Showcase for Your HCWP's

[koraks]

I am wondering for how long did you tone them?

These look like untoned FerroBlend prints to me. This is how they come out of the process.

 

[Raghu Kuvempunagar]

Thanks @koraks, @nmp, @NedL, @Graham06 and @Patrick Robert James.

@Graham06: Debanjan posts regularly his works in Gum Bichromate Photography FB group. But I've no idea if the gum prints from the two negatives can be found there. FB search is quite underwhelming unfortunately.

@Patrick Robert James: no toning here as rightly observed by @koraks.

 

[Patrick Robert James]

@Patrick Robert James: no toning here as rightly observed by @koraks.

Whoops! Sorry! I got these mixed up with copper toned cyanotypes in another thread! So much new stuff these days....

 

[fgorga]

Things have been slow in this thread so here are a few salted-paper prints I made yesterday.

All are on 8x10 inch Hahnemühle Platinum Rag and the images are 6x7.5 inches or 6.5 inches square.

"The Back Door" (untoned)

The Back Door (gold/bicarbonate toned)

MacDowell Dam (gold/bicarbonate toned)

Bottles (gold/bicarbonate toned)

 

[FotoD]

Very nice salt prints! Thanks for sharing.

 

[Patrick Robert James]

Nice Frank.

 

[fgorga]

Very nice salt prints! Thanks for sharing.

Nice Frank.

Thank you both for the kind words.

 

[nmp]

Thank you both for the kind words.

Yeah, wonderful prints and images., Frank. Interesting that the toned prints move almost to cyanotype blues (or is it that my eyes tricking me or may be digital duplication is doing the tricking.)

:Niranjan.

 

[glbeas]

Im curious about the gold-citric acid and the gold bicarbonate toners. Whats the recipe for them? I would love to try one of them out on this print. Van Dyke on Legion Stonehenge.

 

[fgorga]

Yeah, wonderful prints and images., Frank. Interesting that the toned prints move almost to cyanotype blues (or is it that my eyes tricking me or may be digital duplication is doing the tricking.)

:Niranjan.

Niranjan,

Thanks!

The gold/bicarbonate prints in hand are certainly a neutral, bordering on cool gray. I'm not sure I would go so far as to say they are blue though.

 

[fgorga]

Im curious about the gold-citric acid and the gold bicarbonate toners. Whats the recipe for them? I would love to try one of them out on this print. Van Dyke on Legion Stonehenge.

Gary,

I use one of the many variations of gold toner cited in Chris Anderson's salted-paper book.

The recipe is very simple 7 mL of 1% (w/v) gold chloride + 500 mL 1% (w/v) sodium bicarbonate. Mix together until the solution goes from yellowish to colorless. I use it for one printing session and then discard. Actually, I often make only 300 mL of toner which is the minimum I am comfortable with in a tray for 8x10 paper.

This toner is used PRE-fixing. Processing is 2x 5% (w/v) salt for 4 min each, 1x with water for 4 min and then toner. After the toner the processing is 1% sodium carbonate for 4 min, 2x fixer for 4 min each, water for 4 min and lastly hypo clear (10% sodium sulfite) for 4 min.

I took a quick look in Don Nelson's book on the iron-silver processes. Among the many variations of gold toners for Vandyke Brown that are listed he mentions exactly the same gold/bicarbonate recipe cited above as giving a deep chocolate brown on HPR. Do note that, as with salted-paper, all of the toning of Vandyke brown prints is done before fixing.

The incredible variety of colors resulting from the action of different gold toners on a Vandyke Brown print is quite amazing. It is well worth a look at Nelson's book just for this chapter alone.

P.S. I do not see a gold-citrate toner mentioned in either the salted paper book or the iron-silver processes book.

 

[glbeas]

Thank you Frank. A bit of research tells me you can replace thiourea in Clercs formula with equal amounts of citric acid. Maybe this is what was being referenced to.

 

[glbeas]

Something I am curious about. Most recommendations for toning iron silver process prints is to tone before fixing. Anybody know why this is? What does the fixer do to the image that interferes with the toning process?

 

[fgorga]

Something I am curious about. Most recommendations for toning iron silver process prints is to tone before fixing. Anybody know why this is? What does the fixer do to the image that interferes with the toning process?

