Tanol Developer on Paper
I while back as I headed deeper into committing to large format I was looking into a range of subjects and came upon staining developers. These developers not only reduce the silver ion to metallic silver but also incorporate a staining effect around the film grains. There are claims of high accutance and some swear by the effect the colored stain has on VC papers when printed from staining developers as the VC papers have spectral sensitivity. Better gradation of tones is one highlight of this. These developers started out based on pyrogallol back to 1851. There are a number of formulas available among them are Pyrocat-HD, ABC Pyro, Rollo Pyro, PMK, and WD2D+.
A few articles here for the interested.
1) Introduction to Pyro Developers
2) Staining Developers
I went to my usual source for darkroom sorcery Wolfgang Moersch to see what he had to offer. He has Pyro 48, Finol, Tanol and Tanol speed. I decided Tanol looked best to try out first. (The new Pyro 48 looks interesting with its longer life.)
Recently I thought I would try and develop some negatives with Tanol. I am happy with and have experience with FP4+ with HC-110 dilution B so I didn't want to mess with that. I had have not however dialed in HP5+ to any great degree. So perhaps Tanol and HP5+ would be a new film developer combo to work on. It seems that the high accutance and better tonal range might enhance the higher speed film.
So I re-read about it and I realized the kit may be past its shelf life. I did not want to risk my images so I went with HC-110 in this one instance.
Not wanting to throw the chemicals out I cogitated on some experiments to see what the developer would do with normal photographic paper. So I proceeded to experiment and got some interesting results.
I started out with Ilford MGIV RC 5"x7" paper and ran a test strip to gauge exposure. I developed this normally with Moersch 4812 Eco developer. Used acid stop and rapid (acid) fixer. This suggested a decent exposure at f22 of 32 seconds with the #00 filter alone. I would use this same exposure for all my test prints.
This is the print with normal Eco 4812 development. Note the cool to neutral tones.
Next I exposed a full sheet of the paper and placed it in my Cibachrome drum for developing. Switched on the lights and proceeded to mix a batch of Tanol. Tanol comes in two bottles part A and part B. Tanol once mixed has an exceedingly short life. Tanol mixes in the ratios of 1+1+100 (Part A+Part B+ water). The minimum developer need for film is 5ml (2.5ml A + 2.5ml B). I opted for 3+3+300 for my first test. I developed the paper for 3 minutes my normal developing time for Eco 4812 as a starting point.
At this point I should point out that the stains produced are sensitive to acids. I used a water stop cycle of 1 minute and used alkali fixer from Fotospeed.
The first image was quite dim. Also it was very apparent the stain seems to seep in along the edge of the paper and stain more heavily there.
So I thought, let's up the development time. I decided to go big at 20 minutes.
Obviously too long. And very weird results. It feels a bit like lith developer in that it seemed to run away in some areas. The other really surprising thing that does not come across in the scan is the dark margins along the edge look like metallic gold. It would interesting if you could control that on parts of the image.
Next I decided I needed higher developer concentration. I mixed a new batch at 6+6+300, double the concentration. I developed again at 3 minutes and after water bath stop I inspected under a red light to see if I needed more developing time. No need, it looked good.
This was very successful. There is a warm greenish tinge from the stain. As with negatives the stain colors even the white areas so it gives the paper a warmer tone. The dark tree trunks are very black however so there is a subtle coloring of only the lighter tones. Almost like a split tone print.
This got me thinking about two stage development. So next I developed the print for 1 minute in Eco4812 and 3 minutes in Tanol 6+6+300. I inspected the print at the 1 minute Eco 4812 development point after the stop bath and unfortunately the development was well advanced as even the leaves had developed pretty well. I carried on anyway and finished the Tanol development.
There is a distinctly hybrid look to the color. That worked, though I would reduce the Eco 4812 development time even more. (Some areas in the upper left and right corners did not get fully developed. I don't know if this was because the film was not flat in the development drum.)
That lead me to one more idea. I was out of paper of this type so I went back to my original test print developed with Eco 4812. I bleached it in potassium ferrocyanide as a re-halation bleach so I could redevelop the bleached areas with Tanol as another means to get split tones.
