My first Kallitype

philldresser · Aug 2, 2006

I know this will be an insignificant event in all of your lives but it was a big one for me. I completed my first Kallitype last night (attached). After months of reading and lots of procrastination I finally did it. Salt prints and Kallitypes in one week. Wow.

I had more success with Kallitypes than the salt print for various reasons and I was pleased with my first print (attached). I think it came out reasonably well considering I was printing by inspection not knowing what the exposed print should look like.

Also, I was going to use one of the dev formulas listed in the Coming into Focus (Barnier) book but I can't seem to find a local supplier of Rochelle Salts. Instead I just used Borax on its own (Read this somewhere else). Seems to work quite well although colour is a little flat.

I must say that I like the process and look forward to experimenting further.

Details are
5x4 neg, FP4
printed on Arches Aquarelle HP,
exposed UV lamp - 6.5 minutes
Developed in Borax (25g in 300ml) - 2 mins
Cleared in 3% citric acid - 2 mins
Fixed in (old) Ilford fixer - 2 mins

My further prints started blotching(sp) which I think is a fixer issue as this is when it showed up. I am getting some plain hypo to substitute and remedy this problem.

I was expecting a much blacker image with just the Borax but there is a deep chocolate border. Admittedly its not rich but it is brown. I found the Borax for £2.17 for 750g in Boots which I thought quite reasonable.

Cheers

Phill

reellis67 · Aug 2, 2006

Nice one - I think you chose a good subject for this process. I like the look of hot press papers so I might be a bit biased, but I like it. The Kallitype process has a lot of variables, but does produce nice prints. You have a lot of options for toning with this process so if you don't like the color you might look into toning options to get where you want to be.

- Randy

Robert Hall · Aug 2, 2006

Great job Phill!

Can you wear the boots when the borax is gone?

philldresser · Aug 2, 2006

Robert Hall said:
Can you wear the boots when the borax is gone?

Now thats funny

Phill

Leon · Aug 2, 2006

it looks fantastic on my monitor Phill - nice one.

Christopher Colley · Aug 2, 2006

now its time for some platinum toner !

(will take away the chocolate tone, make it neutral/colder)

kallitype is fun, well... other than needing to clean up all those trays!

roy · Aug 2, 2006

A very good start Phil. I presume you used a kit as Ferric Oxalate (which I assume you used) seems difficult to obtain in UK.

philldresser · Aug 2, 2006

Roy

I purchased my Ferric oxalate from Bostick & Sullivan in America. Took 6 days from order to me printing which is good service.

Phill

photomc · Aug 2, 2006

Congratulations Phill, looks like a really nice first print. Agree with the above post...good choice of negative to start with. Looks like you are on your way.

CarlRadford · Aug 3, 2006

Looks good to me Phill...

lots of detail and texture that the process has handled nicely.

dustym · Aug 3, 2006

Really nice Phil, I've decided to give alternative process a go when the kids get back to school.

Well Done.

Dusty

sanking · Aug 4, 2006

philldresser said:
I was expecting a much blacker image with just the Borax but there is a deep chocolate border. Admittedly its not rich but it is brown. I found the Borax for £2.17 for 750g in Boots which I thought quite reasonable.

Cheers

Phill

Nice work.

Kallitype, especially when toned with platinum, palladium or gold, is capable of very beautiful results.

In my experience Arches Aquarelle does not give good Dmax with kallitpe, unless you give it an acid pre-soak.

For a look at my own working procedures for kallitype, see this article. http://www.alternativephotography.com/process_kallitype.html

Best,

Sandy

philldresser · Aug 5, 2006

sanking said:
Nice work.

Kallitype, especially when toned with platinum, palladium or gold, is capable of very beautiful results.

In my experience Arches Aquarelle does not give good Dmax with kallitpe, unless you give it an acid pre-soak.

For a look at my own working procedures for kallitype, see this article. http://www.alternativephotography.com/process_kallitype.html

Best,

Sandy

Sandy

I must say I have been underwhelmed by the Arches Aquarelle with the Kallitypes and the Saltprints.

You mention an acid presoak, and I assume that the size or paper base is alkaline. If so , would that have an impact on the cyanotypes as well.
I will try a 3% citric acid pre-soak (I have a lot made up) and see if it makes a difference.

I have read your kallitype article many times and will try the sodium citrate when I can get hold of it.

Thanks to all for the comments

Phill

sanking · Aug 5, 2006

philldresser said:
Sandy

I must say I have been underwhelmed by the Arches Aquarelle with the Kallitypes and the Saltprints.

You mention an acid presoak, and I assume that the size or paper base is alkaline. If so , would that have an impact on the cyanotypes as well.
I will try a 3% citric acid pre-soak (I have a lot made up) and see if it makes a difference.

I have read your kallitype article many times and will try the sodium citrate when I can get hold of it.

Thanks to all for the comments

Phill

Phil,

Arches Aquarelle definitely appears to have an alkaline pH. An acid soak should improve its performance quite a bit with kallitype, or for that matter with Pt./Pd. I have not tried it with cyanotype, but all of the iron processes seem to like a slightly acidic paper.

Don't soak for too long, however, as the acid soak may break down the size, which result in a grainer, more textured look. But the size on Aquarelle is pretty tough, so maybe this won't happen.

Sandy

philldresser · Aug 11, 2006

2nd Kallitype session

Just completed my 2nd ever Kallitype session this evening and had some good results using the feedback from this thread. Thanks to all who have contributed - esp Sandy

I have attached the most sucsessful image as an example.

Process:

Firstly I have used a more contrasty neg, FP4 in Pyrocat-HD 2:2:100. Developed for 10 mins (SBR 7 - 8). (approx N - 1.5 estimated). Time based in Sandy Kings curve on Unblinkingeye for a 0.8 density Kallitype neg.

I used Arches Aquarelle paper as before but gave a provisional coating by foam brush of 3% citric acid to neutralise/acidify the paper. I did not apply size (gelatin) and relied on the original paper sizing. Exposure was 11 mins. Developed in 500 ml Borax with 6 drops K3Cr2O7 to increase local contrast slightly. Cleared in Ciitric acid and fixed in Ilford Fixer. The first print of this went blotchy and I narrowed this down to the fixer being to strong, so I diluted it to 1:19 and no more blotching. I am not sure if the fix is adequate but time will tell.
I can see a feint colouration where the sensitizer is not cleared fully but I think this is an feature of the paper. I cleared for 5 mins in Citric acid which should have removed it all.

Phill

terri · Aug 11, 2006

Gosh - it looks rich and beautiful to my eye. I'd be thrilled to have made that print my second try out. Nice job!

sanking · Aug 11, 2006

philldresser said:
Just completed my 2nd ever Kallitype session this evening and had some good results using the feedback from this thread. Thanks to all who have contributed - esp Sandy

Phill

Phil,

That is a really nice print.

Congratulations.

Sandy King

CarlRadford · Aug 12, 2006

Nice preint indeed...

seems like you're on a roll!

roy · Aug 12, 2006

Well done Phil.

John_Brewer · Aug 12, 2006

That is a real cracking print Phill!

J

My first Kallitype

philldresser

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