Final Image ~ Arizona Portfolio

There are now twelve print images in the Arizona Portfolio, including this last Kallitype that I just printed, twice. I say twice as I had been developing the Kallitypes in sodium acetate for the other images. For whatever reason, this particular image printed a very neutral gray/black, after toning in palladium. Can't come up with a decent reason for the shift, and I used my wife's eyes to confirm that. She sees the entire spectral range of colors.

I could have easily left it as it was, but that didn't sit well with my sense of artistic expression. It wasn't what I wanted. Today I reprinted the image, same negative, different developer. I mixed sodium citrate (20% sol), and it doesn't call for an acidic additive like tartaric acid, being it already is on the acid side (citrate). That shifted the image color to a nice warm toned image and after toning in palladium it remained warm toned, although the palladium did seem to cool the image just a smidgen.

Paper; I continue to print exclusively on Revere Platinum paper, as it is one of the best print papers for hand coated processes I have used, equal to Arches Platine paper, but at half the cost.
Developer; Sodium Citrate ~ 20% solution
Clearing Bath; EDTA ~ 3% solution

The rest of the clearing stages of the process, after toning, is the fixing stage, using 5% thiosulfate formula;

Water                                          @ 115 deg F             750ml
sodium thiosulfate                 (anhydrous)                    50g
sodium carbonate                   (anhydrous)                     10g
sodium sulfite                         (anhydrous)                       2g
Water           to make                                                   1000ml

There are other formulas for fixers for he use of hand coated processes, some use a 10% solution of thiosulfate. I have always used the 5% formula and have not had any problems with print durability. The portfolio of Salted Silver prints I made thirty years ago are still as pristine as when I matted them. For best archival practices it is a very good idea to put each print through two fixer baths, for five minutes each.

There is also another variable in the mix; toning. When a silver print is toned in gold (most formulas) the gold coats the silver particles, in metallic silver form, thereby adding to the longevity of the print. One gold toning formula is said to actually replace the metallic silver with the gold.Toning in palladium, or platinum, the more nobler metals replace the less noble metal (silver) thereby actually becoming a palladium, or platinum print, known a century ago as the "poor man's platinum". Platinum was very expensive back then as well. Technically, as long as you end up with a true platinum/palladium print in the end, it is just that.

After toning a silver print in palladium, most of the silver residue left over is much reduced, than if the same print sent into the fixer without toning. After toning, there is no longer the problem of "bleach back" effect, when the fixer bleaches out some of the image. To overcome that problem, printers merely overprinted the image by about one 10% or about one tonal shade, then the fixer merely reduced that sufficiently that the image is back to what was intended. Another intuitive maneuver of printing.

Palladium toned Kallitype
"Calvary on Main Street" ~ 8x10 ~ 1/5
Tombstone, Arizona