Critique of New Photographic Process

[unpopular]

I have not seen that book, actually. I may need to check it out.

I am a little bit off from a real test. I don't want to mix chemicals until I am sure that the emulsion is stable, the unhardened areas will melt away and transfer - I am a bit worried about the gelatin baking in - and then if the hardened gelatin will resist transfer. If all these tests come back positive, I'll try a negative.

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[terri]

I'm interested in seeing your results, however it turns out. Always fun to experiment, and you seem to know enough to handle your chemistry with care. Simply wearing gloves, being cognizant about ventilation and proper disposal goes a long way.

Experimentation can lead to amazingly beautiful results. If you don't try, you'll never know what you might get. Good luck!

[EIngerson]

This sounds cool. Is this something you would be able to photograph the entire process? I'd love to see what it's all about.

[unpopular]

Sure. I haven't even started my tests, been distracted (mostly here! lol)

I was planning to document everything here and submit a writeup to AlternativePhotography.com

I am thinking that with a hot press and suitable pressure, it should be suitable as a general purpose technique. We'll see!

[unpopular]

So I spent the afternoon finally working on this. I was able to produce an non-sensitive plate with a thickness suitable.



I found that gelatin does readily mix into melted glycerin bar soap, similar in how it mixes with water. It takes a while but it will mix, the key is to not use the microwave to melt the soap, but rather in a double boiler.

I tried pouring the soap mixture over the plate, but that didn't work so well and came out thick and uneven. I did, however, succeed in transferring this thick layer to paper after it dried to the plate. So I am confident that the transfer will work provided that the hardening does.

I managed to get a thin layer of soap by rubbing the preparation over the plate - but at that point the pigment too weak. I tried dribbling food color over the plate, and that worked suitably, but I'd prefer the pigment be applied more evenly.

I'm going to try soaking the plate in ice-cold pigmented ink next, the liquid ink should also even out any faults in the coating. If that doesn't work, I'll just dump tons of pigment into the soap mixture as it's being prepared.

[unpopular]

I did a quick test with an iron and the above plate. The results were pretty splotchy, but I am impressed by what did transfer. I think with added pressure and time, they're going to be just fine.

I realized that the excess chromium will need to be washed from the final print. So the print itself will need to be fixed under UV light and finally washed.

I also washed the plate under cold water, the soap washed away immediately, so I'll need to reconsider how to pigment the plate. I need to get some lampblack or graphite.