post alternative techniques

[jnantz]

Thanks John,

I really like this last one a lot. Just curious how long do the sun prints last? I'm assuming since there is no fix they will fade after time, is this right? Also would love to see the home made cameras!

hi brian - thanks !

i keep them in a drawer so they last a little while ..
... i get 1 scan out of them and they darken soon after ( unfortunately ! )


i did this one the other day -- set the camera down and left for a couple hours ..
4 sheets of 5x7 paper ...

[Craig Tuffin]

A half-plate Ambrotype on black glass. KCN fix.

Shot with a Cooke 5.5" portrait lens opened wide at f4.5. The bellows factor took the exposure to 3 mins (risking drying the plate too much). Thankfully it was a cool night and I was using cool lights

[David Woods]

A half-plate Ambrotype on black glass. KCN fix.

Shot with a Cooke 5.5" portrait lens opened wide at f4.5. The bellows factor took the exposure to 3 mins (risking drying the plate too much). Thankfully it was a cool night and I was using cool lights

Very nice indeed Craig, did you develop it yourself?

[Craig Tuffin]

Very nice indeed Craig, did you develop it yourself?

You have to David. You've got a very small window (about 6 minutes after sensitizing the salted collodion with a 9% silver nitrate solution) while the plate is still wet where you have to shoot and develop (using an iron sulphate developer). Then comes the wash and fix. I use Potassium Cyanide as a fix now which gives beautiful highlights.

[mdm]

I am shure he was trolling for exactly the response he got, nevertheless, it it a beautiful photograph. It must have taken a major effort on your part to even get to the point of making such a photograph.

Another David

You have to David. You've got a very small window (about 6 minutes after sensitizing the salted collodion with a 9% silver nitrate solution) while the plate is still wet where you have to shoot and develop (using an iron sulphate developer). Then comes the wash and fix. I use Potassium Cyanide as a fix now which gives beautiful highlights.

[Vaughn]

Tri -- congrats on getting such a solid start on carbon printing!

I have been a stay-at-home dad for the last 13 years (working half-time). Scheduling time for photography has always been tough. In fact, when the triplets were not yet crawling, my photography consisted of a bunch of manipulated SX-70's of the boys. Once they started to crawl, they would not stay where I put them! Then it was time (and I had time) for the Rolleiflex. I started photographing them with the 8x10 when they were about 3.

I taught myself platinum printing during the boys' first five years because I thought it would be easier and less time-consuming that carbon. And except for the learning curve, it is. But it is nice to be back with carbon again.

Again, congrats! Good work!

Vaughn

[Tri Tran]

Vaughn,
Thanks for the nice words and and sharing your experieces. That's encouraging. I think somehow I ended up following your path , and have chosen to do the Platinum/Carbon transfer process for my work.
I have always wanted to do this for a long time but I had no time to attend any Carbon workshops until met Jim and my dream came true.
I'm still trying to figure out my work flow and can't wait to transfer some of the bigger ones. I will keep you and Jim updated, and am keeping my fingers crossed for the bigger print. The Acetone smell makes me high every time I sensitize the tissue though. This is pretty exciting! Regards,

[sanking]

I will keep you and Jim updated, and am keeping my fingers crossed for the bigger print. The Acetone smell makes me high every time I sensitize the tissue though. This is pretty exciting! Regards,

Tri,

I know what you mean by the Acetone smell! Carbon printing makes me high too.

But take your time and get the fundamentals down before going for the big ones. If you try too soon you will just wind up wasting a lot of materials. That won't cost you a lot in terms of money, but this stuff takes a lot of time to make and for the big ones you definitely want to get it right the first time.

I have made a few 20X24" carbon prints from in-camera negatives but most of my work these days is from digital negatives. I have been using the Epson 3800 and with it have made negatives up to 16X30". And soon I hope to set up an Epson 7600 with Piezograhy inks and QTR to make negatives up to 24" wide by whatever length. I actually find that the processing of a very large carbon print is logistically easier than developing a very large pt/pd print.

Sandy

[Andrew O'Neill]

As much as I love the smell of acetone, I wear a respirator.
I've been working exclusively in carbon for about a year and a half and am just now nailing down what works best for me, including paper and sizing method. I'm an in-camera-negative guy but I've been dabbling a bit with digital negatives and hope to nail something down there.
I would never work bigger than 8x10 until it's all nailed down. I made that mistake back when I was learning kallitype printing. So, start with what you have. Nail it. Then move on up.

[Tri Tran]

Sandy,
Thanks for your advice. I can see the Digital neg has huge potential, you can control the density, the exposure, and printing time that you are working with. It's a wonderful method to create a perfect clean neg for a carbon print at a bigger size.
I have been trying a few times with Pl/Pd with QTR but it's not perfectly done so I will save my brain cells to trouble shoot the carbon process, as I'm in the learing curve.
Thanks again for letting me joining your Yahoo Carbon Print group and I'm looking forward to improve the process as far as I go with some help of your group members and your behalf. Regards. TT