I have also wondered about this but I do not have an answer.

All I can say is that everything I have read regarding noble metal toning of silver-based alt process prints says tone before fixing.

Conversely, everything I've read about selenium toning of the same type of prints says tone after fixing.

I'm not enough of an inorganic chemist to even make a postulate regarding the reason(s).

 

[Raghu Kuvempunagar]

Something I am curious about. Most recommendations for toning iron silver process prints is to tone before fixing. Anybody know why this is? What does the fixer do to the image that interferes with the toning process?

Fixing usually results in some loss of silver which can be avoided by toning before fixing. And fixing invariably produces some Silver Sulphide in the print which might not be replaced by the noble metal after toning.

Conversely, everything I've read about selenium toning of the same type of prints says tone after fixing.

Selenium toner has loads of Ammonium Thiosulphate in it. So if it is used before fixing, it gets contaminated by the silver halides that Thiosulphate removes. And being a strong fixer, Selenium toner could also remove some silver resulting in loss of density.

 

[nmp]

Fixing usually results in some loss of silver which can be avoided by toning before fixing. And fixing invariably produces some Silver Sulphide in the print which might not be replaced by the noble metal after toning.




Selenium toner has loads of Ammonium Thiosulphate in it. So if it is used before fixing, it gets contaminated by the silver halides that Thiosulphate removes. And being a strong fixer, Selenium toner could also remove some silver resulting in loss of density.

Gold toner may or may not be used before fixing. Some folks prefer to tone afterwards to make sure the print is good enough not to waste expensive toner. In my experience/testing with salted paper prints though, fixing process did not reduce the density (I don't know about VDB) but if that is a concern, then yes it is better to tone before. Another advantage of toning before is that there is no separate washing process required. Additionally, there is a silver halide formation as a result of toning, which can effectively be removed during subsequent fixing. If you tone after fixing, there is a question as to whether a second fixing is required or just let the silver halide stay in the print.

Now regarding selenium, primary reason to tone after fixing is that unlike gold, selenium will react both to metallic silver (of the image) as well as silver salts which are still in the paper, resulting in staining. So there is no choice but to fix/wash first to remove silver salts and tone later.

That is how I understand.....

:Niranjan.

 

[Tom Taylor]

I fix after toning but when I first started making salt prints I didn't tone and noticed a slight bleach-back effect when fixing. I countered this by adding non-detergent house ammonia or sodium carbonate to the dissolved sodium thiosulphate as recommended in the Christopher James book.

Thomas

 

[fgorga]

Fixing usually results in some loss of silver which can be avoided by toning before fixing. And fixing invariably produces some Silver Sulphide in the print which might not be replaced by the noble metal after toning.

Selenium toner has loads of Ammonium Thiosulphate in it. So if it is used before fixing, it gets contaminated by the silver halides that Thiosulphate removes. And being a strong fixer, Selenium toner could also remove some silver resulting in loss of density.

Gold toner may or may not be used before fixing. Some folks prefer to tone afterwards to make sure the print is good enough not to waste expensive toner. In my experience/testing with salted paper prints though, fixing process did not reduce the density (I don't know about VDB) but if that is a concern, then yes it is better to tone before. Another advantage of toning before is that there is no separate washing process required. Additionally, there is a silver halide formation as a result of toning, which can effectively be removed during subsequent fixing. If you tone after fixing, there is a question as to whether a second fixing is required or just let the silver halide stay in the print.

Now regarding selenium, primary reason to tone after fixing is that unlike gold, selenium will react both to metallic silver (of the image) as well as silver salts which are still in the paper, resulting in staining. So there is no choice but to fix/wash first to remove silver salts and tone later.

That is how I understand.....

:Niranjan.

Thank you gentlemen.

Hopefully I will remember this information the next time some someone asks me about toning.

 

[fgorga]

I fix after toning but when I first started making salt prints I didn't tone and noticed a slight bleach-back effect when fixing. I countered this by adding non-detergent house ammonia or sodium carbonate to the dissolved sodium thiosulphate as recommended in the Christopher James book.

Thomas

Yes... I always use a alkaline (sodium carbonate-containing) fixer for salted-paper. This is also what is recommended in Chris Anderson's book.