Mixing it up

last class we attempted a chaotic catch up with everyone on Cyanotype and Van Dyke as well as combining the two processes, with various levels of success. It is tricky to get something interesting, but when it works, it's very cool.

What we did was make a very over exposed cyanotype. Once this had dried we coated the print with a 50% dilution of reccomended van dyke. and then make an exposure over that. This is not an easy thing to master, but over time, one can get amazing results!

Simon #1 sent along the information for the Fox Talbot work which can be found:
"... in the library's special collections section:

http://special.st-andrews.ac.uk/saspecial/index.php

If you want to see them you probably can without a problem, if they
recognise your Edinburgh library card -- which they probably do, but
it'd be best to check before coming up."


This weekend is International Pinhole Day. I hope you can find a time to celebrate it. 
http://www.pinholeday.org/events/?event=2194


We won't have class this week in observance of various holidays. Next week we will be doing Albumen. 
This is a very particular process. Please look at the link in the previous posting, to make yourself decent negatves for the process, or you might be disappointed. I want everyone to have 5 good negatives for the process, ready to work with next class, as well as 10 pieces of paper torn down to size and labeled with your name and process on it. THIS MUST BE DONE BEFORE CLASS. 


If you would like to do Anthrotypes, please bring in some of the following: 
beets, berries, flower petals, leaves, herbs etc
please bring enough to share. we will only be making the emulsions in class bring some bottles to take your emulsions home to coat. 
http://www.nickyjthompson.co.uk/gallery_302244.html

Bin Dahn, Chlorophyll process

Van Dyke Brown

http://www.flickr.com/photos/blue_dolphin

part A:
Ferric Ammonium Citrate: 9.0 gm
Distilled Water: 33.0 ml


part B:
Tartaric Acid: 1.5 gm
Distilled Water: 33.0 ml

part C:
Silver Nitrate: 3.8 gm
Distilled Water: 33.0 ml


Parts A and B are  mixed together and then C is added slowly while being stirred. This solution, kept in a light tight bottle such as an amber bottle or a white platic container will keep, like cyannotype, for up to a year.

The Van Dyke solution can be applied in the same manners as the cyannotype, different brushes will create different effects, we can also make a mask to keep very clean, controlled edges if that is the look we're going for. We use x drops of solution per A5 piece of paper and y amount of drops for A4...

Van Dykes are a "faster" process than cyanotype. Faster refers to the speed in which the light sensitive material reacts to light. The exposures for cyanotype were anywhere from 15- 40 min long and we could coat our paper in incandescent light. With van dykes we need to keep them in very low, safe light to prevent the material from "fogging" - reacting to light and getting darker. Our exposure times for Van Dyke were much faster, ranging from 3-9 min.

It is another printing out process in UV light (sunlight). Printing out means, while we are making the exposure we can see the image begin to appear. Once we've seen our image appear the darks will look like a burnt sienna colour (dark orange/brown) and our image will be about half as dark as we want it to be in the final image.

Take the exposed print to the darkroom, and "develop" the print in water for 3-5 min. This should clear away the left over unexposed chemicals. The next bath is 4tbs of sodium thiosulfate (hypo)crystals per liter of water.  This is the fixing bath which will darken and fix the image. The print should remain in the fixer for 5 min. The final stage is a last bath of contantly refreshing water to wash the prints clear of all chemicals. This wash should last for 30 min. The final print will "dry down"- darken once it has dried.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/whitney_h

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Assignment

i had everyone coat extra sheets of paper so you can take them home and make exposures during the week. I'd like everyone to bring in at least 2 cyanotypes and 2 vandykes they made for next week that they are very pleased with. Please try to make an exposure in your pinhole cameras!

Class is going to start at 12pm next week, as we have a lot to do and need to catch people up.

I want everyone to come in with their negatives anywhere from 120- to A4 in size. I would like everyone to have their paper already torn down to size and have their names written on each piece so we don't have to waste time getting that done. Consider printing on other types of paper, fabrics or other surfaces. Catalina made some collages from different images she found in a magazine which looked really interesting. For those of you who are printing negatives think about contrast, you will want to make very contrasty negatives to print... please take a look here for more technical information on making negatives. Picnick is a great free online photo editor- if you want to add effects or edit your images. It is very comprehensive. You only need to upload your images. http://www.picnik.com/

if you can't come to class, please let me know as soon as possible so i don't hold up the class waiting for you to show up.

