Hey, that's a neat trick, I didn't know that. You mean stable in the dark, right?
I do vaguely recall that turmeric was very pH-dependent in the hue it gave, but I only played with anthotypes briefly, and it's about a decade ago...
very stable if one sprays the exposed paper with sodium carbonate.
Hey, that's a neat trick, I didn't know that. You mean stable in the dark, right?
I do vaguely recall that turmeric was very pH-dependent in the hue it gave, but I only played with anthotypes briefly, and it's about a decade ago...
Also fairly stable in the light, however I have not really investigated this systematically.
The turmeric extract (using iso-propanol) is bright yellow when coated on the paper. Thus the untreated print is fairly low contrast (yellow image on white paper). Spraying the print with a solution of sodium carbonate turns the image a red/brown and the paper generally a light brown. Different papers give varying results both in term of the image color and the background "stain". One has to carefully spray on the carbonate as the pigment is water soluble and thus the image will "run" ("bleed"?) is one get the paper too wet at this stage.
Examples can be found here: https://porfolio.gorga.org/anthotype (the first two images are made with paprika, the remainder with turmeric).
An 8x10 Kallitype from an in-camera negative (FP4, developed in double strength PMK). This print was gold toned before fixing. Paper used: Hahnemuhle Platinum Rag.
Hi, Frank:
Looks like the 2nd one has pure white - does paprika get bleached out completely?
Also did you try borax to stain turmeric and does that make any difference in bleedability?
:Niranjan.
Well done print of a nice image. I love trees, specially when they hanging for dear life on the bank of a river. Thanks for sharing.
:Niranjan.
So, an anthotype. Thanks for the details.
I've experimented with anthotypes, mainly using tumeric which is relatively fast (exposures of several hours) and very stable if one sprays the exposed paper with sodium carbonate.
I have also tried paprika which is also fast but not very stable. The prints faded to 'zero' in the dark over a few months.
Borax works as well. The effect is (I think) due to pH. Pretty much any base should work.
The problem with bleeding is simply that the pigment is water soluble. Thus any aqueous solution can cause the problem. I use a cheap plastic spray bottle and very lightly mist the print and let it sit out in the sun for several minutes. Then I re-mist a second time if I decide that the print needs it. The key is not to get puddles of water on the print.
As for the paprika prints, I put the first batch of prints I made away in a print box in a cabinet (i.e. in the dark). I was surprised when I went back to them several months later and found that they had all faded badly. Eventually they faded away completely. This was true for untreated prints as well as a few that I had sprayed with an acrylic fixative thinks that that might protect them from light.
I started just soaking the paper in 20g NaCL/50g Citric Acid per liter
I think I am finally making some progress on these salt prints. Seems to be a process that is more finicky with paper choice than I am used to with cyanotype. This image was done on Revere Platinum which turned out the best I've used so far. I started just soaking the paper in 20g NaCL/50g Citric Acid per liter instead of brushing on the salt coat. That seems to help with the issues I have had with inconsistent coatings, at least for the salt coat, and bleeds out any paper buffering. I also switched brushes. I don't know why people love those Richeson brushes. I have nothing but problems with them. I coated the silver with a crappy $3 Langnickel taklon brush I found at walmart. Nary a streak to be found. I guess the salt process it is like most things you first start doing. You have to take your lumps to eventually get something worthwhile. Gotta just keep plugging away!
View attachment 374022
Interesting work @fgorga !
The sumac in particular looks very pretty.
How do the different toners relate in terms of staining of the paper base?
