Toning for permanence

[ann]

Poco,
based on the year of that photo i would quess selenium, but on the other hand, maybe nothing.

Frankly i don't "get" the bechers work, altho they won some big award either this year or late last year.

With regard to those formula's i will post them to the chemcial section.
I have tested them and they are ok, however, since i was not a user of polytene tone when it was available i don't know how close they come.
They don't look anything like Linda Butler's colors in her Italy book, but then again as we all know the paper and developers are so important to the finally tones.

 

[ann]

For beginning, i would suggest using a commercially prepared toner. In my basic toning class we use Fotospeed"s sepia, iron and copper.

Which type will depend on how you want the image to appear, do you want a serious color shift, etc.
THe most basic is probably selenium followed by a sepia type toner (basic type) as there are more exotic toners that fall into the sepia type class. There are several version of selenium, most people using Kodak's. I have several others on hand that i hope to compare to KRS shortly and i will not be surprised to get some difference as the amount of selenium in the formula will certainly effect the outcome.

Remember that iron and copper are not considered archival which may or may not be an issue for you.

I would again recommend to get Tim's book (as others have suggested) it has more information than one can wade through in one setting. I have most of the modern toning books in print and it is far and above the most comprehensive.

If you decide to start toning , look into basic processes involved in any toning process. Check Ilford's PDF file on their website it is very good .

 

[Poco]

Ann,

" i don't "get" the bechers work"

Funny, because I find their work extraordinary. Different strokes...

I'd kinda figured it was selenium toning, but any clue on the paper? That's not Ilford MG.

I think most of their stuff is 20 - 30 years old, so the materials have probably all changed anyway. The only thing I know for sure is that they shot 5x7.

 

[ann]

Definitely not ilford paper in that day and age. Will take another quess as to Agfa, In those days Agfa was Big and since they are german....... ALso, it would be a graded version (again another swag) . the orginal Brovia was also a must in most darkrooms, then of course Kodak. In those days Kodak was King.

Different strokes makes life so much more interesting.

 

[Poco]

Yes, Agfa was my guess -- for the same reasons.

"Different strokes makes life so much more interesting."

Absolutely. I remember standing in front of "Moon over Hernandez" last year for 20 minutes, trying to make myself care ...then lost myself for the same amount of time last weekend staring at a Becher -- totally swept away.

 

[titrisol]

AGFA portriga rapid can be a shot in there.... creamy base and warm tones, it was fantastic for portriats.

I got a box for free a few months back, unfortunately it's all fogged