Because this is a test strip the top half is the #5 filter and the bottom half is the #00 filter with increasing exposure right to left. I consider this a success as it has a distinct change of tone again.
Overall it was quite satisfying to see the these outcomes. It makes me think of a couple of other avenues of investigations.
Below is mixed image showing each result next to each other to make it easier to gauge the effects.
1) Lith-type over exposure. Over-expose the print 4 or more stops and do tray development and snatch by inspection and some crucial time. This might give the gold metallic look in the print area.
2) Use the hard filter alone to see how the Tanol interacts with that part of the silver halide mix.
Update:
I found a small frame and cut the print down to fit. I think it makes a nice addition to the wall.
A few articles here for the interested.
1) Introduction to Pyro Developers
2) Staining Developers
I went to my usual source for darkroom sorcery Wolfgang Moersch to see what he had to offer. He has Pyro 48, Finol, Tanol and Tanol speed. I decided Tanol looked best to try out first. (The new Pyro 48 looks interesting with its longer life.)
Recently I thought I would try and develop some negatives with Tanol. I am happy with and have experience with FP4+ with HC-110 dilution B so I didn't want to mess with that. I had have not however dialed in HP5+ to any great degree. So perhaps Tanol and HP5+ would be a new film developer combo to work on. It seems that the high accutance and better tonal range might enhance the higher speed film.
So I re-read about it and I realized the kit may be past its shelf life. I did not want to risk my images so I went with HC-110 in this one instance.
Not wanting to throw the chemicals out I cogitated on some experiments to see what the developer would do with normal photographic paper. So I proceeded to experiment and got some interesting results.
I started out with Ilford MGIV RC 5"x7" paper and ran a test strip to gauge exposure. I developed this normally with Moersch 4812 Eco developer. Used acid stop and rapid (acid) fixer. This suggested a decent exposure at f22 of 32 seconds with the #00 filter alone. I would use this same exposure for all my test prints.
This is the print with normal Eco 4812 development. Note the cool to neutral tones.
 |
| 3 minute Eco 4812 Developer |
Next I exposed a full sheet of the paper and placed it in my Cibachrome drum for developing. Switched on the lights and proceeded to mix a batch of Tanol. Tanol comes in two bottles part A and part B. Tanol once mixed has an exceedingly short life. Tanol mixes in the ratios of 1+1+100 (Part A+Part B+ water). The minimum developer need for film is 5ml (2.5ml A + 2.5ml B). I opted for 3+3+300 for my first test. I developed the paper for 3 minutes my normal developing time for Eco 4812 as a starting point.
At this point I should point out that the stains produced are sensitive to acids. I used a water stop cycle of 1 minute and used alkali fixer from Fotospeed.
The first image was quite dim. Also it was very apparent the stain seems to seep in along the edge of the paper and stain more heavily there.
 |
| 3+3+300 3 minutes Tanol |
 |
| 3+3+300 20 minutes Tanol |
Next I decided I needed higher developer concentration. I mixed a new batch at 6+6+300, double the concentration. I developed again at 3 minutes and after water bath stop I inspected under a red light to see if I needed more developing time. No need, it looked good.
 |
| 6+6+300 3 minutes Tanol |
This got me thinking about two stage development. So next I developed the print for 1 minute in Eco4812 and 3 minutes in Tanol 6+6+300. I inspected the print at the 1 minute Eco 4812 development point after the stop bath and unfortunately the development was well advanced as even the leaves had developed pretty well. I carried on anyway and finished the Tanol development.
 |
| Split dev 1 min Eco 4812 3 min 6+6+300 Tanol |
That lead me to one more idea. I was out of paper of this type so I went back to my original test print developed with Eco 4812. I bleached it in potassium ferrocyanide as a re-halation bleach so I could redevelop the bleached areas with Tanol as another means to get split tones.
 |
| Bleached and redeveloped with Tanol 6+6+300 |
Overall it was quite satisfying to see the these outcomes. It makes me think of a couple of other avenues of investigations.
Below is mixed image showing each result next to each other to make it easier to gauge the effects.
 |
| Comparison Image |
2) Use the hard filter alone to see how the Tanol interacts with that part of the silver halide mix.
Update:
I found a small frame and cut the print down to fit. I think it makes a nice addition to the wall.
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