Van Dyke Brown printing

VanDyke printing was on my list of the 19^th century ‘techniques to try’ for a long time.  While working with cyanotypes, collodion and other techniques I had most of the chemicals needed for VDB handy and the only new ingredient I had to buy was a tartaric acid (easly accessible, for example, on ebay).

VanDyke Brown process is based on iron (iron ferrous citrate) and  is one of the POP techniques, similarly like cyanotype, platinum or palladium. VanDykes have a wide tonality range compared with pl/pd prints, when printed with the right negative, but the process is cheaper and less complicated.  
As Sarah van Keuren explains in her book 'A non silver manual', Van Dykes (along with pl/pd) have self-masking characteristics - shadow areas turn reddish brown during the exposure, acting as a filter. It allows for longer exposure of hightlights without losing details in the shadows. (It doesn't happen with cyanotype)
Kallitypes (similar process, but using ferrous oxalate) and Van Dykes are often called 'the poor man's platinum prints'.

VDB Receipt:

Ferric ammonium citrate 9g
distilled water 33ml

tartaric acid 1.5g
distilled water 33ml

silver nitrate 3.8g
distilled water 33ml

/mix 3 parts together/

I processed my van dykes in water with an addition of a pinch of citric acid (5 min bath) plus ca 2min in running water, and fixed with 3% hypo fixer. Washed for 30 min after all.

I experimented a bit with different negatives, single and double coating and papers. 

The main issue stays, of course, a proper negative. In my first tries I realised it’s not easy to get a good print from original B&W negative (I think it’s easier with cyanotype) and decided to stick to digitally printed transparencies for a moment. From the papers, I had, I like the results with Fabriano Artistico the most. Double coating makes the browns stronger, but  for some  reason I prefer single coating prints. (I'm also having problems with second coating streaks visible) Didn't use any contrasting agent so far.

Scanning doesn't really make them a justice as it exagerates the structure of the paper,(I'm struggling with this for a while - not sure how to scan papers like that), but here are the first prints that I'm quite happy with:

Fabriano Artistico, 400W halogen lamp, 30min exposure (one coating) 

Collodion meets Holga

Finally I've tried it. I didn't transform my holga at all as I still want to use it with film. I just stick my aluminium plate inside the camera body with an electrical tape, along two edges, to prevent it from moving. Working with such a small plate is challenging, but it's a good fun. Wondering if it will be feasible with 35mm?
Exposure times not that bad:

Holga 120 GN
Optical lens 60mm
6x6 tintype, 40s exposure:

6x6 tintype,1min 15s (low light conditions, a bit overdeveloped) :

Old photos, new prints. Cyanotypes after a long break.

After a long break in cyanotyping I did a few new prints of my old photographs, and it was a nice change after WPC,(comparing the complexity of these processes), that I was concentrated on for the last year.

I have used different papers that I found in my studio and was a bit surprised with a Fabriano 5 HP smooth paper, that I've used for the first two images. First of all  after applying the chemicals on the paper and after drying there were still brush strokes visible. They are visible on prints. Secondly highlights never got bright, but stayed quite intensively blue. All that may be connected with my chemicals getting a bit old now, what in connection wih this 50% cotton paper gave unexpected results.

However I quite like these prints and their more ' dreamy' aesthetics.

8x10 print,35 min exposure, halogen lamp, digital negative of collodion scan

8x10 print,45 min exposure, halogen lamp, coffee toning, digital negative of collodion scan

The following two were made with accordingly Winsor & Newton and Fabriano Artistico papers, and gave the results similar to my earlier prints:

13x16cm print,45 min exposure, halogen lamp, coffee toning, digital negative of collodion scan, Windsor & Newton

4x5 print,15 min exposure, halogen lamp, coffee toning, collodion glass negative, Fabriano Artistico 

All the above were made with my recently build DIY printing frame, that works very well:

Salt print.

It is not too far from albumen to salt printing (albumen is essencially a salted paper print, using albumen as binder). It is actually much easier to prepare salt solution then the eggs' whites albumen, and it's less smelly!

Same fixer and silver sensitizing solution, as for albumen, can be used - at least that's what I did.

Just mixed water, salt and gelatine (- most popular receipt, details below).

The main issue stays the proper negative. This time I've used an old, one of my first collodion portraits, accidentally overexposed - waiting  for printing test until now :)

..a lot to learn on this processes, it's just a record of the first tests..

30 min exposure, halogen lamp 400W, 4x5 WPC negative, water colour paper

Receipts:

5 grams Sodium Chloride

0.5 grams Gelatine
250 ml Distilled Water

Mix gelatine with one fourth of the water and let it bloom a bit. Heat the rest of the water and dissolve Sodium Chloride (Sea Salt) in it. Then mix the two together. Cover the paper with salt solution and leave to dry.

