"Jars in the Window" ~ Gum over Palladium

I am doing something I have never contemplated before. I will be reprinting an image from one medium to another, and being all my gum prints are unique, destroying the first print. I had printed "Jars in the Window" a few months ago as a gum print. That was before I came to realize the direction I wanted to go was with gum over palladium printing. Not that I will cease printing gums. I will be selecting an image that fits a gum print better than a gum over palladium version.

One of the advantages of making unique prints is that there is only the one print image to make, flawlessly. The print isn't finished until it is flawless, defined as a printed image that meets all of the expected elements and qualities the printer wanted, as pre-visualized before the printing. This isn't a science so there are caveats to this. Altering plans when there is a better direction realized during the printing process. One of those realizations, for me, is the contrast issue. There was a time when I was after texture and detail above all else. Now, I'm finding I like the deeper shadows of an image.

Being that the control of shadow detail, or lack thereof, is all about the negative, and its contrast index curve. Not to be confused with density range of the negative. The CI shape controls for the contrast of the image, the density range has to do with how long the tonal scale is in densities. They are intertwined however, one tends to beget the other. It is much easier to control for these factors in digital negatives, where it is possible to drop out the lower tonal range without influencing the upper tonal range and highlights. The inverse of this is also true. Using an adjustment <curve> is a global movement of densities, targeting specific tonalities allows for much greater creative control over the image. I only apply an adjustment <curve> when printing with metallic salts; i.e. silver, palladium or platinum/palladium. The density range for these mediums can range from Log 1.2 to 1.8 for optimal results, depending on which medium.

Gum printing doesn't need extra density to print well. When I began making gum prints I was using paper negatives, and they do not have what might be referred to as a long tonal scale. Do not believe, however, that gum prints can't be made with a negative scaled to Log 1.4, as I have made more than one gum or gum over print using such a negative. What that demands though,  is understanding the print time to different densities, with commensurate float times, at a specific temperature. Few understand this concept.

I haven't posted the original palladium print as it is but the base image. The example posted today is the palladium print with a base layer of gum over the image; Yellow Ochre. Remember to subtract some yellow from the image to compensate for the dichromate stain. This image was taken circa 1982, before I built in the carport, into a home studio, with the back space walled off into a darkroom; no windows. This was taken before the conversion, when this area was a barbecue pit area.

Gum over Palladium
"Jars in the Window" ~ 8x10
Eugene, Oregon