Platinum/ Palladium My Printing Process
There is nothing quite like the glow of a genuine platinum print: it is simultaneously gentle and powerful, it is subtle yet rich and luxurious, and it has a physical presence like no other print medium.
Getting started with Platinum/Palladium (Pt/Pd) printing is easy buy a kit, slap some chemicals on a sheet of paper, find a dense negative, apply a bit of UV, develop the print, and youre done! But learning to consistently make top...
Ian-
I'm in the middle of writing an article for David Vickers' new online magazine about my Pt/Pd process, which uses the NA2 method, and I talk about blending pt and pd. I'll ask him if it is ok to post it here as well.
David- no problem. I'll wait until your 2nd issue is out before posting it here. I have the article 90% done now- the big to-do is getting the illustrations coordinated with the text. If you want it without illustrations, I can finish it faster.
Yes, I have a ordinary tungsten bulb in my darkroom which is always on when Im printing. I try to avoid direct strong artificial light and any daylight to minimise risk of fogging. A simple test to see if youre getting fogging is to coat two sheets one in the dark and one under normal working conditions. Develop them without exposing to a UV source and see if you can tell the difference.Although it's not specifically mentioned in either of these articles, since the Pt/Pd process is mostly UV sensitive, am I right that you can, and do, coat and work under normal light conditions (so not save light but a normal light bulb)?
The simple answer is dont allow daylight into your workroom because its hard to tell how much UV is bouncing around. Otherwise try the fogging test above.And how big is the risk of fogging paper, for example through an (open) window by strong (UV rich) sun light?
Do you mean development time or exposure time? The former is one to two minutes depending on paper surface, absorbency, etc. The later entirely depends on your negatives and strength your of UV source. My starting time is always 3 minutes but thats meaningless unless youre going to use my lightbox with the same tubes.What development times can be expected / are roughly necessary if I want to try developing under sunlight conditions / outside? (I realise this is very much depended on all kinds of variables, like weather, season, and position on the globe)
Yes, many past photographers used sunlight. But its a lot less predictable and Id recommend buying or building an artificial UV source.Is it practical at all, to use sunlight?
Powdered chemicals last forever (or as close to forever as youll notice); likewise Pt/Pd solutions. Ferric Oxalate in solution should comfortably last a couple of months (depending on storage conditions). I rarely have Ferric Oxalate in solution for longer than a two or three weeks so I can't say for sure when it goes off (and it's very cheap so I'd rather throw it away rather than risk using it if it's a bit old). Potassium Oxalate lasts in solution until it evaporates or is carried off by the paper into the clearing process. Typically 600cc lasts me perhaps 12 or so prints. Potassium Dichromate lasts ages (I think).How long can all of the chemicals be kept? Considering the high price, it would be a major waist of money have to throw away Pt/Pd chemicals, because I have not used them up in time. Can they be kept for months on end in their original concentrated form? And working solutions?
Ive never needed to dodge or burn a print. Pt/Pd copes with highlights very, very well. That being said I work indoors under artificial light so I never have unusual lighting conditionsAnd lastly: how about dodging and burning in? Since this is a contact printing process using UV light boxes, I guesse d&b is out of the question? This also implies negatives must be more or less "perfect" in terms of contrast (so no areas requiring major work)?
On the other hand, since it is contact printing, the printing process itself is likely much more sensitive, and will pick up both highlight and shadow detail that would be lost in silver enlarging printing? Is this right, so there is simply inherently much less need for dodging and burning?
I try to use all coated sheets on the day I prepare them. I have in the past used sheets that have been in a box for over a week and not noticed any problems, but I've also read things that imply it's best to use fresh paper (though I can't remember the source, what supposed to go wrong, and haven't tested this). Not a full answer, but I hope it helps a bit Marco.
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