Showcase for Your HCWP's

[Patrick Robert James]

There are holes at the corners for pouring solutions out. You waste a few mls, which is okay for me when it’s developer. But I tone in a Cusco tray to avoid wasting platinum.

That has not happened to me yet. I am using a 300+ GSM paper, Revere Platinum. It clings a bit to the tub wall, and the 17x22 sheet held its shape well when wet. I would imagine a single-weight paper like Arches Platine 145g might present this problem.

Thanks Sanders.

 

[Patrick Robert James]

Cyanotype on Revere Platinum, 4m exposure. Nothing fancy on this one. My notes say 7/7/7/3 which means the mix was 7ml A/B, 7 drops 50% Citric Acid and 3 drops of dilute LFN. Standard Citric Acid first wash then tap water. I've only made a couple prints on Revere but it looks good. I've been printing a ton lately on Bergger COT which is nice, although I just saw that Bostick says not to use Tween with the paper. Next batch I'll try it without the LFN. The Bergger gets a bit velvety on me which I don't like but it does make good prints. Maybe the LFN has something to do with the velvet darks. The Revere by contrast is very smooth.

 

[awty]

Cyanotype on Revere Platinum, 4m exposure. Nothing fancy on this one. My notes say 7/7/7/3 which means the mix was 7ml A/B, 7 drops 50% Citric Acid and 3 drops of dilute LFN. Standard Citric Acid first wash then tap water. I've only made a couple prints on Revere but it looks good. I've been printing a ton lately on Bergger COT which is nice, although I just saw that Bostick says not to use Tween with the paper. Next batch I'll try it without the LFN. The Bergger gets a bit velvety on me which I don't like but it does make good prints. Maybe the LFN has something to do with the velvet darks. The Revere by contrast is very smooth.

View attachment 350806

Really nice picture.

 

[awty]

Vandyke brown print on Bergger cot 160.
24 x30 cm camera 1890, Fuji 420 lens
Xray film developed in home made pyrocat hd
Home made Vandyke brown emulsion hand painted, camera negative contact print exposed to sun for 2.5 minutes.
Washed in water with citric acid.
Fixed in sodium thiosulfate.
Cleared in sodium suffice.

 

[Rolleiflexible]

View attachment 350853
Vandyke brown print on Bergger cot 160.
24 x30 cm camera 1890, Fuji 420 lens
Xray film developed in home made pyrocat hd
Home made Vandyke brown emulsion hand painted, camera negative contact print exposed to sun for 2.5 minutes.
Washed in water with citric acid.
Fixed in sodium thiosulfate.
Cleared in sodium suffice.

OMFG beautiful

 

[Patrick Robert James]

Awty that is really nice. Looks almost like a wetplate.

 

[Patrick Robert James]

I finally figured out my density problem. Must be something with newer Photoshop and the Canon drivers, or I should just say Photoshop. Negatives printed from Print Tool showed a remarkable increase in density compared to the ones I printed through Photoshop. I'm pretty disgusted with Adobe right now....

Anyway, new negs. Easy prints. Finally getting about what I want. These are printed on Bergger Cot 160. I omitted the LFN but I'm still getting the velour type finish in the dark tones and the lighter tones aren't as smooth as I'd like. I might omit the Citric Acid next time. A couple years ago I did notice the same velour like surface after I acidified one paper leading me to believe too much acid might be causing the issue. Mixed it 5/5/5. 5ml A&B, 5 drops of 50% Citric Acid. Exposures are 4/5m with the new negs.

 

[awty]

Cyanotype standard mix, on 8x10 reeves acrylic paper. 8x10 xray film negative, developed in pyrocat hd. Sun exposure and water wash.

 

[koraks]

Oh, that's nice. Very pleasing, gentle aesthetic.

 

[Vaughn]

From my son's apt on a rainy morning in Kyoto several years ago. Three 6x10cm negatives (Veriwide).
Platinum/palladium

 

[Rolleiflexible]

From my son's apt on a rainy morning in Kyoto several years ago. Three 6x10cm negatives (Veriwide).
Platinum/palladium

Vaughn, spectacular. I love to see places like Kyoto that are well-known, yet obscure in many respects. I have a Veriwide -- I am divided about it because the vignetting toward the corners is significant. You used that aspect of the camera to advantage here. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Vaughn]

Thank you, Sanders. Right before I left, a friend offered the Veriwide to me to use on the Kyoto trip. Not necessarily the best decision to take an unusual camera/format on such a trip, but the other camera I took (a Ciroflex) with me was not a great choice either, so I ended up using the Veriwide more than anticipated...fun camera.

I'll be heading back there around Christmas -- will take the Rolleicord most likely, but the 5x7 would be so sweet to take. I have several multiple 120 images to still print from Scotland/Wales this past Spring.

An older pt/pd print using the Rollei: Doggies, Treasure Island

 

[KYsailor]

Another photogravure intaglio, the image is about 5 X 7, on Hahnemühle Dürer Copperplate, 250 gms - spent some time working on my QTR curve for this process, not quite there but getting close, and learning how to operate an intaglio press. Thanks to Clay Harmon for being such a great instructor on this process. - Gore Creek outside Vail Colorado. Need to work on cleaning up the margins.

