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Thread: Exposing for Platinum/Palladium Prints

  1. #1

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    Exposing for Platinum/Palladium Prints

    Greetings All,

    Having seen a beautiful 8x10 Palladium print (Thanks to Roger H.) I'm wondering how many photographers out there use a 4x5 for these images. Or, are the majority of these images generated from 5x7, 8x10, and/or larger?

    If smaller formats can be used... can they be enlarged? Or are they usually contact printed only?

    Secondly, is there a preferred change in the exposure for these images? What sorts of negatives should a user be aiming for? Should they be higher/lower contrast etc?

    Lastly, I know there are folks out there who prefer "shooting the image" and those who prefer to "print the image." Are there any Palladium printers out there who would consider doing the printing for a photograher?

    Thanks in advance.

    Cheers
    Life in the fast lane!

  2. #2

    Exposing for Platinum/Palladium Prints

    Henry...pt/pd prints are a contact print process. The fine art paper it is printed on needs to be hand prepared. A sensitizing solution is made of a mixture of platinum and palladium salts (or in some cases only palladium) and then brushed onto fine art paper and then dried. It is exposed under a UV light source and then developed, fixed and washed. As it is a contact print process the size of your negatives dictate the size of the prints. You can either shoot in-camera negatives (i use an 8x10 camera) or the last couple of years, some alternative process folks are digitally enlarging their in-camera negatives via use of scanners and inkjet printers or imagesetters (i have'nt tried this method yet but i have heard good reports from many). Enlarging negs directly onto pt/pd paper is'nt going to work.

  3. #3

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    Exposing for Platinum/Palladium Prints

    Henry,

    The bulk of my work is 4x5, with a few 5x7to 11x14 prints (big cameras take time to work with.) Can you make small images yes you can it has to do with the image itself. I for one like to sit and look at a series of small print.

    A number of processes can be used to make enlarged negatives, some use film but most of the good films a gone. The ones that are left need alot of work and understanding. A number of prints are made from digital scans, some go the printers some go to service people. I still like working with film.

    The range of the negative and the resulting image are interlocked. I have a few images that are made on Polaroid type 55 or 665 from a pack camera. The resulting print is very differant than what some people call the normal/standard/regular print.

    My own work deal with the process as a process, not unlike one deals with color or Cibachrome, or any other process. For along time people thought that if it was a platinum (p/p) print that it was better. No, it is just a platinum print. It is not the Silver/Gold/Platinum/Palladium magic bullet. It is a processes for making prints.

    As to your last paragraph. I find it hard to print for other some find it easy. My belief is that some one selects you to print for them because your work looks like theirs.

    hope this helps

    Jan Pietrzak

  4. #4

    Exposing for Platinum/Palladium Prints

    Henry,

    There are a few books out there that deal with pt/pd printing, and I strongly recommend getting at least one if you are serious about platinum printing.

    The book by Arentz is the most comprehensive, and is quite numerically thorough to address all the pertenant issues of making a suitable pt/pd negative. Some people are more casual about their photography, and might find the book by Sullivan and Weese more to their liking.

    In either case, the EXPOSURE of the negative is not so different, but the DEVELOPMENT will typically be very different from a traditional silver negative. This results from the much wider exposure scale that pt/pd encompasses. If you take a typical silver negative and develop it another 75 to 100% you will probably be about right for a good pt/pd negative. Some people recommend 50%, but that produces a negative that requires a good bit of contrast agent to get a suitable pt/pd print, which compromises the image quality considerably.

    With this large difference in development, the film speed typically will go up a third stop or two. You have to be very careful about overexposing with pt/pd, as the print exposures can get very long if you are not careful, especially if you are using a staining developer like PMK or the numerous variants.

    Typically, I find that most films should be shot at their rated speed (imagine that), and then developed in a fairly strong developer to get suitable negatives. For example, if you use D-76 at 1:1, you will want to instead use it straight, because otherwise the development time gets long, and you will get a noticeable rise in B+F.

    Enlarging is possible, but you have to do it through an enlarged negative, as pt/pd is only a contact printing process (unless you have the cash and tolerance to get the Durst PT enlarger).

    There are people who will print for you, but that is a very individual issue. You would have to look at the printing style of each printer, and decide if what they do fits your image style.

    ---Michael

  5. #5

    Exposing for Platinum/Palladium Prints

    Henry, I agree with Jan about looking at small prints (such as Onions or Death Valley Junction). I just recieved a new 4x5 platinum print by Kim Weston and the 4x5 size is perfect. The term often used, "jewel like" comes to mind and fits perfectly.

  6. #6

    Join Date
    Sep 2003
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    Exposing for Platinum/Palladium Prints

    Greetings All,

    Thank you all for sharing your information and advice on the question(s) I posted above. I have much to learn and am looking forward to learning a lot more about the process before embarking on the journey.

    Cheers
    Life in the fast lane!

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