Well, the results were announced today, and my Ficus, Recoleta was awarded 2nd Prize in the contest overall. You can see the results here – April 2013 Issue, Rangefinder Magazine.
Archive for the ‘Platinum/Palladium’ Category
2nd Prize, Rangefinder Magazine B&W/ Alternative Process contest! 1 comment
Selected Finalist in the Rangefinder Alternative/B&W Competition – Ficus, Recoleta 1 comment
The judging is done, and my Ficus, Recoleta has been selected as one of the finalists in the Rangefinder Alernative Process competition. I’ll find out how well it does when the April issue of Rangefinder is published. The print is still available if anyone is interested.
My entry in the Rangefinder Alternative/B&W Competition – Ficus, Recoleta 1 comment
Please vote for my entry in the Rangefinder Alternative/B&W Competition People’s Choice awards! This is my (in)famous Ficus, Recoleta shot that I took in Buenos Aires. The tree is outside Recoleta cemetery in a little park, and the tree roots themselves that you can see are over 6′ (2m) tall, to give you a sense of scale for the tree. The print is a 5×7 palladium print on heavy weight paper. And it is for sale should anyone be interested! The prints are available in an edition of 10, starting at $250. Please click on the image to go to the competition web page to vote! And while you’re there, browse around and see all the other incredible work submitted.
More student work from Advanced Topics in Platinum/Palladium Leave a comment
Trolley Stairs, Glen Echo Park
This is a blended platinum/palladium print (60% platinum, 40% palladium) print, on Bergger COT320 paper. This was by a student from my Intro class, but I reprinted it for this session (the student left the negative behind after the Intro class, and I happened to really like the shot anyway). This one was coated using a glass rod as opposed to a brush, to demonstrate the difference in the coating technique, and the final appearance of the print.
Crystal Pool, by Patrick Brown
This is a palladium print on light Kozo paper, by Patrick Brown, one of my students in Advanced Topics. He was also in my Intro class. It’s so nice to get follow-on students so you can see their progress!
Kozo paper is a Japanese paper made from tree bark, and it is surprisingly strong for as delicate as it is – this is perhaps a 90 lb paper. It does have a tendency to dissolve in aqueous solutions, but if properly masked when developing, the image area can be preserved, even if the edges do get fringed a bit. This is a perfect example. I included the paper margins to show more clearly what the paper texture looks like.
We had some challenges this class session – the original idea was to try out some different paper types, and I had obtained a sampler of several kinds. We started the morning with Stonehenge, which was supposed to be a good paper, but something was dramatically wrong with the batch we got, as we were making 30 minute exposures and still coming up weak and flat. After this is over, I’ll get a little more for myself and try pre-acidifying it to see if that helps, but no mention of acidification was made in the sample kit and I couldn’t find any reference to acidifying it online. Fortunately we didn’t waste too much time before figuring out it was the paper at fault and not the chemistry, and life moved on.
Student work – from my Advanced Platinum Printing course Leave a comment
Just wanted to post a print made by one of my students, from my Advanced Topics in Platinum/Palladium printing. The advanced topics class covers contrast control techniques, working with different papers, making digital negatives, and gum-over-platinum prints. This was made from a digital negative we created in class from a medium-resolution JPEG! I’m impressed. Patrick will have a print to be proud of as a result of this class.
Orthodox Cathedral, by Patrick Brown
By the way, I will be re-running my Intro to Platinum/Palladium course at Photoworks, October 20-21. If you are interested, please sign up now, while there’s still room!
Dupont Taxi, Palladium 1 comment
Taxi, Northbound on Connecticut at Dupont Circle, Night
Another image in that nighttime series. Palladium print, Bergger COT320 paper.
Variations on a theme – Palladium versus Ziatype Leave a comment
Dupont Circle bus stop, Palladium over Fumed Silica
Here’s another of my 5×12 panoramics of Dupont Circle here in Washington DC. This was several exposures on the same negative, yielding an approximate minute and thirty seconds or thereabouts. We were printing from this negative in my Advanced Topics in Platinum/Palladium Printing class out at Photoworks Glen Echo this past weekend. The print I scanned for this image was printed on Bergger COT320 pre-treated with fumed silica. The fumed silica yields a definite boost in dmax.
The next print is of the same negative, but printed as a Ziatype. Ziatypes are a variation on palladium, but they use either Lithium Palladium or Cesium Palladium and Ammonium Ferric Oxalate instead, which yields a neutral-to-cool tone image more like platinum in color, and they are a printing-out process developed in water as opposed to a develop-out process that requires Potassium Oxalate or Ammonium Citrate as a developer.
The distinction between printing-out and developing-out, in addition to the chemistry variations, is the fact that a printing-out print’s final exposure is judged by visual inspection – what you see when you pull the print from the contact frame is pretty much what you’re going to get when it is washed, cleared, and dried, but a developing-out print will have some kind of ghost image that is anywhere from almost imperceptible to a partial rendition of the final image prior to development. Neither one is better than the other, except that the Ziatype is easier for beginners until they gain confidence in their coating and printing skills. Ziatypes also have a wide range of contrast controls that will also affect image color in addition to contrast.
Dupont Circle bus stop, Ziatype
Upcoming Fall Classes at Glen Echo Photoworks Leave a comment
I’m teaching more classes at Glen Echo Photoworks this fall and winter. I’ll be offering Advanced Topics in Platinum/Palladium, Intro to Platinum/Palladium, and a lecture/presentation on Identifying and Collecting Antique Photos.
Advanced Topics in Platinum/Palladium runs September 15-October 6 (Saturdays 9am-4pm), and covers advanced contrast control techniques, paper choices, troubleshooting techniques, and gum-over platinum. Although I did not have making digitally enlarged negatives in the original curriculum design, I’m going to make it an option at student’s request.
Intro to Platinum/Palladium will be held the weekend of October 20-21 from 9am-4pm each day. Topics covered include history, technical basics (chemistry, equipment, paper), major process controls (negatives, exposure, processing) and fine controls (contrast, process variations).
On the evening of Wednesday, November 17 from 7-9 pm, I’ll be teaching a mini-workshop on Identifying and Collecting Antique Photographs. The course will be a mini-photo history class from the Daguerreotype to silver-gelatin and color, and will be illustrated with examples from my personal collection. Which, if you’ve been following my blog for any length of time, you know is pretty cool.
 Gum over Ziatype |
 Monarch Novelties, 14th Street (palladium print) – Intro to Pt/Pd |
 Gentleman With Top Hat, 10/15/1849 – Intro to Collecting |
Digital negatives in Palladium 1 comment
Here is the first print in a series I’m working on. I’m going back through some negatives I made in 2004 with my Hasselblad on a trip to Spain. This shot is the cathedral in Salamanca, or more specifically, both cathedrals – the Romanesque and the Late Gothic/early Baroque, which oddly enough was built into the older cathedral instead of replacing it. I forget the reasoning off the top of my head. After I get a half-dozen or so printed, they will be going to a new gallery in Charlottesville, Virginia called Manu Propria, which specializes in handmade photography. The print is palladium, made on Bergger COT320 pre-treated with fumed silica.
First print with fumed silica Leave a comment
Here is my first print made with fumed silica as a pre-treatment before coating platinum/palladium. I’m seeing a bit of mottling in the lower left corner which I suspect is from uneven coating. This is on Bergger COT320. 50/50 blend of platinum/palladium, 4 drops 5% Ammonium Dichromate for contrast agent.