Salt Print
One of my favorite salt prints which I have had on display since I printed it back in 2013. I forget now the paper that was used - either Fabriano Artistico, Lanaquarelle, or Bergger Cot 320, all of which I was using in those days, and (IIRC) toned it with a gold sodium acetate toner. What I do recall vividly is the difficulty I ran into in shooting the negative. This was shot with a Toyo 810G from the end of Pier 1 looking back at the Ferry Building which is located at the foot of Market and Embarcadero in downtown San Francisco where it is next to impossible to find a parking space. I arrived at the end of the workday when everyone was leaving for home and was there ready to snag an open spot when one suddenly became available 1 block away. I wheeled the camera in its hard case and a Manfrotto 475B tripod with my 2-wheel dolly to the end of the pier. The plan was to set up the camera and focus while it was still daylight and wait until darkness had set-in to take the exposure only to discover while determining the exposure with the spot meter that I had left the Delta 100 exposure sheet with the reciprocity curve at home. So I returned the next day and again managed to get a parking spot just a few feet from where I was parked the day before. The plan was the same and this time I had the data sheet. But upon determining the proper exposure and waiting for the incoming/outgoing ferries were both away from the Pier and the swells produced by their propellers had subsided (I wanted an unobstructed and smooth as possible foreground) just as I was getting ready to trip the shutter the lights all along the waterfront suddenly went out! Initially I entertained the idea that this was some sort of conspiracy by security whom I knew were aware of my presence from the security cameras that are employed on the Pier. The next morning I called the Pier and was informed that a construction contractor had accidently cut a cable which resulted in the power failure. So back out for the 3d consecutive night and unbelievably got a parking space just 1/2 block from the previous. This time everything went according to plan and I took the 15 second exposure using a 360mm Schneider Symmar-S.
Kind of quiet here... finished my new 365 nm UV box based on Clay Harmon's 20X30 design. Started with a few cyanotypes just to see how it was working - the first on Arches WC the second on Canson Bristol XL (neither paper pre acidified, but used citric acid/tween in the cyano solution, classic) . Going to try some photopolymer plates this weekend.
Dave
Nice prints Dave. The UV box is the way! Makes things so much easier.
I am curious how much Tween you are using. I've been using LFN instead of Tween but I have some Tween now, just have no idea how much to use...
Doing something a little different:
I took the portrait image, made two different digital negatives; one straight, one tweaked to give deeper shadows. I made prints from each negative on different papers, then tore the one print to split the model's face, and then stitched the two prints together and attached the top layer to the bottom layer with wheat paste to keep it stable. The "clean" half was printed on Velke Losiny Prague, which is a textured cold press paper. The "dirty" half is on Berger COT320. Both prints are palladium with NA2, developed in Potassium Oxalate.
Salt Print
One of my favorite salt prints which I have had on display since I printed it back in 2013. I forget now the paper that was used - either Fabriano Artistico, Lanaquarelle, or Bergger Cot 320, all of which I was using in those days, and (IIRC) toned it with a gold sodium acetate toner. What I do recall vividly is the difficulty I ran into in shooting the negative. This was shot with a Toyo 810G from the end of Pier 1 looking back at the Ferry Building which is located at the foot of Market and Embarcadero in downtown San Francisco where it is next to impossible to find a parking space. I arrived at the end of the workday when everyone was leaving for home and was there ready to snag an open spot when one suddenly became available 1 block away. I wheeled the camera in its hard case and a Manfrotto 475B tripod with my 2-wheel dolly to the end of the pier. The plan was to set up the camera and focus while it was still daylight and wait until darkness had set-in to take the exposure only to discover while determining the exposure with the spot meter that I had left the Delta 100 exposure sheet with the reciprocity curve at home. So I returned the next day and again managed to get a parking spot just a few feet from where I was parked the day before. The plan was the same and this time I had the data sheet. But upon determining the proper exposure and waiting for the incoming/outgoing ferries were both away from the Pier and the swells produced by their propellers had subsided (I wanted an unobstructed and smooth as possible foreground) just as I was getting ready to trip the shutter the lights all along the waterfront suddenly went out! Initially I entertained the idea that this was some sort of conspiracy by security whom I knew were aware of my presence from the security cameras that are employed on the Pier. The next morning I called the Pier and was informed that a construction contractor had accidently cut a cable which resulted in the power failure. So back out for the 3d consecutive night and unbelievably got a parking space just 1/2 block from the previous. This time everything went according to plan and I took the 15 second exposure using a 360mm Schneider Symmar-S.
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