selenium / cooltone

DrPablo · Dec 20, 2006

I've been pretty pleased with the toning effects of selenium (KRST) on Ilford warmtone paper. So I picked up the Ilford cooltone hoping to get a different look, perhaps something a bit blue-violet compared to the warmer eggplantish color with warmtone. But even after 30 min in 1:3 KRST there was barely any toning, maybe the barest hint of slate-blue.

So is there any cooltone paper that tones in selenium? Or should I just be toning it differently?

PepMiro · Dec 20, 2006

Ilford coldtone paper doesn't change colour in selenium. Other cold tone paper like Bergger or Forte tone quite well in selenium.

Robert Hall · Dec 20, 2006

I get great purples in the normal Ilford papers and selenium. I use dektol for developer then 1+9 Selenium for 3 minutes.

DrPablo · Dec 20, 2006

You get that in the RC Ilford MG cooltone?

I use the Ilford paper developer for 2 min, stop bath for 5-10 sec, fix in Ilford speed fixer for 3 min, wash, then selenium 1+3. All I get is the faintest hint of blue. The warmtone is a different story -- I get the classic 'eggplant' color in about 5 min with that.

PepMiro -- are those papers marketed as cooltone, or are they just standard papers with a cool cast to them? Which ones do you suggest, and how do they tone in selenium?

firecracker · Dec 20, 2006

The current Oriental stock VC FB II does a wonderful(?) blue cast job in selenium. The lighter/less contrasty your prints are, the more blue that shows.

Use Dektol to see how it works first.

DrPablo · Dec 20, 2006

Do you think with Dektol there will be more toning on the RC cooltone paper? I've been thinking about the Ilford cooltone developer to see what effect that has. I have a number of very moody-looking prints with high contrast, and I thought that a cool look, esp in the shadows, would be very effective.

Robert Hall · Dec 20, 2006

Yes, I do. I have the photograph! Now I've not done this for 10 years, but I have the print in my hand with the scribbles on the back telling me what I did.

To be honest, it is a little too purple for the image, but the color is quite nice.

doughowk · Dec 20, 2006

Selenium with Kentmere Bromide yields nice cooltone. Not currently near darkroom but believe its 1:9 Fotospeed Selenium for about 3-4 minutes.

Marc Leest · Dec 20, 2006

I think goldtoner would be the better choice to cool off tones.

Robert Hall · Dec 21, 2006

Gold is great for blue, but I've not seen a purple hue from it yet.

selenium / cooltone

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