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Kallitype - Some Success & Some Questions

R Shaffer

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Well I have to say that I am hooked . I'm much more satisfied with the results I'm getting with kallitypes than I was with silver gelatine contact printing. I do have a couple of questions....

I'm not sure if I should be trying to get more exposure. I can only get negatives dense enough that I can get step 1 & 2 ( of a PDN 31 step wedge ) both the same black. I'm satisfied with the black I'm getting on the print and it only seems darker where I have heavy emulsion at edges.

My current blocking colors are R115 G30 B0 ( best ) and R80 G80 B0. I have had to go pretty dark to get enough density not to overexpose the highlights and get a good black. If I used a UV light ( BL ) in lieu of the sun would I be able to go to a lighter blocking color? and would a lighter color reduce grain?
My current exposure is 15min & facing north to open sky. Direct sun seemed to cook through the highlights in 2 minutes.

I have attached my last chart ( if that helps ). I'm using Sandy Kings formulas & procedures from his wonderful article. I partial toned in palladium, full toning seemed too cool.

Thanks
Rob
 
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Colin Graham

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Looks great Rob. What paper are you using? I've had success with Platine, and also Arches HP in a mild acid prebath- 5% citric acid for 10 minutes.

For grain, you might want to try some colors that don't have so much black in the CMYK mix- your 115 30 0 color is 44% black. I usually got much smoother results with colors of minimal black on the 9180. I had good luck with R 0 G 140 B 23, which has only 7% black in CMYK. I generally use citric acid or sodium acetate developers, with a 2 ml/liter addition of 5% K dichromate, and tone in pd as well.
 
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R Shaffer

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Thanks for responding and the kind words Colin,

I'm using Arches Platine w/o any pretreatment. I'm laying down a heavier coat of emulsion than my initial prints and getting better black and more uniform results across the print. I'm using sodium citrate developer with 2ml of 5% dichromate solution per liter.

I had a feeling that I was using too much black in my blocking color, but I was having trouble getting enough density for my highlights. I'll look and see where R0 G140 B23 lands on my previous HSL array tests.

I think maybe I need to go back and find my minimum exposure for maximum black through OHP. And then reprint my HSL array at this exposure. I may try sodium acetate developer if this does not get me to a lighter blocking color.

I made 4 more prints yesterday, having too much fun with this

Thanks again
Rob
 

sanking

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I saw your post earlier but was in China with limited internet access and was not able to respond. Just a couple of comments with limited perspective.

First, you appear to be getting good Dmax, and the ChartThrob charts look right on target.

Second, I am not sure how much you can improve on the grain with the HP printer you are using. I used the same printer for about a year and never found a color that gave really fine grain. I used MKS' color array and tested several colors that gave good UV blocking, but all gave more grain than I was able to get in the past with Epson 2200 and now 3800.

Finally, recommend that you tone to completion. An image made with small grain silver is subject to atmospheric attack and you need to do everything possible to protect it. That means, for me, changing as much of the silver metal to something else, either palladium, platinum or gold.

Sandy King








 
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R Shaffer

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Thanks for responding Sandy,

Glad to hear you think my charts look good. I was quite pleased with the dmax, but I did not have anything to compare with ( at the time ) to make an evaluation. After another printing session over the weekend with both film and digital negatives I'm feeling like I've got a good black.

It's too bad to hear that I my B9180 is going to be 'grain challenged'. The printer has treated me well for the past two years so I'm not quite ready move back to an Epson. Although a dedicated B&W printer with all carbon inks sure would be nice.

Yes, I know I should tone to completion. I remixed my developer & toner with distilled water ( used filtered tap 1st time - my bad ) and the fully toned print has warmed a fair bit. But I really liked the warm brown/black I got with partial toning. When I make up new batch of clearing bath I 'm gonna use distilled water so my prints don't see any tap water until after toning.
 
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