Sensitize with - I've used 15% silver nitrate solution in distilled water, that I've prepared for albumen first. (different sollution can be used, most typical - 12%, but 15% should result in increased contrast). Leave to dry.

Expose. Wash in water. Fix (again - same as for albumen) :

75 grams Sodium Thiosulphate anhydrous

(as I had only ST Peptahydrate I've multiplied the required amount by 1.56 =117g)

500 mL Distilled Water

1g sodium carbonate (washing soda, which you can buy or you can 'do' (like in my case) by heating baking soda) (some receipts do not include it)

Wash well - ca 30 min.

Little improvements..

...4x5 and 5x7 inserts to 8x10 holder :

what means I don't have to carry 2 cameras for different formats, anymore, I have a new format ('in between' size), and I can use my 300 mm Industar lens with 5x7 or 4x5  - should be nice for portraits or just for change.

Simple thing, but not that easy to do, due to little thickness of these elements.

I did them from balsa wood first, but it soaks up chemicals so badly that collodion stick to it (and the frame rather wouldn't survive long).

Finally my skilful friend Pawel, a carpenter, managed to put them together for me. I think I'll  ask him for 8x8' square and 4x10' panoramic formats as well :) 

5x7 tested on Lubor,

as you can see the enthusiasm of my model was growing with each photograph (hard life of photographer's partners:)

 Lubor & Rysiek 5x7, clear glass ambro

Lubor 2, 5x7

Lubor 3, 5x7

Studio lights for winter time.

Just a short summary on the lights I got recently for WPC indoor photographs.

After considering all the options which were tidily and nicely summarised by Kasia Kesicka HERE I decided to go for a polish version of Falcon Eyes - VITO LAMPS (cheaper)

Their specification is exactly the same as Falcon Eyes, that means I have 2 lamps, each with 9 x E27/28W bulbs(equivalent of 140W each / 1260W in total),light temperature ca.5500K. I have a soft box and reflector for each of them.

I managed to do five sessions, testing lamps with different format cameras and different lenses and the results oscillate between 10 and 16 seconds exposures. (was hoping for less, but it's still not bad, however challenging with children, I might need to look for a brighter lens in the near future)

I am mostly using:

one lamp as a main light with reflector and all 9 bulbs on,

the fill light in different variants - mostly 5 or 7 on, with softbox umbrella only or softbox on,

no other light for background or hair so far.

Lights set as close as possible to model.

Cameras & lenses:

8x10 camera plus Industar 300mm/f 4.5

4x5 Toyo camera plus Schneider Symmar APO 150mm/f 5.6

Here are some examples:

Tamara, 4x5 Toyo,  f 5.6, fill light: softbox + 9 bulbs on, 15 s,

Tamara, 4x5 Toyo,  f 5.6, fill light: softbox  + 5 bulbs on, 16s,

Sharon, 4x5 Toyo,  f 5.6, fill light: softbox umbrella + 7 bulbs on, 12 s.( overexposed)

Sharon, 4x5 Toyo,  f 5.6, main light 8 bulbs on, fill light: softbox umbrella, 5 bulbs on, 12 s.( still slightly overexposed)

Lubor, 4x5,  f 4.5,  fill light: softbox umbrella, 5 bulbs on, 15 s.(overexposed)

Vlad, 8x10,  f 4.5, fill light: softbox umbrella, 7 bulbs on, 12 s.

Anton, 8x10,  f 4.5, fill light: softbox umbrella, 7 bulbs on, 16 s.

Industar 4.5/300

Test of new lens - Industar4.5/300 - 10 s exposure, 10x8 clear glass ambrotype

Maciej

Testing 8x10 :)

My new camera needed a little work with a black electrical tape :  I fixed the lens, shutter and lens board all together and to the camera, as they were loose, there was a light leakage in the bellow and its corners were threadbare, so I fixed them in advance too.

Although my release cable is damaged and I'm waiting for a new one, I managed, finally(!), to do some test shots.

 black glass ambrotype, 8x10, 305mm ilex paragon f6.3, 20s

black glass ambrotype, 8x10, 305mm ilex paragon f6.3, 35s

Everything is working OK. Camera is very light as for its size (similar weight to my 4x5 Toyo), nice to work with.

My dark box became a bit tighter and generally it is a bit more difficult to work with a plate which doesn't fit the hand, but for example the developing process is much nicer - the appearing image is so well visible! It is a big pleasure to watch it. I love the process even more now and think
8x10 is quite a decent size photograph that should satisfy me for a while :))

Springtime collodion season

When the warmer weather started in Ireland, Collodion served me a few lessons how to treat it in these conditions. My winter time confidence vanished together with a higher temperature, but now is slowly rebuilding, (not because it's cold again, but because I've learnt a bit)
Spots, stains, streaks, fogging, ridges all of this happened on my plates. Results were very inconsistent and each session revealed something new.
I won't bore you with all the details, but will just mark, also for myself, a few points important to remember:

- silver bath is the least likely cousing problems. It is good to prepare a proper amount of the bath from previously checked silver nitrate source, get myself a hydrometer and only replenish the silver when needed.
My problems started with the new silver bath mix and I stubbornly suspected it as a main reason of the problems, testing it, measuring pH, etc....
At least I bought myself litmus papers, so now I can be sure my pH is somewhere around 4 to 5 for ambrotypes, (and 6 might be better for negatives) and I've got some baking soda in stock to be able to increase alkalinity.
It's good to sun (expose to sun) the bath from time to time to get rid of contamination.