DIY negatives and Cyannotypes!

an easy method of image production on light sensitive materials is to simply lay an object on the paper and expose. This is called a photogram.

Essentially a contact print is the same thing, only much more detailed. A contact print is what we're making when we lay an image (whether positive or negative) directly on the paper, as opposed to making a projection.

Paper negatives are made by oiling or waxing the paper the image is printed on in order to make it much more translucent.  Images can also be made using the paper negatives we created in our pinhole cameras last week. I hope some of you will try to do this.

Maddi said this about her paper negative process :

Maddi Barber's negative

"The first one was a black and withe one, and it had a lot of contrast, so I only opened on photoshop and inverted it.The others were in colour, so I took out the colour and brought more contrast getting more withe and black difference...and invert them.
and that's all!"                                      

Cliche Verre, Unknown Artist

There were a good number of images printed on transparency. With some really great results. There are ways to adjust the "curves" in photoshop to get your image to print exactly how you want. If you are interested in getting more information on making digital negatives let me know, i can try and put you in the right direction.

Another process we didn't get to try but is very cool is the Cliche Verre. This is essentially painting or drawing on a transparent surface... traditional methods include tallow candle smoke, or asphaltum as a resist which was then etched into on the glass to produce interesting images. Sharpies, sumi ink, iron filings could all be very interesting things to experiment with.

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Cyanotype!

this is a very simple process consisting of 2 parts:
part A, ferric ammonium citrate + H2O
part B, potassium ferric cyanide + H2O

after these are mixed, we combine 1:1 of A & B
a piece of A5 paper would use 6 drops A to 6 drops B

the paper is coated with a hake or sponge brush (which has been whetted to prevent wicking of chemistry into the brush) and allowed to dry for about an hour.

afterwards we place our image/object on the paper and expose it to UV light
sunny days will produce more contrasty images while cloudy days might increase tonality

we look for our darkest areas to change from that pale yellow-green to a dark blue-green and then lighted up. We can lift up our image to see the paper "printing out" as it is exposed to light.

it is recommended, as with every process , to make tests.  Everyone coats paper differently, and each negative will yield a different result. Make sure you mark down your technical notes
how many drops of chemistry
date and time of day
weather conditions
time of exposure
all these will help you in the future to make better prints.

develop in water (you may add a splash of vinegar to increase mid tones)
keep in water until highlights no longer appear to be yellow.

for instant gratification, put in waterbath with hydrogen peroxide.
we experemented with some different toners, wine, tea, dektol and laundery detergent.

when finished, wash print for 20 min and lay to dry.

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assignment for next week:

bring along all previously made work, negatives etc.

Please make some new negatives as well- go crazy, make some weird and strange things!!!

i want everyone to tear or cut their paper to size for the images they plan to print on. I would like everyone to have enough to use in class, as well as bring some home to make exposures with to bring in for the next week. 

Please write your name and the process on the back before class. 

i would like everyone to email me before next week with a theme for the class book and what process you want to use for your page. As there are 11 of us in the class we will each need to make 12 of the same pages, some processes will be used 2x. I would like to have an extra copy available for Forest to keep...  the dimensions of the page will be 8"x 4" folded in half. If i don't get an email, i'll assign one to you, don't worry it will be fun and i'll help you outside of class to make the pages if needed. 

portal book, cyanotype: Brittonie Fletcher

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go to the Ingleby gallery, Anna Atkins (one of the first female photographers) did botany photograms on cyanotype- her work, some of it is there! They also have a wonderful book collection in their basement.

Pinhole and other Macgyvered cameras

Abe Morelle makes images by photographing the
camera obscura effect in rooms. This image is
projected on the wall by means of a pinhole.

Box

black gaff tape

tinfoil

sewing needle

sandpaper

black matt paint

film or photo paper

http://www.abelardomorell.net/

essentially, pinhole is dead easy. 

Make a box light tight and the interior black.

 Make a hole where you want to put you're aperture. 

Get a piece of tinfoil and a 
sewing needle. (sewing needles come in different gauges and as such you may select your idea aperture, the smaller pinhole and thinner surface, the sharper, and the longer the exposure). Vignetting occurs as the diameter of the hole approaches the thickness of the material in which it is punched, because the sides of the hole obstruct the light entering at anything other than 90 degrees.

