Tablot's calotype process

Hello all,

Does anyone have any information or useful online sources about Talbot's calotype process? I've been reading and searching for close to a week now, and i have a great understanding of the chemistry of the calotype, but something isn't adding up. Many of the popular photographs from his 1840's calotypes were of people, and they are remarkably not-blury. every thing i have read so far has shown that exposure can be from180 to 600 seconds. I just don't see it being possible that some people could not introduce blur in that time span. or maybe im flat wrong, which wouldn't be something new, any insights would be appreciated, thank you!

If the calotype is made wet ( the still-wet calotype paper is used in the camera ) exposures in bright sun with a fast lens can be well under a minute, maybe as little as 10 or 15 seconds. And they had all kinds of tricks and contraptions like neck braces that could be out of sight of the camera and help people remain still.

Even with dry calotypes it's possible:

This one was a 3 minute exposure on a dry calotype ( That's me on the left looking at my watch timing the exposure, and I'm the most blurry because I ran in and out of the picture to operate the camera )

Eclipse Day par Ned, on ipernity

This was a 2 minute exposure on a dry calotype:

Calo III par Ned, on ipernity

Not perfect, but not too bad when everyone tries not to move. Usually you can see some blur in old calotypes of people.

You can spend a long time reading all about calotypes in the Discussion Area of the Calotype Society on Flickr.
There's also a Calotype Society FB page, but less technical information available there.

They turned out really well Ned.
Whats the easiest no frills way to get a result? There's too many weird and wacky recipes for someone who just wants a bit of a play with it.

awty said:

They turned out really well Ned.
Whats the easiest no frills way to get a result? There's too many weird and wacky recipes for someone who just wants a bit of a play with it.

Click to expand...

Hi Paul, In some ways I'm the wrong person to ask, because I started with Greenlaw's process and I like it so much that making good calotypes with that process is still my main interest. So I haven't tried very many others. Also, I started with Canson marker paper, and it didn't work well. So I tried Canson vidalon vellum and it did work very well, but it is difficult to work with. I stuck with it and learned how to deal with the curl and the shrinking and the wrinkles. If you could find a paper that's easier to handle than vidalon, and still works well, then this process is about as simple as any of them.

I used those instructions linked above. It's not terribly complicated:
- iodize the paper ( soak in potassium iodide, with a little acetic acid and optionally some potassium bromide ), dry
- sensitize the paper ( float or immerse the paper in silver nitrate solution with a little acetic acid ), wash in water, dry
- make the exposure in the next 12 hours or so
- develop in gallic acid + a few drops of silver nitrate, wash
- fix in hypo, wash

Of course all the steps have details that are part of the craft that you learn as you go. Especially you start to learn what a calotype that prints well looks like, and what to look for when developing. Also, Alan Greene's book "Primitive Photography" is good, even if you don't end up using the process he describes, it's worth reading because he goes though all the steps.

Those two 5x7 calotypes above were made with the only other process I've tried. It is a variation of Pélegry's process described by Eugène Trutat and it was very fussy with lots of steps. But it makes calotypes that you can keep for months before exposing them, and you can wait to develop them too, so really good for traveling. I wrote out all the gory details here.

NedL said:

Hi Paul, In some ways I'm the wrong person to ask, because I started with Greenlaw's process and I like it so much that making good calotypes with that process is still my main interest. So I haven't tried very many others. Also, I started with Canson marker paper, and it didn't work well. So I tried Canson vidalon vellum and it did work very well, but it is difficult to work with. I stuck with it and learned how to deal with the curl and the shrinking and the wrinkles. If you could find a paper that's easier to handle than vidalon, and still works well, then this process is about as simple as any of them.

I used those instructions linked above. It's not terribly complicated:
- iodize the paper ( soak in potassium iodide, with a little acetic acid and optionally some potassium bromide ), dry
- sensitize the paper ( float or immerse the paper in silver nitrate solution with a little acetic acid ), wash in water, dry
- make the exposure in the next 12 hours or so
- develop in gallic acid + a few drops of silver nitrate, wash
- fix in hypo, wash

Of course all the steps have details that are part of the craft that you learn as you go. Especially you start to learn what a calotype that prints well looks like, and what to look for when developing. Also, Alan Greene's book "Primitive Photography" is good, even if you don't end up using the process he describes, it's worth reading because he goes though all the steps.

Click to expand...

Thanks Ned. Its something I would like to work towards, making my own paper negatives, need to investigate.

I can't explain this exactly, but there's something about making your own paper negative, and then holding a print from it, that is incredibly satisfying. It's a lot more than just that you made everything yourself... it's that you did every step from start to finish, taking care with each one, and then you have a result. My first calytype was awful ( I tried to develop it by putting the gallic acid on with a cotton ball, and I wiped away half the image! ), but just the fact that there was any image on the paper at all was so exciting and amazing - I was hooked. I definitely would encourage anyone to give it a try!

Ned that first one looks like something from a 1950s Public Information Film, or maybe a fairly low-budget sci-fi movie, probably starring Faith Domergue.

:Yeah, a "flying saucer" hung by wires overhead would fit right in. Nice to see you here pdeeh.