Dave Krueger
12-Sep-2007, 17:00
So... I read in Tim Rudman's Master Printing Course (page 74) about bleaching prints and redeveloping as a method of intensification. I thought I give it a try, especially since it said something about it resulting in cooler tones.
I mixed up the bleach, dropped in half an RC print (the other half was a control), and watched the image quickly fade to tan with a bright yellow tint. After washing for about ten minutes, the yellow was completely gone from the highlights leaving only the tan image. I then dropped it into a tray of full strength (although not freshly made) Dektol. The image came back quickly, but I left it in there for a couple minutes anyway.
The result was indeed a print that was slightly cooler toned, but the Dmax was very slightly lightened. That is not an effect I wanted and my assumption is I did something wrong. Repeating the cycle a few times lightened the Dmax a bit further, but did not cool the tone anymore. I tried the process once with a fiber print and got the same result.
Anyone care to guess what I did wrong that lightened the blacks? I was wondering if I needed to expose the print to a bright light after the bleach phase. The room was fairly bright, but I didn't lay it out in the sun or shine a photoflood on it or anything. Hell, I don't know if it even needs exposure to light at all...
-Dave
I mixed up the bleach, dropped in half an RC print (the other half was a control), and watched the image quickly fade to tan with a bright yellow tint. After washing for about ten minutes, the yellow was completely gone from the highlights leaving only the tan image. I then dropped it into a tray of full strength (although not freshly made) Dektol. The image came back quickly, but I left it in there for a couple minutes anyway.
The result was indeed a print that was slightly cooler toned, but the Dmax was very slightly lightened. That is not an effect I wanted and my assumption is I did something wrong. Repeating the cycle a few times lightened the Dmax a bit further, but did not cool the tone anymore. I tried the process once with a fiber print and got the same result.
Anyone care to guess what I did wrong that lightened the blacks? I was wondering if I needed to expose the print to a bright light after the bleach phase. The room was fairly bright, but I didn't lay it out in the sun or shine a photoflood on it or anything. Hell, I don't know if it even needs exposure to light at all...
-Dave