RSSTest Print – Pinhole and Palladium
May 22nd, 2008 by laura | Filed under Laura Campbell Fine Art.Here we are with an example of what I’ve been working on the last two days. Since mistakes are a part of the learning curve, I’m posting Thursday’s enlightening mistake.
The original print was made in-camera using a Zero45 pinhole camera, reducing back, and B/W 3.25 x 4.25 peel apart film.
To make a negative suitable for contact printing, the original print was scanned and enlarged slightly to 3.5 x 4.5. Using CS2, a curve and color were applied to give the image a 1.9 density range. With these steps completed, the inverted image was printed onto Pictorico P-OHP transparency film using an Epson R2400 printer.
In the darkroom, the negative was printed on Crane’s Platinotype paper double coated with the Pd sensitizing solution using 5-0-6 drops. The exposure in a UV light box was 75 seconds. This exposure time was too short resulting in inadequately exposed highlights on the lower and upper portions of the torso.
While I have used Crane’s for making salted paper prints and enjoyed the paper for that process, it didn’t hold up that well during the long soaks in water used in palladium printing. In addition, the emulsion sank too far into the paper, even when double coated, which resulted in an image that looks recessive.
With a little fine tuning and some new paper, I can see that this process might work for me.
Here’s the original image made in-camera:
The digital negative shown with applied curve and color:
The image printed on palladium. The emulsion sank too far into the paper, and the paper fibers lifted upward during clearing baths and washing. This is most visible in the dark areas of the print.
