Recent content by JOHN McMURTRIE

Thanks for the excellent advise! I am using 1g of Gelatine dissolved in 100ml and 2g of Sodium Chloride for my coating solution. Sensitizing solution is 3g Silver Nitrate in 20ml plus 2g in Citric acid = 30ml. This mix is tried and tested but none of the results are producing anything with...

The paper is Platinum Rag and the 2g Sodium Chloride is mixed with 10ml of distilled and added to 20ml of 70'c distilled water with 1g Gelatine dissolved. Tried and tested and usually all good. I think the outside temperature and the light is particularly poor right now in the UK, hence...

Thanks! Yes the paper is sized with 2g of Gelatine to 20ml. The problem I have now is lack of good blacks. All my previous Salt prints have had excellent contrast, just brilliant blacks, but this latest batch of 6 prints are so flat! I think it must be the weather, unless you can think of...

1. If you don't have anything useful to say, why get involved with such an irrelevant comment. 2. A bit rich coming from an American 3. Because it is a print for the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition. Deadline is Monday. 4. IS THAT OK WITH YOU?

Yes identical staining on the back. I think I was a bit too generous when I sensitised the paper. Originally I used a syringe but that got contaminated so I pool a puddle in the middle of the paper and paint it out. That said, the fixer should kill it from going dark so could it be my wash...

Need some help with a contamination/fogging issue I am having with a print. It is a salt print. Everything is fine up to the fix and wash stage. I am getting a grey contamination on the paper. I suspect it is not enough washing before the fix as it looks like the Silver Chloride fogging as I...

GoldBorax looks ace!

Thanks NedL, I am now getting up to speed on my Amonium thiosulfate's and Sodium Thio...'s. I have some new fixer on order and will try some different papers soon. Will also compare papers that have been soaked in acid. This first print above I salted and fixed in daylight, hence the base...

Do you have an example I could see?

They are transparency film negatives 10x8. I need to do some more research on toners then.

I think I will try gold-thiourea toning before fixing. Can I turn on the lights during this process? Just wondering how I gauge the amount of time needed for the toner if I can't see the change?

Thanks for the advise NedL, I love the idea of painting the Silver Nitrates so they spill under the tape in places. I will give that a go. I am concluding that the Rapid Fixer is way too harsh for this process. I have experienced a lot of darkening and reddening to the prints above. I think...

I have got some foil tape on order which I will use for masking on some. I actually think the rawness of the edges actually adds a 'hand made' quality to the prints which I really want to keep! I have a lot of prints made for commercial reasons which are clean and tidy but this process lends...

Last night I prepared 3 sheets of paper mixing a 30ml 2g mix of Sodium Chloride + 1g of Geletine and re-used my previously mixed Silver Nitrate and citric acid solution. I made a box with coat hanger wire pushed through it to make shelves to house 3 pieces of paper and left them to dry. Today...

The paper was definitely clean with no fogging when put in the frame. I think it was because I did all my wet processing in daylight. Have moved my wash and fix into the shed under safe light conditions and see what I get later today. It is much cloudier day which should produce more contrast...