selenium / cooltone

[DrPablo]

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]

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

 

[Robert Hall]

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

 

[DrPablo]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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

 

[Robert Hall]

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