MorseBlog

I must admit I started this session with more enthusiasm than the results would suggest in the end. Still there are some good things to be gleaned from it.  I set out with a number of objectives. Of late, I have been enjoying lith printing and more recently exploring toning of the lith prints. I have by no means become an expert or even well practiced. Still there have been some pleasing results. I think that what is important to learn is that while toning can add a small range of colors it is not like painting or coloring. The process is chemical, and the process is dictated by those rules which are blind to form, subject, or intent. This makes it frustrating but also can lead serendipitously into wonderful images resplendent with subtle tones and invented detail. This session was no different.  As I said, I started out with a few modest objectives. First to try sepia and gold toning in combination. Second, some compositional exploration of a single subject. The subject is a ...

I continue on this journey today with some more experiments. First, I am still trying to extract warmer tones with Fish and Chips being part of this process. Fish and Chips is a rehalating bleach based on potassium permanganate as the bleach agent and the use of sodium chloride as the source of the halogen rather than the traditional potassium bromide.  The impetus was to be able to develop and tone silver chloride in the bleached areas. The trouble is my only source of warm tone developer is the lith developer EasyLith. Today I recalled that I have some old Ilford Universal PQ developer that I stopped using as I don't like the warmish tone it delivers. The trouble is that Universal PQ is formulated with both KBr (Potassium Bromide) and BZT (Benzotriazole) as a restrainer. BZT delivers a cool tone while KBr contributes warmer tones.  I took some test prints from the prior session that had been developed in Moersch ECO 4812 developer to get a neutral to cold tone print. I the...

I first explored paper negatives when I wanted to print a color slide and needed to create an inter-negative in this post . I have since made an 8x10 large format camera and made paper negatives to test it.   Andrew Sanderson at thewebdarkroom has written a nice treatise on the paper negative and I highly recommend buying it. It is available on Blurb . Andrew's book introduced me to new ideas about paper negatives. Surprisingly for me he moves beyond contact prints and suggests loading paper in a medium format or 35mm camera. This can then be put in an enlarger. The result while not as crisp as a film negative has its own quality that he shows suits some subjects. I was inspired to try this out. Some time ago I found a good price on ebay for a rolleiflex/cord back that takes dark slide glass plate holders along with 4 plate holders. At the time the price was negligible and I  thought it might come in useful if I got into making glass plates. It sat in the shelf for som...

I have in the past been interested in trying out old photographic paper. Mostly out of curiosity to see what different materials were used and try and experience what others may have at different times or places. The paper being very old however probably is never quite the same as it was at the time. With things kicking off as they are in the Ukraine again I am reminded that some of my first papers from behind the Iron Curtain came from Mariupol in Ukraine which is now under threat. I told the seller at the time that I hoped for the best for them but hope now does not seem like enough. I recently bought some paper from Bulgaria from the brand Fohar (фохдр in Bulgarian). It was 2 boxes of 100 sheets 13x18cm. One box was white glossy and the other was something I hadn't encountered before called 'raster'. At first I thought this was a translation problem and it had something to do with contrast. After much searching I came across a link to some pinhole photos printed on F...