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You fuckers made me ask for a quote on chemicals for cyanotypes... gently caress you I don't need to get into alternative processing but it looks so simple and cool... Anyone with experience in using UV lights or blacklights for exposing them?
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Mar 14, 2015 14:38
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| # ¿ Apr 29, 2024 08:05 |
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I want to start this off with a gently caress you, thread DSC09764 by Hernando Rosa, on Flickr I think I love cyanotypes. This was all done over the course of this weekend. Some thoughts: It's ridiculously easy. Those were my first alternative process experiments ever, and with minimal process control you can get consistent and good looking results. It's cheap, oh my. Like, cheaper than digital printing for the same size, all things considered, roughly - i think - (especially if you're working in larger batches). It's very beautiful. I've just started experimenting with toning, let's see how it goes. I'm planning on using several different plants after I get the hang on toning. There isnt much info besides black and green tea and coffee and tannic acid, but the thing is, anything with tannins should work. There's just so many plants very rich in tannins that some interesting results should arise. I think I just found my new favorite photography thing.
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Apr 5, 2015 19:36
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Standard solution, Injket printer with some very cheap transparencies. Contrasty negatives thought, photoshop helps. No test strips, just going by eye/feel. They're all double coated, which I heard helps with density. Canson Montval paper. Exposure time varies from 30 minutes to an hour depending on the hour of the day, sunny cloudless days, in the yard but not under direct sunlight (I don't get any on it). It's also the end of summer around here (south hemisphere, roughly around the Tropic of Capricorn). I guess I could do a write-up on the process, but really I'm just following what I found on the internet from alternativephotography and https://mpaulphotography.wordpress.com/ Here's (a bad picture of) one toned in green tea. Honestly for all the fuzz I've heard, toning was easy enough. I even used common household bleach for bleaching and it worked allright.  DSC09765 by Hernando Rosa, on Flickr Primo Itch fucked around with this message at 23:26 on Apr 6, 2015 |
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Apr 6, 2015 23:23
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One capful of household bleach per liter of water. It's quite mellow so bleaching can take up to 5 minutes or so. I'd rather have it like this then super fast like some recipes on the internet, more controlable. I also had sucess with a very quick (30s) bleach after tonings, seens to reduce paper staining a lot - but you lose a little bit of density. I'll edit this post with some more toned images later. One interesting thing is that black tea takes quite some time (2-3hours) but will give you nice blacks and a very stained paper, while green tea takes quite less time (30 minutes maybe?) and gives a slight purple-ish tone and less paper staining. If you're doing a "cyanotype day" thing I'd recommend green tea since it's quite fast and you don't want two prints on the same toning bath. Black tea will limit your output. edit: I can't believe I've gone from "never done this" to be giving tips on a week's time. Primo Itch fucked around with this message at 23:32 on Apr 10, 2015 |
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Apr 10, 2015 23:17
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voodoorootbeer posted:Also: coffee gives you dark blue green blacks with even less stain than green tea with the time frame of black tea. Both instant coffee and spent coffee grounds seem to give the same shadow tones, but grounds seem to stain less than instant. How do you prepare the coffee toning bath? Any particular tips? I'm probably go with ground if it stains less...
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Apr 18, 2015 19:29
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I think I'm in love with coffee toning. Lisboa - Igreja by Hernando Rosa, on Flickr This scan doesn't show the amount of detail at all. It's quite nice. Left some prints stading overnight today (they're still drying) and they're BLACK with minimal staining.
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Apr 25, 2015 13:01
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MrBlandAverage posted:Don't heat the chemicals above 65C or mix them with a strong acid and you won't get any free cyanide at all. Potassium ferricyanide is used in Europe as an anticaking agent in table salt - you might see it in ingredients lists as E536. You look like a fairly skinny guy but I guarantee you you'd have to consume at least 300 grams of potassium ferricyanide to put your life in danger. We even use sodium nitroprusside intravenously therapeutically, which is very close chemically (and probably more dangerous, honestly) to Prussian Blue, so you'd probably have to ACTUALLY DRINK quite some cianotype solution before you were at any risks. It's honestly one of the safest alternative methods out there. It's also very forgiving and you should try taning it with whatever trees you have around since you're in a colder area (usually bark has more tannins, just grind, put them in boiling water and let it cool, dilute as you feel like), you'll probably get different colours from each plant. It's a really fun process with a lot to explore safely. Pham Nuwen posted:What paper do you guys like to use for cyanotypes? I've had pretty reasonable results with pads of watercolor paper from the craft store, but I'd be interested in what your preferences are. If I'm doing something archival/for a show/whatever I'll use Canson Montval 300g/m, you can even bleach it with common household bleach and it wont even care, otherwise whatever cheap watercolour paper the craft store has (thought 180g tend to be way easier to flatten after all the wetting then 120, in my experience) Hell, you can apply it to wood, fabric, mix with gelatin and make cianotype plates... I'm actually giving a workshop on cianotypes this sunday, so yeah, anybody want to talk it, I'm game. Primo Itch fucked around with this message at 00:22 on Dec 3, 2016 |
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Dec 3, 2016 00:15
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Father O'Blivion posted:Get some sencha while you're at it; its the best for cyanotype toning. I really like erva mate (yerba mate, ilex paraguariensis). It gives very dark, black shadows with minimal staining and a toning time of a few minutes... White tea, after a strong bleach also gives a nice light pink that's very pleasant.
