"Tammy's Rose" ~ Gum Layer 3

I took a day off. I'm old. The printing has to be flawless, and one's head has to be in the game and the focus has to be sharp. Any flaw at any time and the image is junk. This third layer was focused on the subject, mostly. Using a split color arrangement Tammy's hair and skin got a thin layer of Yellow Ochre. Her dress got a fairly thin mixture of Raw Umber, just enough to cross over from looking like a pale ochre to more like a brown when mixing in the gum. I also added the ochre over the light grasses in the foreground, separating further from the darker background, using blue/green/ochre.

This print run got a full 15 minute print time, printing for zone 7, highlights in the subject's hair as well as brilliance of the light on the dress. That I want to remain right at zone 7, and zone 6. That's the light zone. As the print progresses there is less of the overall 'yellow' look and a bit more depth, and tonal separation, with the colors at the different levels left sheer and subtle. This is a personal choice, a vision of 'how it should look', or artist's 'gesture' or 'hand' in the printing. Perhaps this is also a phase of printing for me. A way of interpreting the image. And, perhaps it also has to do with my mostly red/green color blindness which leave a far more subtle world of color than I am told exists. I see an obvious green color placard in front of me, but 100ft out I likely wouldn't, especially mixed with other similar colors or tones. I interpret the world in my prints probably the same. My primary focus is on the quality of the light.

For my efforts, if Tammy appears to be sitting on a stump in bright sunshine then the print is successful. The remaining yellowish color on the dress is mostly the remaining dichromate stain, which will be cleared when the print is finished, leaving a warm toned brown(ish) color. Theoretically. Which is how I print, using subtractive color theory. The photograph was taken of my daughter, who was my primary testing model. She got to pick the outfit I chose the spot. This one was to test a developer I had read about in an old photography book. Beutler 105. It was supposed to be a semi-compensating developer, holding in textured highlights like Pyro, leaving long skin tones like pyro, but not compensating in the lower densities. All of which I liked. This was the test shot, developing for the highlights I knew would be pushing zone 8. I still use that developer. Best overall developer ever created.

Split Color Application ~ Gum layer 3
Yellow Ochre ~ Raw Umber
"Tammy's Rose" ~ 8x10