"After the Battle" ~ Palladium toned Kallitype

 Another reprint of this image in 8"x10", from the 11"x14" format. The prints in this Civil War series are all printed on Revere Platinum rag, developed in either sodium acetate [cool tone], or sodium citrate [war tone]; then toned in palladium toner. This image developed in the warm tone sodium citrate developer, then palladium toned.

As in all the images, the focus of the printing is on the light. Getting the light right, for me, sets the scene. Having the ability to film and video tape the battle scenes, filming on the battle field, as well as having full access to all the reenactors in their respective bivouac areas, gave me the ability to capture actions and images of individuals that simply wouldn't have been possible otherwise. An influence for me back then, was seeing Timothy O'Sullivan and Alexander Gardner's photos of the Civil War. Realizing of course they were filming with an 8x10 camera using wet plate techniques, while I was snapping images with a 35mm SLR camera, then developing when I was ready, in my darkroom at home.

Palladium Toned Kallitype

"After the Battle"

Salem, Oregon 1990

"Heat of Battle" ~ Palladium toned Kallitype

 This print was rather interesting for me, visually. There is little of the participants, with the primary visual being smoke from the volley just fired. Half fired while the other half reloaded. The images of this portfolio are the result of photographing the participants, in action or behind the battles in their respective bivouac, as a photojournalist, visually capturing the essence of life in a Civil War encampment, meeting enemy troops; respectively.

Being the accepted photographer/videographer for the Civil War Council, Salem, Oregon, and sporting badges I made up that made the photo team look like we were from the New York Times. The troop movement and battle scenes were photographed and video taped while I was on the battle field, floating and shooting. Yes, it was sweet indeed.

This print was developed in sodium citrate, then toned in palladium. 

Palladium toned Kallitype

"Heat of Battle"

Salem, Oregon 1990

"Cannoneers at Rest" ~ Palladium toned Kallitype

 A second image of the cannoneer team. I treated this one as I did the first one of the cannoneers, more of a portrait of the crew. They were real proud of their 8 pounder. The developer being the sodium acetate. For me, the feel of the image needed the cooler tone, richer black and white representation, although the palladium toner actually warms the print a bit, from the cold toned 'b&w' beforehand. The  palladium toner cools and deepens the blacks of a print developed in the sodium citrate, as that comes out quite warm toned.

The <curve> I created;[color adjustment curve| Paintshop Pro X9 that I use for this work, is set for making negatives that would print well in both Kallitype and palladium. A slightly softer <curve> I created is suited for the platinum/palladium 'double sodium' Na2 process, using sodium cloroplatinate instead of the more standard potassium hexacloroplatinite. The sodium based format is used in diluted form, from 2.5% to 10% for soft negatives. The platinum stops the bronzing of the palladium process, deepening the blacks and holding back slightly the UV light on the highlights, hence increasing the print time and tonal range of the image. That is why it has it's own <curve> as it doesn't need as much density range as the palladium print.

What is distinctive in this image, compared to the 11"x14" print of this image, are in the mid-tones, with the textural detail and tonal separation being greatly increased. The print 'color' and historical process fits the theme for me, looking a lot like an early photographer; Timothy O'Sullivan, although, not in a Kallitype, as the Kallitype wasn't a thing until around 1890. Platinum and palladium came first. It was the salt-paper silver print that came first, in the 1850's by Henry Fox Talbot.

Palladium toned Kallitype

"Cannoneers at Break" 8"x10"

Salem, Oregon 1990

"The Surgeon's Nurse" ~ Palladium toned Kallitype

 This print got the warm toned treatment, developed in the citrate developer, then palladium toned. Such decisions are based upon a personal choice of expression, for the image. Uniformity of any portfolio, or group of print images was never a thing for me. Each image has a visual dynamic, and that dynamic gets interpreted and treated as the printer sees it, is inspired by it. But you knew that.

This print was developed in sodium citrate, then palladium toned, all in the effort of realizing an image of warm tones. This image derives from Kodak Gold color negatives, and after thirty years of time stored in an envelope, begins some reticulation on the film's surface, leaving a sight textural quality in the image. The images scanned from black & white negatives remain in pristine condition. The reticulation isn't sufficient to detract from the finished image though, hence the printing.

Palladium toned Kallitype

"The Surgeon's Nurse" ~ 8"x10"

Salem, OR 1990

"The Cannoneers" ~ Reprint Palladium over Kallitype

 The printing of the Civil War Reenactment images continues, as 8"x10" prints this time. All the 11"x14" prints of that portfolio have been destroyed before the reprinting began. The larger images began to soften and fall into the paper, enough so that they were becoming uninspiring. The smaller prints are much more visually inspiring, with more textured detail and sharpness. I was trying to stretch a 35mm film negative, scanned to digital, then prepared, same as now, was too much for some of the negatives; specifically, the original color images. That film was Kodak Gold, which was a very good film, with rich color saturation. Those colors, of course, get interpolated into panchromatic tonalities of grays before printing. All that can be worked through easily enough, but after thirty years, the film, not kept in a refrigerated state, becomes reticulated, leaving a visible 'bubbling' texture, and when that is stretched, well, it becomes crap.

These prints have been processed exactly as the larger printings. I am using two developers for this portfolio, as I'm not bound to uniformity as all matching images in a portfolio. I use the acetate cool toned developer for the images I feel are best represented with a richer warm-black image, and the citrate developer for a warm toned imaged underlying the palladium toning. The more nobler palladium salts replace all the silver salts of the print on the paper, leaving a fully palladium print image.

Palladium is considered a 'warm-toned' image, as the platinum print image is considered cool toned. Direct printing of the two prove this out, also depending on the platinum/palladium developer used. Potassium oxalate being the standard warm toned developer, with the ammonia oxalate being a cool toned developer, at lower temperatures. Heated to 95 degs, ammonium oxalate is very warmed toned, to the point of looking very similar to a Van Dyke brown print. When toning a silver print, the palladium toner opens up middle tones, deepens blacks and brightens highlights and whites. A thirty-second extra print time, in my UV printer anyway, compensates for this.

The silver prints developed in sodium acetate, are straight up 'black & white' images, and if toned in the gold toner using thiourea, the prints takes on the characteristics of a platinum print, with the primary difference in the middle tones, a  straight gray tone with the silver and a more steely blue-gray mid-tones with platinum. When that same silver print ]acetate developed] toned in palladium, takes on the look of a palladium print, printed in palladium, developed in potassium oxalate. When the silver print, developed in the sodium citrate developer, and toned in palladium, leaving the print will less visual blacks, with more warm-toned blacks, softer, leaving the print more like the palladium print developed in the warmed ammonium oxalate.

This print was developed in sodium acetate, toned in palladium. 9-min print time and 9-min in the toning bath. The negative is somewhere between Log .8 and Log .9, printed in my UV printing  box, at 160W of eight 24"white blacklight tubes, 6-inches from table top. This image, when compared to the 11"x14" version is much more visually pleasing, with a lot more textural detail, and tonal separation.

Palladium toned Kallitype

"The Cannoneers" ~ 8"x10"

Salem, Oregon 1990