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Jan 28, 2017 00:12
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BANME.sh posted:Nothing too exciting but I tried making prints using some mixed developer I had stored in a bottle since last summer, and I think it came out just fine considering how many people tell you not to use old developer. I've been developing film in some dektol that was prepared some two or three years ago and everything is going just fine... People are way too cautious with photography chemistry in general imo. If you're not Ansel Adams trying to get a perfect negative out of film and developers made with technology from 100 years ago, you can be way less cautious than what a lot of people and classes will tell you to be and still come out with pretty good negatives. just my 2 cents.
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Feb 8, 2017 22:37
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McMadCow posted:I'm not saying either of you are necessarily wrong, but at some point in your darkroom adventures you do get skilled/picky enough that every little nuance of a negative because something you notice and work around. I make it my personal policy not to use expired film, paper, or chemistry just to avoid any potential inconsistency. Well, one good point you have is that your process, from what i've seen, tends to be all-analogic. If I was doing wet prints I'd probably be more picky with my negatives, but since I use a mixed process (I'll scan the negatives and them have all the goodies photoshop gives) I can be less cautious. Maybe that difference (All-analogic x mixed analogic and digital) is what allows people to have more leeway in modern times, rather than evolutions in film or chemicals technology... Something to think about... My background in chemistry is probably biasing me here... There's also something stylistic about it. I'm someone that doesn't really care about dirt and scratches, tends not to care about grain size too much or latitude either as long as my subject is well (and even that well is quite relative) exposed, so I can give in and not be so precise in the process, while your work involves a level of craftmanship that honestly, I can't even imagine myself doing (If you didn't get it yet, I love it and you should post more pics!).
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Feb 9, 2017 20:40
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Pham Nuwen posted:Despite being the creator of the thread about alternative processes, I've never been thrilled with how my cyanotypes come out. Not enough detail, in a lot of cases. To prevent this thread hitting the archives, anyone want to share their cyanotype workflow? They actually can pack quite a lot of detail, it really depends on how you expose, develop and tone it and the paper you use - Paper with more texture leads to images with less detail. The solution's age, as how long ago you've painted the paper interfere here - Increase of time means decreased tonal range. It's been a while since I've done cyanos (got tired of them, honestly), but I'll share my hapzard workflow: 1) Cut paper to size - If i'm using some decent paper (Canson Montval is my go-to) I'll usually buy huge sheets and them cut them to the size I want, cheaper than buying A3 or A4 packs; 2) Prepare solutions - I never kept the A and B solutions ready because they are very simple to make with a .1 gram scale and lab glassware (I'm a pharmacist, so making solutions like this happens totally in automatic mode, if you're not so used maybe do it in batches?). I've always used the alternative process site original formulas. Simple, easy and work well; 3) Mix solutions - Equal parts of both solutions under low incandescent light (I always just close the blinds and keep a 20w lamp); 4) Paint solution on paper - I like to use a Hake (Japanese brush). Some people will tell you that doing two layers improve density/contrast, personally never found any difference, so I'd rather save solution; 5) Wait for it to dry to the touch; 6) Put the painted paper in a black envelope or whatever will keep it in complete darkness untill fully dry. (24h is my go-to around here, may vary depending on your weather); 7) Put negative on top of paper, put paper and negative under a 10mm sheet of glass, expose in the sun until I think it's good enough; 8) Develop under running water, usually 1 or 2 minutes. I never kept any prints on water baths or done longer washes as I see no reason to, honestly; 9) Hang to dry; 10) Wait some 3 or 4 days until the Prussian blue is fully oxidized and you have a final blue image. From here you can either keep the image as blue or tan it. 11) Tanning: Honestly, I don't have much of a workflow here, I just go by feeling. One water bath with bleach (random amount of common household bleach), one or more baths with the toners you want. Wash in running water for 30 seconds or so in-between baths. Depending on the result I want/expect from each image I'll bleach until it's completely yellow or just have it nudge the blue out a little. Time on toner depends on the toner you're using (Yerba mate gives a deep black in less than 5 minutes, white tea will tan pink-ish a well bleached print in 2-3 hours, for example). One final 30 seconds to one minute wash after toning, hang to dry. To be completely honest I find tonning the fun part of cyanotipes and I do believe there's no such thing as a comprehensive guide for it. You have to do it, go by feeling, and find what works for you. I'm currently doing some experiences with printing on copper sheets and them oxidizing them into pigments, as soon as I have some interesting material I'll post it in this thread. Primo Itch fucked around with this message at 21:10 on Jun 4, 2017 |
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Jun 4, 2017 21:08
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McMadCow posted:I just had a work shortlisted for a very important exhibition and it's one of the most difficult shots I have to get right. I want to send them the most perfect version possible. Posting from the darkroom, second day of trying for a good print. Now you have to show it to us after it's done (even if you have to  it)
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Jun 23, 2017 02:56
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McMadCow posted:I doubt I'll re-scan the shot since I already got a good one in the past. The problem is that I can't use that particular print to send off. I've posted the shot before though- Amazing as always mate! Anybody ever tried hand colouring their photos? I did a small workshop on it that was focused on classic, realistic colouring, but I'm quite enjoying using watercolours and going hog wild and crazy on some 4x6 prints I have laying around... 
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Nov 9, 2017 19:43
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| # ¿ Apr 29, 2024 08:05 |
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McMadCow posted:Thanks! And as a bonus follow-up to that old post of mine, I got into that important show I was all flustered over. So it all worked out! Good to hear that, your work is great! To kick up a barely alive thread, more ecoline on a black and white print: 
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Feb 4, 2018 04:19
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