Cyanotype is 178 years old today!

[ChristopherCoy]

From Mike Ware's pdf:

"Photography in Prussian blue was discovered on 23rd April, 1842"

 

[Andrew O'Neill]

Crikey!

 

[BrianShaw]

Happy birthday!

 

[Randalcav]

My college age son challenged me to a cyanotype showdown last week. He has no photographic background, biology major. We both bought chemicals and came up with our own mixing concentrations. I use my home made UV light box and he uses the sun or a single bulb blacklight. I use 4 x 5 negs and he converts a color iPhone photo and scans an 8 x 10 negative on a inkjet printer. I use arches platine and kozo paper. He uses sketchbook paper, even though I offered better paper. I never did cyanotype until last week. We are having a blast. I am amazed at the blue you can produce by intensifying the image with bleach. He uses hydrogen peroxide. This process has got me back in my darkroom and back into alternative processes after a long pause. We are having a blast. Next month albumen. The best part is that he suggested that we give this a try and it meant a lot to me. Fun!

 

[removed account4]

awesome !

 

[NedL]

awesome !

+1 awesome, that's great.

 

[ChristopherCoy]

My college age son challenged me to a cyanotype showdown last week. He has no photographic background, biology major. We both bought chemicals and came up with our own mixing concentrations. I use my home made UV light box and he uses the sun or a single bulb blacklight. I use 4 x 5 negs and he converts a color iPhone photo and scans an 8 x 10 negative on a inkjet printer. I use arches platine and kozo paper. He uses sketchbook paper, even though I offered better paper. I never did cyanotype until last week. We are having a blast. I am amazed at the blue you can produce by intensifying the image with bleach. He uses hydrogen peroxide. This process has got me back in my darkroom and back into alternative processes after a long pause. We are having a blast. Next month albumen. The best part is that he suggested that we give this a try and it meant a lot to me. Fun!

that’s awesome!

 

[fgorga]

From Mike Ware's pdf:

"Photography in Prussian blue was discovered on 23rd April, 1842"

Thanks for that tidbit!

As it so happens, I have recently (in the past month) begun, after a hiatus of about 12 years, to make cyanotypes again.

Here is a recent example:

This image was made by using a digital camera to photograph the ground glass of a camera obscura. An inkjet negative was made from the digital file and printed using the traditional "A+B" cyanotype recipe on Arches Platine. It was developed with 25% vinegar. Finally the print was toned with tannic acid and ammonia.

Cape d'Or Light

 

[Wayne]

Crap. I'm always a day late and a dollar short. I'll bet nobody saved me any cake either.

 

[Peter Schrager]

My college age son challenged me to a cyanotype showdown last week. He has no photographic background, biology major. We both bought chemicals and came up with our own mixing concentrations. I use my home made UV light box and he uses the sun or a single bulb blacklight. I use 4 x 5 negs and he converts a color iPhone photo and scans an 8 x 10 negative on a inkjet printer. I use arches platine and kozo paper. He uses sketchbook paper, even though I offered better paper. I never did cyanotype until last week. We are having a blast. I am amazed at the blue you can produce by intensifying the image with bleach. He uses hydrogen peroxide. This process has got me back in my darkroom and back into alternative processes after a long pause. We are having a blast. Next month albumen. The best part is that he suggested that we give this a try and it meant a lot to me. Fun!

kids !!! it's great !!