Platinum/Palladium Prints

[fgorga]

Just before Christmas I set out to make my first platinum/palladium (Pt/Pd) prints.

Back when it was first published, I bought a copy of the Malde/Ware book and dove into reading it. I also read the older literature (both the Arentz book and the Sullivan/Weese book) and much stuff on the web.

In the end, I chose to try a less than mainstream method described by Richard Eugene Puckett (https://www.texaschrysotype.com/) because it seemed to eliminate much of the futzing around needed with the other methods to control the humidity of the paper..

I am glad that I went this route.

I can report that Puckett's method (as described in his free pdf format book) works very well and exactly as he describes.

Shown below are scans of four prints made from digital negatives on Legion Lenox 100 paper pre-treated with 0.5% HCl (to remove the carbonate from the paper). I used a mixture of 25% Pt and 75% Pd and a homemade UV LED exposure unit.

The humidity in my wood stove heated basement dim room has been running between 35 and 45% these days. I have simply coated paper with sensitizer and dried it in the dark to 15 minutes before exposing it. The paper was pre-treated and dried overnight before begin stored in a manila envelope until it was needed.

I have also made successful prints on Hahnemühle Platinum Rag (without pre-treatment) and Fabriano Artistico Hot Press (pre-treated as above)

Coquina Lake (Idaho)

Church Window.Stairs

Flag and Shovel in Window

Barn (Chichester, NH) - made by photographing the ground glass of a camera obscura with a digital camera

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

Frank-
I'm not sure how you are making your negatives, and if that is where the grittiness I'm seeing in your prints is coming from, but I'm seeing an excessive amount of grit in your prints. I am unfamiliar with the Puckett version of this process, so I can't say if it is more arid-tolerant than other versions, but these look like A: your paper is too dry when you are exposing it, and B: possibly you're using too much platinum relative to palladium in your mixture, as platinum has a very strong tendency to get gritty and contrasty.
This is the kind of tonality you should be able to get with a palladium-based process:

Some of the "grain" you're seeing here is the paper texture being picked up in the re-photography process.

I've found that using traditional developing-out Palladium (Potassium Oxalate developer) on Hahnemuhle Platinum Rag is very easy to control- print when you coat, as soon as it is surface dry. If you have an extremely dry environment, like your basement with the wood stove heater, get a portable humidifier and run it prior to starting your printing session. For added benefit, you can wave the coated paper through the cool mist column from the humidifier for a couple minutes prior to exposing. I think if you do that, you'll find your prints will improve significantly, even if you don't use the traditional developing-out process.

 

[doughowk]

A workshop might be useful . Tilman Crane lives not too far from you; and his low-key teaching style should get you thru initial issues. I also find Ian Leake's "The Platinum Printing Workshop" to be an easy to follow guide with excellent tips.

 

[Vaughn]

I have not used any of the platinum/palladium printing-out methods. I do not know if the 'grain' was created in the original image, the scan, the digital negative, and/or the printing process used. But nicely done for first attempts at a new process. A good jumping off point for further investigations. The number of controllable variables can lead to chaos or even inspiration.

Fortunately, my humidity stays around 60% (plus or minus 10%) most of the time and I do not worry about humidity when making develop-out pt/pd prints (and printing from in-camera negatives). Example below; Yosemite Valley, 8x10, palladium to platinum ratio about 2 to 1, warm Potassium oxalate developer).

 

[Alan9940]

I'm not familiar with the Puckett process, but I've made many prints from digital negatives using Malde/Ware, Precision Digital Negatives, and the B&S method and none have revealed the grittiness of the prints shown above. Is the Puckett process a printing out or developing out method? If the former and depending on the makeup of the chemistry used, humidity is a critical factor.

 

[gone]

Love the shots, especially the first one.

 

[Ian Leake]

Personally I'd recommend using one of the mainstream processes when you're starting out. The Malde/Ware process is very good. If you're using digital negatives then you'll have consistent negative densities, which will make humidity control much simpler.

I read-up on Puckett's process(es) a few years ago, and wasn't impressed. If I remember correctly it was mostly futzing around with chemistry combinations rather than any special insights into the process. The platinum/palladium process is incredibly simple, and adding weird and wonderful chemicals generally degrades it.

 

[nmp]

The Puckett method involves formation of some ferrous in the sensitizer by addition of ascorbic acid. The controversial part of this process is whether that effectuates some metal salt reduction prematurely within the sensitizer when the two parts are mixed or on the paper before exposure. I can't say the grittiness here is caused by that or not, but that is the main chemical difference between the traditional formula (apart from the fact that the sensitizer is FAO-based and not FO-based which requires some solvent to develop out the image.)

:Niranjan.

 

[jeffreyg]

One possibility for the grit can be in the coating method. If used,too much pressure with a glass rod can do that. While I live in a humid climate our ac is generally on. I use a simple method: Arches Platine or Legion Revere Platinum papers. With a Sable brush lightly coat the image area with distilled water, when almost dry, brush on mixture of 3 drops pt, 8 drops pd, 1 drop au, 12 drops ferric oxalate, 4 drops h2o2 and 8 drops distilled h2o. When almost dry to the touch, dry with blow drier on low both sides of the paper. When dry to the touch print. Develop in ammonium citrate, 3 five minute baths in EDTA with sodium sulfite and citric acid. Wash. The only thing I carefully measure are the drops. I have made prints from HP5 4x5, enlarged 2 1/4 Delta 400, Delta 100, Tri-x on x-ray duplicating film and Pictorico. Some from pinhole 4x5 HP5. I do it all in the light from two spaced 40 watt incandescent bulbs and the darkroom door open. My light box is from Bostick and Sullivan that uses black light bulbs.
My guess it's the negative that is causing the 'grit" referred to. The tip off is the skies.

http://www.jeffreyglasser.com/

http://www.sculptureandphotography.com/

 

[Ian Leake]

I note that in his book, he writes that platinum prints can turn out "excessively grainy" unless glycerin is also added to the sensitizer.