Kallitype will print more contrasty, usually with much deeper blacks, than will a salt paper version, unless the silver solution used is at the lower end; 10% solution, same as the Kallitype. Altering the silver solution (as well as % salt solution respectively) alters the printable range.
What is different with the Kallitype process at my new darkroom, from printing Kallitypes at PJ's darkroom, is that the image formed as would be expected from a printing out print, with half, to perhaps 65% of the print would be printed in before the print was pulled and put in the developer. Now, using the same ferric oxalate from the same source, the image doesn't come up beyond a pale wispy image, yellowish of course due to the oxalate. After ten minutes under UV light, still no real image, but in a blink after the developer was poured over the print, there was a deep rich print with lots of dMax blacks.
The negative I used for that was from one printed before I began employing Burkholder's spectral density. The print I made this afternoon was from a newer negative I printed off the Kodak printer recently. That spectral density makes a vast difference. Ten minutes merely realized about half the desired image, perhaps filling in to say zone 5. Now the work will be to define the best amount of spectral density to use to reach a print time between 10-15 minutes for silver prints, which should be about a 7-9 minute palladium print. I will certainly know more after some testing though.
Paper preparations continue with the gum paper, now but one step from being ready to begin a print. Soon I will have a gum print to show for, layer at a time. For me, a good gum print will have at least six layers, a really fine one will have over a dozen. Printing larger gum prints is actually easier, being much easier to see the particulars of the print, especially at my age. I found a set of wide Sable type brushes that will make fine gum brushes. Very smooth coats, when a full coat is desired. Printing begins very soon.
No comments:
Post a Comment