I've recently been taking a strong interest in Alternative, contact printing methods. I'm planing to get a 7x17" in the not too distant future, and with that in mind, I got into practicing doing contact prints of my 4x5" and 6x17cm negs. Whilst this has been fun, and I've enjoyed the process, obviously, the size of the prints makes them a little less interesting to me, but also, I find the light sensitive paper hard to work with as I don't have a dedicated dark room, rather, I convert my 2nd bathroom at night time when required.

I saw a short YouTube clip of Platinum printing and I think that's for me... I love the look of too much sensitizer spread outside the image borders, love the idea of being able to control tone and contrast easily, not to mention the dmax. Mostly, I love that its largely a lights on process..

The Issues...

I am yet to find a good "Beginners Guide" to Pt/Pd printing.
I am unsure of exactly what I need (with regards to equipment, and chemistry)
I have no idea where in Australia I would acquire the chemistry/raw materials required.

Once I get those few things out the way I would love to give it a go with some 4x5" negs I have handy, then obviously scale it up once I get my grubby mitts on a 7x17"..

I'd love to hear thoughts from Pt/Pd print makers, information on requirements and also, I'd love to see links to some prints done with different mixes to get a feel for the look of different mixes..


Thanks in advance.
Alex.