Fuji Crystal Archive paper. Forgot that detail. Everything was processed in a drum on a motor base. The exposure or fogging was one to two minutes under room light -- a couple of daylight balanced fluorescent bulbs. I just held the print upward with my left hand while I rinsed the drum with my right hand. Standard RA-4 times and temps after that: one minute at 94F, stop, rinse, blix, rinse.Very impressive. Can you develop a little bit more the process?
Type of paper use, light and distance for fogging, RA-4 was with standard times?
I haven't worked with internegatives so I can't say. Also I think what you're seeing is the light catching the surface of the paper in that corner. This is the lustre finish and it has some texture -- very similar to Ilford's pearl finish. I haven't looked very hard for mottling though I won't swear there isn't any.This is really impressive. The skin tones in particular are very nice - way better than any other examples I've seen. The contrast looks very similar to what I used to get with Cibachrome, when just doing a straight print without any dodging or masking. Highlights were similarly blown out. The top left corner seems to show some mottling, or is that just an effect of the lighting?
How would you compare this to a print from an internegative, either done in the darkroom or with a slide copier attached to a camera?
You're absolutely right. There is a little more to it. I can't speak to peoplemerge's success, but for my own part, I was a little careless and (fortuitously?) stumbled over something good. Now I'm trying to reproduce it. See this thread for part two.I have followed this RA-4 reversal theme closely, and this is certainly by far the best print I have seen, makes it very tempting to try this myself. One thing I do not understand about this: the process you describe sounds very straight forward, something that any experienced lab worker would have tried first. Why did it take so many iterations to arrive at "develop in PQ 1+9 for one minute, then run through RA-4" ? Which are the critical variables? What was the unconventional step in order to arrive at these process specs? Are certain C-41 films more suitable for this process than others? What happened here?
Yes, sorry, my fault, this should have read E-6. Obviously one doesn't need special tricks to enlarge C-41 film.Hey @Rudeofus
Yeah, it's surprisingly straightforward. Though you mentioned C41 prints, I'm sure you mean E6, since the crazy thing we're trying to do is print slide film not print film.
Thank you @1kgcoffee
Though there was some skill taking the shot like setting up the lights in a confined space and dual polarizing, most of the credit goes to the artist for such exceptional work.[ Here https://gambaroff.com/gallary/VR_wedding_jpg ] is a more faithful reproduction. It's for an upcoming art opening in Los Angeles.
@Wayne Fair enough. Must say I myself am pleased with the result with fresh PQ. Insofar as using as a starting point that represents a colossal step forward in solving the issue of pearly whites. I would also like to see mottling reduced and join the experimentation on optimizing that step.
I'd love to see others should give it the old college try.
Sorry for the tease. I am still experimenting to get back to what I got originally. I tried diluting the PQ, and that got me close with the colors and contrast, but it introduced a lot of (or just the usual amount of) mottling that I didn't have in the original print.I was all set to give it a try after seeing the OP's print, until I found out it wasn't necessarily a repeatable result.Most other reversal efforts I've seen, while interesting, aren't the quality I would hope for if and when I try it.
Isn't Ilfochrome coated on RC paper? I have not seen mottling with this one, even with my careless way of processing ...FWIW, most all pos-pos chromogenic processes were plagued by mottle after conversion to RC. It came and went, and AFAIK there were no real solutions.
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?