Testing and Printing

The printing of the new gum is coming along well, with an unexpected outcome from which I was able to divert into a usable one. The fourth print layer is to be the cyan run, which for me has always been phthalo blue, about as close to the aqua tone of cyan as I've been able to find. More recently I began employing ultramarine blue, which is more sheer than the phthalo, as well as more towards the purple hue. I mixed the two for today's coating, but apparently didn't fulling brush the new gum in tight bond with the existing layer, with the result of gum coming off in patches in places or thin strips, during floating. That forced me to brush off the entire layer of what was left, which wasn't printed down hard. That only left a small amount and only in dark places representing zone 1, and that actually enhanced the image, giving it depth, deepening the shadows slightly.

The testing for the Na2 process using the UV Solar Printer continues, with me closing in now on how I want the final image structure to turn out. The testing is between using the 2.5% platinum (2 drps) or, a 5% solution (2-3) drops, and that of course depends on the density range of the negative. It is easier to leave the images without any density enhancement using <curves>, or boosting the density range using <curves> but finding the right density curve for a printer time no longer than 15 minutes. There is the sunshine, which I have used extensively, mostly north sky, but then there are the variations to map out, and working around the sun's schedule. I want to be able to use the printer with a known value for a known print time. The denser negatives create very nice tonal separation in the print image but the print times are well into twenty minutes. The standard negative using the 5% platinum (Na2) prints down much faster, but with a bit less tonal separation in the mid tones. This is where the testing continues. Posting a test strip isn't forthcoming though. Such is life, as my uncle was so fond of saying. Soon though, I'll have some nice platinum/palladium images to show.