PDA

View Full Version : Please help! Ambrotypes are turning blue ...



lnewlon
14-Nov-2020, 14:44
Hi all - I am hoping to figure out why my ambrotypes are turning bluish! I am making these on black glass. Is this a developer or fixer issue? My silver bath is fine and was working perfectly yesterday. Wondering what could be happening today ... Pic for reference! 209489

Two23
14-Nov-2020, 16:48
That usually means either you didn't develop long enough or didn't rinse well enough after developing. I rinse mine until the water runs clear.


Kent in SD

cuypers1807
14-Nov-2020, 21:23
Kent is correct. The color is from too short a development time or not rinsing it enough before fixing.

lnewlon
14-Nov-2020, 23:07
Kent is correct. The color is from too short a development time or not rinsing it enough before fixing.

My development time is still in the range of 20-25 seconds, which is what it's been in the past with my current developer formula ... and no problems then! I'm thinking it's rinsing, in that case ... how long should i rinse the plate after developing and before putting it into the fixer?

cuypers1807
15-Nov-2020, 05:51
When you first start rinsing the plate, it will look slimy. Keep rinsing until the surface no longer looks slimy.

goamules
15-Nov-2020, 06:00
I don't know how you are stopping the development, but technique helps ensure you don't get "Prussian Blue" on your plates. It's not so much length of time, it's having some agitation or water flow over the plates. What I do in the field is have two tubs of water, flat tupperware. I stop the development by putting it under water, holding the plate edge and moving it up and down in the water for about 30 seconds. Then I move to the second water bath, and do the same thing for the same amount of time. Moving the plate up and down, horizontally lets the weight of the water push over the plate, as you raise and lower it. The first tub will get dirty faster, most of the developer comes off in it.

Another technique is to get a water bottle or pitcher and pour water over the plate quickly and firmly for about 1 minute.

lnewlon
15-Nov-2020, 11:32
This is all great, thanks. I also realized that shortly before flooding the plates w/ collodion I was giving the clean plates a quick burst of compressed air from a can. Think some of that could be causing the blue? I just got more blue again, after mixing a fresh batch of fix and fresh batch of developer. I'm using a hose in the darkroom to rinse plates and am doing a more thorough job w/ the water,

lnewlon
15-Nov-2020, 14:02
Argh! Still getting it ... last variable I can think of. I'm using Kodak rapid fix, which is ammonium thiosulfate. Any reason this would react differently in terms of the blue tint? I just can't believe that after washing a plate for 2 minutes with running water flowing over it that I'd still be getting this... thank you for suggestions! feeling frustrated.

lnewlon
15-Nov-2020, 20:44
I don't know how you are stopping the development, but technique helps ensure you don't get "Prussian Blue" on your plates. It's not so much length of time, it's having some agitation or water flow over the plates. What I do in the field is have two tubs of water, flat tupperware. I stop the development by putting it under water, holding the plate edge and moving it up and down in the water for about 30 seconds. Then I move to the second water bath, and do the same thing for the same amount of time. Moving the plate up and down, horizontally lets the weight of the water push over the plate, as you raise and lower it. The first tub will get dirty faster, most of the developer comes off in it.

Another technique is to get a water bottle or pitcher and pour water over the plate quickly and firmly for about 1 minute.


Argh! Still getting it ... last variable I can think of. I'm using Kodak rapid fix, which is ammonium thiosulfate. Any reason this would react differently in terms of the blue tint? I just can't believe that after washing a plate for 2 minutes with running water flowing over it that I'd still be getting this... thank you for suggestions! feeling frustrated.

Two23
15-Nov-2020, 22:54
Try lengthening development time by another 5 or 10 seconds and see what happens.



Kent in SD

goamules
16-Nov-2020, 05:52
The plot thickens. You are using the two part hardening formula? That would be adding an unknown variable. I'd say try some tradition Hypo, Sodium Thiosulfate made from scratch.

Tin Can
16-Nov-2020, 05:59
and stop using Dust Off nobody had it 150 years ago

Dust-Off, a popular brand name of canned air, is a gaseous refrigerant-based propellant cleaner used to remove dust and dirt from computers and electronics. The main ingredient in Dust-Off is difluoroethane.

paulbarden
16-Nov-2020, 08:39
If your development times and pre-fix wash times are as you've stated, then one of the only other variables is the fixer: change to something else. I suggest you try plain Sodium thiosulfate, or even Ilford Rapid Fix.

lnewlon
16-Nov-2020, 14:04
The plot thickens. You are using the two part hardening formula? That would be adding an unknown variable. I'd say try some tradition Hypo, Sodium Thiosulfate made from scratch.

This is also where I've gotten to! What dilution do you think would work best for collodion?

goamules
18-Nov-2020, 06:42
First, there isn't a "dilution" with hypo, you buy crystals, and make it yourself with water. Second, when you say "do you think would work...?" I don't have to "imagine or guess" what might work, Hypo is all I've used for fixer since I started doing Wetplates, in 2006. It and one other are the standard fixers, used since the 1850s.

The standard formula is out there, in several manuals and probably websites like the old Collodion.com. I'd have to go look it up, I make it only once in a while and don't have it memorized, but I think it's about a 20% formula. You probably need to buy a wetplate guide and you'll have all your questions answered. I like John Coffer's Dooers Guide, but Quinn Jacobson's is good too.