 

[CreationBear]

Excellent, I think photogravure is probably the most elegant print medium out there—though it probably requires more infrastructure than I can handle right now. Along those lines, though, what kind of press are you using?

Otherwise, I’ve walked a bit through Louisville—a quite photogenic town, though I doubt this mural from a few years back is still there:

lucky1A by J Barnes, on Flickr

 

[Vaughn]

Bringing out an older print.

Redwood Cathedral
Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park
5x7 Carbon Print from camera negative

 

[KYsailor]

Excellent, I think photogravure is probably the most elegant print medium out there—though it probably requires more infrastructure than I can handle right now. Along those lines, though, what kind of press are you using?

Otherwise, I’ve walked a bit through Louisville—a quite photogenic town, though I doubt this mural from a few years back is still there:

lucky1A by J Barnes, on Flickr

It is a great way to print - I am still learning a lot about the press and how to ink/process. I have joined a local printmakers studio, they have several presses - I use the Rembrandt Pelican etching press (24″ x 48″ bed size). They also have a UV burner that uses BL tubes, kind of slow compared to the UV LED burners that others are using for the plates... but it seems to work. I have to admit I don't quite get the deep blacks that I am able to print with Kallitype, but as I said I am still learning some of the subtleties of the technology.

I like your image - I actually purchased a bike from the Bike Courier Shop - the owner is a great guy, yes Louisville has a lot of interesting murals here is one from the nulu area ... and thanks for your comments


dave

 

[KYsailor]

Bringing out an older print.

Redwood Cathedral
Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park
5x7 Carbon Print from camera negative

VAughan,

Really excellent print - the blacks are great, it really makes the image. I have been experimenting with a lot of alt photo techniques and I would love to try carbon printing, however all of the steps are very daunting, maybe next year.

Dave

 

[koraks]

They also have a UV burner that uses BL tubes

I'm surprised they're not running into severe dot gain problems with that approach. My experience was that BL tubes were not very fit for photopolymer printing. Far too diffuse, even at distances of ca. 3ft between the light source and the printing frame.

 

[Vaughn]

VAughan,

Really excellent print - the blacks are great, it really makes the image. I have been experimenting with a lot of alt photo techniques and I would love to try carbon printing, however all of the steps are very daunting, maybe next year.

Dave

Thank you. I am not 100% sure carbon print belongs in a "HCWP" thread. The carbon tissue is hand-coated, in my case, by pouring warm Jell-O (food grade gelatin, sugar and pigment) over a plastic substrate /support.
There are a few steps to carbon printing, but fairly easy ones and not as complicated as many alt processes can be.

But in one sense, carbon printing can produce what I like to call silver prints on steroids.
The carbon print above is straight from the camera negative...no burning/dodging, but using the contrast controls of pigment and sensitizer strength.

 

[CreationBear]

Dave, thanks for elaborating…I’m actually splitting the difference between you and Vaughn and gearing up for oilprints right now (fwiw, as I was telling Murray, back in the day apparently, some people actually put a freshly inked oilprint through a press to strike an image onto virgin paper.)

 

[Vaughn]

A more recent carbon print.

Along Highway 299, Wind
Trinity County, CA
8x10 Carbon Print

Lens was a Fuji W 300/5.6 (but maybe a 250/6.7 -- can't find the notes)

 

[Patrick Robert James]

Cyanotype on Kozo. This was from a digital image. I thought I'd give it a go just to see what it would look like in the event that film ever took a dirt nap. Standard cyanotype chemistry with Citric Acid added plus LFN, then a first bath in Citric Acid. I really like the Kozo for certain images. Works great for nudes. Not so much for landscapes.

I finally ordered some Salt chems from Bostick so I am looking forward to doing some of those.

 

[Rolleiflexible]

I haven't been printing for a month or so -- life got in the way, and I've been toying with making a detour into photogravures, and I needed to update my print curves for making digital negatives, because my old ones did a terrible job with highkey images.

I finally got back into the darkroom this evening. Life is sorting itself out. My father-in-law and I are going to build an etching press together. (Never mind that I haven't a clue about how to make photogravures yet.) And I finally sorted out some of my highkey printing issues.

Here's the print I made with the new curve. It is a vast improvement over the old curve. This year I passed over a lot of highkey images that I knew were beyond my printing skills. I'll have to go back and print a few now.

 

[Patrick Robert James]

Beautiful print Sanders. You are obviously successful with the high key images. I look forward to seeing more. Seems like a difficult thing to do but I haven't even tried. I am kind of hoping the salt process will allow me to do them.

I saw you picked up a letterpress. Are you planning on building one of those etching presses from plans? I've thought about that but never have the time. I'd love to give photogravures a go as well. I'd also love to make "traditional" prints one of these days. I hope you keep us apprised of your efforts on the press...

 

[Rolleiflexible]

Are you planning on building one of those etching presses from plans?

Yes! My father-in-law is a transmission mechanic with friends who have CNC cutters. A press is a pretty simple tool and the plans include CNC files for cutting the two complex pieces. We are doing it as much to have a project to do together as for any other reason. I'm trying to encourage Mike to consider building these presses for others -- I am guessing there is a demand out there for etching presses that don't cost $8,000.

If other readers are interested, go visit this site:

www.buildapress.com

The hard part is finding a machine shop that will cut the parts for you. Once the parts are made, it's a simple thing to screw them together. At least, that's the idea.