The Salt Print Thread

[tgtaylor]

Yes Jim, I've been using platinum and not palladium. I have palladium though and have been thinking of trying it. Palladium is said to impart a different color than platinum and it will be interesting to see the difference.

Thomas

[koraks]

Thomas, thanks for your explanation of your digital work flow, I think it explains why I'm seeing your prints in hues that they probably aren't in person. Looking at your salt print gallery on your website, the color of the prints and the mattes ranges from neutral to very yellow. I'm currently posting this from an Android phone so I'd have to check on a different screen to see what's up, but it is apparent that there are large differences in the white balance (I assume) of the different images in your salt print gallery. Particularly your more recent images show this yellow coloration that I think isn't there in the original prints.

[tgtaylor]

OK, I've found my mistake: I didn't set the little G9 for tungsten lighting so that's why I have been getting the strange color casts upon download. I wonder why it didn't occur with the color or the B&W prints? The only thing that I did different was shoot them with 1000 watt Photoflex Mogul bulbs instead of the 500 watt ones.

Thomas

[mylek]

Any ratio for the Bee wax/Lavender oil mixture?
I'm trying to waxed Ziatype and salted prints but it is not easy maybe i don't put enough oil.

Regards!

[tgtaylor]

I tried it with throw-a-ways on Bergger Cot 320 and it didn't work: The wax just dried and smeared on the paper. I read somewhere, but can't remember now, that the wax method works only with certain types of paper.

Thomas

[jharr]

One of my first salt prints from 4x5 negative (Delta 100 in Adonal 1:100)

Salt-Print--001 by James Harr, on Flickr

More info here:
http://jamesharrphoto.blogspot.com/2...alt-print.html

[tgtaylor]

Nice print James! Why did you choose a 4% salt concentration?

Thomas

[jharr]

Nice print James! Why did you choose a 4% salt concentration?

Thomas

Thanks Thomas.

Hmm... I hadn't thought about the concentration that way. It's 2% NaCl (20g/L) and 2% Na Citrate. I thought that was a 2% salt solution with the citrate preservative, but they are both salts, so I guess it could be 4%. Though the 'active' ingredient in the salt solution is the Cl^- ion, and that is there at 2%. I looked at so many recipes that I can't exactly remember where or if there was something I decided was definitive, but something close can be found here (http://albumen.conservation-us.org/l...lly/chap3.html) and there is something similar in The Book of Alternative Photographic Processes (Ch. 2) by Christopher James.

At any rate, I am under the impression that there just needs to be an excess of silver compared to salt. Since I am using 12% silver, I have some wiggle room as far as salt concentration goes. Having said all of that, I am a rank amateur at this and critiques of my process are welcome, though I am pretty happy with my initial results.

[tgtaylor]

Yeah, I read that too quickly. I was thinking salt, salt. I'm glad that I made that mistake, though, and got your correction. I never thought of using sodium citrate and your correction with cite from the Reilly book: "The addition of a neutral citrate will cause the prints to be more reddish in color and slightly more "brilliant." However, the porosity of the rawstock will still be the largest single factor in the resultant prints." is something that I may use in the future. One learns something every day in photography!

Last weekend I shot a series of negatives to print as Van Dyke brown prints and Kallitypes. I just finished mixing the two sensitizers (along with crocein scarlet for a small pin hole in one of the negatives) and will start printing them this weekend when the sensitizers cure. The negatives and subject matter is also suitable for salt printing and it will be interesting to see what process best represents the subject.

Thomas

[tgtaylor]

I made the first print (a Kallitype) this afternoon and left it untoned. When I put it in the dryer to dry I thought that I would have to reprint it again adding a little dichromate to increase the Dmax but it dried down to the correct Dmax so tomorrow I'll print the same negative as a Van Dyke and again leave it untoned. Rain moves in on Sunday to Monday so hopefully I'll be able to print a salt print of the negative on Tuesday and also leave it untoned. Then I'll repeat the sequence but this time toning them in the same toner. I'm calling this experiment "The Great American Salt, Kallitype, and Van Dyke Shoot-Out."

Thomas