- developer is very sensitive to temperature and  won't work properly above 18 Celsius degrees. Especially in the dark box it is very easy to get the developer to be too warm. It will cause fogging and stains and many different strange things

- overdeveloping the plates (especially in warm weather) will result in a faded image and stains again. If it's impossible to develop the plate within 15 seconds the exposure time should be extended accordingly

- even though in Irish weather the temperatures don't go to extreme, they are high enough to make my collodion drying too quickly, I think I'd need a separate mix for warm days, with bigger amount of ether and alcohol.

- some sort of mobile/tourist fridge is a necessity for work on location
(not only for keeping collodion cool, but developer and plates as well)

I hope that's it for now. Now I'll be moving to 8x10' format and I guess - new challenges :)

I'd like to thank Gwen Wilkinson - 'Irish collodion guru' :), and Tomasz Mielech, my collodion workshop teacher, for help in resolving these problems!!!

Here are some better plates I managed to make in this period :

and here are the examples of plates with stains,  :)

Last few days...

My darkbox is ready to give it a try.
The most tricky was fixing the cloth :)
External dimensions 90x55x30cm.
Big thanks to Lubor for help.

Collodion upgrade

This is my first collodion I did on BLACK  GLASS, today. Maybe not very  spectacular photo in terms of subject and light (very very late afternoon, 1min10s exposure), but I had to try how it works....
I've transformed timber holder to take 4mm thick black glass (this is the minimum thickness you can buy). The guy from the glazing company didn't want to sell me the plates. He said he can't really cut the glass so precisely (for the holder I've shown to him). I ordered 3same size plates, at my 'own risk' and one was  too big and 2 too small :).
So I did a small metal frame, that goes inside the holder and it solved the problem! Now I can order slightly smaller plates and will still have a reserve of few millimetres.
I absolutely love this material and I think there is no better one for the ambrotypes!

Cyanotype printing

Recently I spent some time for testing and comparing a 'traditional' cyanotype receipt with the 'new' sensitizer solution and an UV lamp vs. sun printing.

I did a traditional mixture of ferric ammonium citrate and potassium ferricyanide. This receipt was originally  invented by Sir John Herschel in 1842 and today is considered as a cheap and easy, mixture for beginners ;) (you can find a receipt here )

My previous prints, I presented so far, were printed with a ready to buy Fotospeed Cyanotype Sensitizer. This type of improved formula uses toxic ferric ammonium oxalate and is a bit more complicated to prepare, but claims to give better prints. As, what I had was only 50ml bottle and finished quite quickly, I decided to buy the chemicals and to try and prepare the traditional mixture, by myself.

The other thing that bothered me was printing with the sun in winter.
Well, actually printing with the sun generally. It is very pleasurable, but very restricted by the weather (especially in IE), exposure time varies, depending on weather conditions, time of the day and year season.
I did a research regarding UV lamps.

I took a few options into consideration -  face solarium, fluorescent  lamps (aqua), halogen lamps and decided to try the last and probably cheapest option. I went for a security, 400W, lamp, that you usually use as an external lamp, outside your house.

I did a series of prints of the same neg (for comparison) with the rest of Fotospeed chemistry, my new mix, the lamp and the sun.

First one is the original print I’ve made with sun, a while ago, 10 min exposure, with Fotospeed Cyanotype sensitizer /one of my best prints, I was aiming for similar results/ :

Fotospeed chemicals, first use of lamp, 20 min exposure , (it works! but exposure looks too short, unfortunately sentisizer ended with this print):

Third one is a new mix of chemistry, printed with lamp, 55 min. exposure / very high contrast, but I lost the details of the mountain in the background/ :

Lamp, 1 hour and 30 min / too dark/ :

Lamp, 1hour and 10 min:

....and this is a time that gives me best results with the lamp. The contrast is fine and details look OK.

check with different negative:

Generally the conclusion is that the two mixes of chemistry, I tested, work visibly differently. I have to admit that the 'new' formula gives much wider tonal range, with any negative, and seems to work much quicker.
The traditional receipt gives bigger contrast, and it is very important to use it with negatives, with soft tones (contrasty negs give poor results). 
Since that time I did a set of prints, that I'm quite happy with. I learned what type of negative to use to get a good print and I quite like the results. I'm going to stick to my current technique for a while (at least until my chemistry will finish).

I will show the further results in the next post, for your comments...