Found a little of the magic tonight, VanDyke

[Allen]

I think the experiments are starting to bear fruit.

Selenium toned VanDyke. I over printed the image and reduced it back with a weak selenium bath--which is weird to my silver gelatin mind.

 

[ann]

cool, but not really. If you leave a silver gelatin print in selenium long enough it will bleach back

 

[Allen]

I didn't know that.
I guess I've only left a silver print in selenium long enough to pop the d-max.

That image has dried down a bit since last night too. The red-brown is now a chocolate brown.

 

[ann]

i have done some toning with selenium and gold , leaving the prints in the specific toner for hours at a time, it is interesting to watch what happens.

Sometimes the results are wonderful, very depth increasing results. Optical illusions of course, but still increases the illusions of more depth.

 

[Allen]

Ann, I'm having issues with "silvering" (upper left quadrant of the above image).
I think it may be related to dry times in between my first and second coat of sensitizer but I'm not sure.
I'm working under red light so I doubt it's fogging.
Paper reaction, poor coating technique, bad sensitizer, any and or all of the above?

May I ask your thoughts?

 

[ann]

How are you drying? If your focing it, that may be the problem.

With my workshops, we coat in a very dim room, one light one in the corner *(light box) and haven't had any issues; however, if we forced the drying i.e. put it in a drying cabinet under low fan the results could vary.

One of the lovely things I like about alternative process is the ,rhythm
it is slow, calming we can talk and discuss photography which is not always easy in the darkroom when people are keeping track of timing for dodging and burning, etc.

 

[Allen]

I've been letting the sensitizer dry in my cabinet with two computer fans keeping the air moving. Bet that's it.
When I develop them I've been letting them hang dry (ceiling fan on low in the room).

Thank you very much.

 

[ann]

we place them on a screen in a rack for print drying, when they are just about done, )snap the paper, and when it is dry it will "pop". then put them in the film drying cabinet for a few minutes on a very low setting. Just to be sure.

 

[Allen]

Finally nailed down the Tower negative.

The glare is not silvering, but glare.

Ann, Thank you. It was drying issues I was having. I appreciate your help a lot.

Here is the other one I made this evening.