Platinum Palladium vs Silver Gelatin: Aesthetically

[Darryl Roberts]

Hi,

I'm starting a portrait business, black and white. Is platinum palladium visually more pleasing than silver gelatin? Please answer only if you've experienced both.

Thank you

 

[MattKing]

I have friends who do both, and really like looking at both of them.
I really am glad that I don't have to look at the invoices that my friends pay for the platinum and palladium.

 

[dpurdy]

I do both and have done both for many years. Silver Gel and PT/PD are completely different. With completely different aesthetic considerations. If you commit to PT/PD you have to charge a hella lot of money because the metal is outrageously expensive. I would go with silver because it is good enough and a lot of non photography people don't see what you see in your printing.

 

[Darryl Roberts]

I have friends who do both, and really like looking at both of them.
I really am glad that I don't have to look at the invoices that my friends pay for the platinum and palladium.

Thank you.

 

[Darryl Roberts]

I do both and have done both for many years. Silver Gel and PT/PD are completely different. With completely different aesthetic considerations. If you commit to PT/PD you have to charge a hella lot of money because the metal is outrageously expensive. I would go with silver because it is good enough and a lot of non photography people don't see what you see in your printing.

Thank you very much, just the answer I was looking for.

 

[nmp]

If your clients like hand-coated look, why not try poor man's pt/pd - i.e. salted paper, far less expensive.

 

[Darryl Roberts]

If your clients like hand-coated look, why not try poor man's pt/pd - i.e. salted paper, far less expensive.

Any labs you know of? I lack the space to do it.

 

[Vaughn]

To answer the question: No, comparisons are odious, as the saying goes.

If you are not doing any printing yourself, then why does it matter? One could offer the services/options with examples for the customer to choose. A lower cost option would be inkjet on a watercolor-type paper to get a similar feel of the platinum/palladium metals trapped in the paper's fibers.

 

[nmp]

Any labs you know of? I lack the space to do it.

Bob Carnie comes to mind - I am not sure if he does salted paper or not, but check out his site:

http://www.bobcarnieprintmakingandgallery.ca/printing.html

Some more services advertised on this page:

https://www.alternativephotography.com/directory-of-suppliers/printers/

:Niranjan.

 

[Darryl Roberts]

Bob Carnie comes to mind - I am not sure if he does salted paper or not, but check out his site:

http://www.bobcarnieprintmakingandgallery.ca/printing.html

Some more services advertised on this page:

https://www.alternativephotography.com/directory-of-suppliers/printers/

:Niranjan.

Thank you

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

I do both; personally I prefer the look of platinum/palladium. I love the process and everything about it, including the hand-coating and the paper choice. But as others have said, it is very labor-intensive as well as materials-intensive. If you can't figure out how to market that, it's not for you.

 

[Darryl Roberts]

I do both; personally I prefer the look of platinum/palladium. I love the process and everything about it, including the hand-coating and the paper choice. But as others have said, it is very labor-intensive as well as materials-intensive. If you can't figure out how to market that, it's not for you.

Marketing wasn't the question, "aesthetically"

 

[faberryman]

I am not sure why you are asking us. Why not show examples of each to your customers and let them decide which they prefer?

 

[lecarp]

Marketing wasn't the question, "aesthetically"

"Aesthetically" That would have more to do with your skill level or lack thereof.

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

Marketing wasn't the question, "aesthetically"

Then let me rephrase my answer:

"Aesthetically", I greatly prefer the look of platinum/palladium.

Since you're asking about this in the context of starting a business, that's why I mentioned marketing the service. Pt/Pd prints are a tiny niche market. If you can figure out how to attract those customers, great, but it will be an uphill battle.

 

[Darryl Roberts]

Bob Carnie

 

[Tom Taylor]

Also it really depends on how they are printed. For exampe many of my salt and kallitypes have a silver gelatin look and Arkady Lovov's Pt/Pd prints are very different in appearance from those of Kerik Kouklis notwithstanding that they were printed on the same paper. Just last week while speaking with Dana Sullivan at B&S about Ferric Oxalate powder, I asked him if a platinum toned kallitype could be distinguished from a platinum print. He said he didn't think so without sensitive and expensive spectrographic analysis (might have some silver remaining in the kallitype). According to the literature the platinum toned kallitype has been successfully passed off as a platinum print in competitions. Coincidentally I will shortly be printing with Pt/Pd - just waiting for the right negative. The price for palladium has went through the roof and is now about the same as platinum so the Na2 method doesn't save you that much anymore.

Thomas

 

[Darryl Roberts]

Also it really depends on how they are printed. For exampe many of my salt and kallitypes have a silver gelatin look and Arkady Lovov's Pt/Pd prints are very different in appearance from those of Kerik Kouklis notwithstanding that they were printed on the same paper. Just last week while speaking with Dana Sullivan at B&S about Ferric Oxalate powder, I asked him if a platinum toned kallitype could be distinguished from a platinum print. He said he didn't think so without sensitive and expensive spectrographic analysis (might have some silver remaining in the kallitype). According to the literature the platinum toned kallitype has been successfully passed off as a platinum print in competitions. Coincidentally I will shortly be printing with Pt/Pd - just waiting for the right negative. The price for palladium has went through the roof and is now about the same as platinum so the Na2 method doesn't save you that much anymore.

Thomas

Very interesting, thank you.