Cyanotype by necesity

[kevin klein]

It has been a while since I have been here. The past year I have been using the cyanotype in place of albumen or salt paper due to the high price of silver. The prints look well when toned to a brownish color with green tea, before it was tannic acid but that is a little more staining on the paper. I am very pleased with it's ability to produce a good print and not having to use valable silver, plus it is much faster to process. Masa paper has become my paper of choice. The silver will have to be saved for tins and negatives.

 

[TheToadMen]

Could you show us some examples of your work, please?

 

[ransel]

Kevin, you do know that you can just leave cyanotypes...well...cyan I initially tried toning some of mine and it was hit & miss, so I just tried leaving them cyan and I have grown to really love how they look. When a fresh one comes out of the wash I just stare at it for a bit and after a minute the color doesn't register in my brain - it just becomes a photograph.

 

[kevin klein]

I like the look of the toned image, sometimes a split tone is nice, depending on the subject

 

[kevin klein]

Here are examples of my toned Cyanotype Prints.

 

[ransel]

Very nice kevin - can you post your recipe and toning technique? Here is one of mine from a 6X6 neg...

 

[kevin klein]

Thanks. My way of toning is very basic. I bleach with sodium carbonate or borax, the borax is less touchy as the carbonate will bleach out the mid tones if left to long. The amount of either is very little,about 1/4 tea spoon to a pint of water. The time for bleaching seems to make a difference in tonality, a short bleach will allow the shadow areas to be more blue while the mid tones are brownish, longer wil make a more over all brown. Ammonia added to water will also work as a bleach. Experiance will tell you what will work for you or not depending on what effect you are looking for. The toner is green tea, some brands have small tea bags with about 1gm in them and others have 2gm. I use two 2gm or four 1gm bags and let them soak in the water for a bout five min. It can be used hot or warm, cold will take longer to tone the print. I usualy get a good color in about 4 or 5 min. with hot toner and as it cools down it takes about 10 - 20 min. It is very flexable and the results are not always exactly the same. I think it's fine. Be aware that some things do not always work the same for everyone.

 

[kevin klein]

Ransel. That print loos real good, I bet it would look a little nicer with a mild toning.

 

[ransel]

Thanks for the info Kevin. It has been a year or more since I have toned any cyanotypes. I'll give your technique a try.
Here is one I did a while back - came out to light and I almost threw it in the trash but went ahead and dried it. Still almost threw it away after drying but tried drawing in the areas that were to light, with a lead pencil. Ended up matting and framing it and one $200 2nd place in our local art museum exhibit.
From 4X5 neg

 

[ransel]

Kevin, one more quick question - do you bleach and tone prints that are still wet from processing or do you let them dry over night before attempting to tone?

 

[removed account4]

I bleach with sodium carbonate or borax, the borax is less touchy as the carbonate will bleach out the mid tones if left to long.

great to know this !
i have only bleached with washing soda
and i think i have some borax, i will have to try this

i love this site !

thanks kevin !
john

 

[Tom Taylor]

Here's a recent landscape printed as a cyanotype on cot-320 with a solution that was originally mixed in March, 2015:

Not the dramatic scene that I was looking for but I shot it anyways to see how it would look printed as a cyanotype.

Thomas

 

[kevin klein]

Kevin, one more quick question - do you bleach and tone prints that are still wet from processing or do you let them dry over night before attempting to tone?

I usualy want to get the job done so I do everything at once, I also give the wased print a quick oxidation with hydrogen peroxide. I think the object of letting the print sit over night is to let it oxidize naturaly, but if HP will do the same thing, why not? I should do a comparison test with a number of prints and see if there is a diference between instant gratification and letting the print wait till latter.

 

[stawastawa]

What kind of negatives do you print? are they grade 2 material? or do you specifically pull or push development for cyanotype negatives?

 

[kevin klein]

I am printing collodion negatives.