The Salt Print Thread

[tgtaylor]

The Van Dyke brown print came out perfect. Like the Kallitype, only more so, I thought that I would have to reprint it for a higher Dmax but it dried down to the perfect Dmax. At this pont the Van Dyke is looking like the clear winner with this subject matter which, I confess, I had expected. The salt print is up next after the rain has passed. I've decided to re-title the experiment as The great alternative print shoot-out! and will probably augment it with Albumin, Ziatype, and Platinum prints.

Thomas

[tgtaylor]

Spoke too quick. Although of the same subject from the same negative, both prints are completely different. The Kallitype is more slate-grey and cooler in appearance and from a distance appears to have the more Dmax while the Van Dyke is brownish and warmer in color but (to me) nicer looking close-up. So what one is "the best" is actually subjective...both are good. This is an excellent example of the visual impact that process has on the print.

Thomas

[jharr]

Looking forward to seeing the prints Thomas. Meanwhile, I did some printing today and noticed something kind of cool. A couple of weeks ago, I did some prints and the initial rinse was done in 2% salt in d/i H2O. This week, I forgot I had done that and just ran it under the tap and floated it in tap water. Fixing and washing was identical for both with the final wash in plain tap water. Note, I am in San Diego and we have very hard tap water.

Anyway, check out the results with the print rinsed in salt to the left and the print rinsed in tap water on the right.


The one rinsed in salt is considerably cooler/neutral in tone.

[pau3]

Any idea about what is going on here?



It's a salt print. Some unknown Nepali paper. Sized twice with gelatine, ammonium chloride and sodium citrate, with a brush. Generous quantity of silver nitrate. The copy with a single gelatine application was much worse.
Should I go to a third sizing? Maybe immersing the paper in the gelatine bath instead of using a brush? Or just discard the paper? I'd rather prefer to solve the problem, because the paper is beautiful.

[tgtaylor]

Although I have never sized before I don't see why you would need to do it twice if done correctly the first time. Once the paper was sized and dry then I would brosh on a 2% solution of ammonium chloride,let that dry, and then the silver nitrate. I air dry my paper in a dark room face-up for an hour and print immediately.

Thomas

[NedL]

I believe the sizing layer is either not being absorbed evenly or it is being moved during application of silver nitrate.
Some ideas:

Try simple solutions first:
- make sure the sizing has dried sufficiently. Let one dry at least overnight before coating the silver nitrate to rule this out as the culprit.
- make sure your brush is not too wet ( with water ) when applying the silver nitrate. start with a dry brush. What concentration of AgNO3 are you using?

If those do not help, I think you should try salt/sizing in a tray. Try floating the paper for 3 or 4 minutes and then letting it dry overnight before sensitizing with AgNO3.

Finally, if those do not help, then you might try a separate sizing step ( rather than the sizing + salting step you are using ). For this you could immerse the paper in 2 or 3% warm gelatin solution, and hang to dry. After it is dry, try floating the paper on a salt+sodium citrate solution with no gelatin, let dry completely again, and sensitize carefully.

Good Luck! It does look like nice paper and I can understand why you might be willing to go to an extra effort to make it work.

[pau3]

Thanks for your comments. I was sizing twice because I read somewhere (in Internet, yes!) that it was a method to avoid the white patches in the image. My idea in doing so was that the silver nitrate wasn't getting in contact with the chloride, which was somehow too deep in the fibers. In fact, in the white blotches there is some image, but faint.

By the way, I'm using a 10% silver nitrate solution and the same chemistry worked flawlessly with more common papers.

I'll try to size by immersion and to salt the paper in a separate step.

Thanks again.

[tgtaylor]

Found this print hiding at the back of the print rack. I remember shooting the negative and printing it back in 2014 but apparently didn't think that much about it at the time as I mounted it on 2-ply board and didn't sign, date, title or stamp it. I thought about reprinting it as a Kallitype but I don't think another printing process would improve it.



I have a couple of other salt prints hanging on the walls that I don't think reprinting with a different process would result in a visual improvement - for example Three Brothers on my website. Sure, reprinting it as, say a silver gelatin, would result in a "sharper" with a deeper black and the cloud structure would have a greater presence - it was a much darker and ominous cloud structure at the time - but while it would be a different picture it would not be better.

Toyo 810MII or 810G with 360mm Schneider Symmar-S.

Thomas

[koraks]

Excellent print Thomas! I doubt a kallitype or silver gelatin print would be any better; probably it would just be harsher and not necessarily more pleasant to the eye.
I've been doing a lot of salt printing lately and I've become to quite like this process despite my initial struggles with it.

[tgtaylor]

Thanks Koraks. I've been neglecting salt printing for some months now but going to start adding it back to my active printing repertory.

Thomas