Poke a hole in the tin foil with the needle. Very Gently.

Tape the tinfoil over the opening in the box making sure it is completely secured with no light leaks. 

Take a piece of the gaff tape and make a tab which will cover the aperture when not exposing, working like a shutter. The film or photo paper will go in a holder or directly inside the box adjacent to the aperture.

The math and science:

  

where d is pinhole diameter, f is focal length (distance from pinhole to image plane) and λ is the wavelength of light.

The f-number of the camera may be calculated by dividing the distance from the pinhole to the imaging plane (the focal length) by the diameter of the pinhole. For example, a camera with a 0.02 inch (0.5 mm) diameter pinhole, and a 2 inch (50 mm) focal length would have an f-number of 2/0.02 (50/0.5), or 100 (f/100 in conventional notation).

Due to the large f-number of a pinhole camera, exposures will often encounter reciprocity failure. Once exposure time has exceeded about 1 second for film or 30 seconds for paper, one must compensate for the breakdown in linear response of the film/paper to intensity of illumination by using longer exposures.

exposure times

we were using photographic printer paper in our pinholes. 

Photographic paper has an ISO or film speed of somewhere between 4 and 10. A good way to think about this is in comparison to average film speed which is 200 or 400.  Exposure times for those average films on a sunny day or fractions of seconds, whereas when we made our exposures onto photo paper  it took much longer. The shortest exposures being 45 seconds to 4 min. depending on how much sun/shade and different camera shapes.  The light will change, especially in Edinburgh. But, it is really important to make notations of the lighting conditions, time of day, date and exposure time. This way we can make several tests before making a full exposure.

Edinburgh pinhole artist Katie Cooke http://slowlight.net  

some good links:

http://www.mrpinhole.com/calcpinh.php

http://monumentsedinburgh.tumblr.com/

Juicec Box film pinhole on youtube

Next week we will be doing paper negatives and Cyannotype!

You should bring:

Images- please make photocopies/ prints on transparency of pictures you would like to print from
these should be in negative form and black and white- if you have black and white negatives larger than 35mm (120 or bigger) this will also work very well- if you are unclear about this email me as soon as possible.

We will also make photograms- bring interesting objects to arrange artistically
ex: feathers, tools, light bulbs, toy dinosaurs, teeth, fruit pieces - be creative

if you can, please continue to do work with your pinhole camera- you can purchase photo paper at many stores around town- ECA school store, Camerabase on morningside and Jacobs on Shandwick Place, are reccomendations. I would like to show you how to make your negative exposures into positive prints.

Printmaking paper - hot press Arches, is a standard - you can buy this at ECA school store

Foam or Hake brushes - which ever you prefer- get 3 total

bone folder (optional) / awl - this is for tearing paper as well as book binding.

I think i would like you all to take a look at the BB (see here) and figure out which process you would like to sign up to make a page for our class book. I have links to examples of each process. I would like each person to make a page and have  each process represented. We will need to make multipuls so that everyone in the class can have a book at the end. The sign up list is not set in stone- you will be allowed to trade if you find you really hate the process...  but i'd like a temporary list on Sunday.

Syllabus

A Crash Course in Alternative Process                                 FOREST
http://altprocess.blogspot.com                                               darkroom@theforest.org.uk

Description
Students explore and array methods for creating imagery in contemporary Alternative photography methods and practices. The aim is to open the world of super DIY image capture and printing. There will be handouts every week with technical notes on processes as well as a little history and overview of selected artists working within the medium. We cover safety and handling of chemicals, emulsion and chemical preparation, making and printing images.

 The course would include in class discussions and critique of works made in addition to demonstrations of technique and in class work. Supervised time slots could be arranged for out of class work.  I hope to curate a show as a group of the work created over the course to display in the Forest gallery or perhaps to make a class book. At the very least I would like to scan students work from each process to feature on the Forest Darkroom Flickr and document in class working time. All students will of course be credited for their works with all rights reserved.  Please tell me in advance if you would prefer not to be photographed, or to have your work documented and I will respect your wishes.

It is important to come to class on time as we will be trying to pack a lot in a short amount of time. Though I will confess I am often late. There is also a very strong likelihood there will be guest participants for selected processes, and I anticipate their addition taking up a bit more time. Assignments and notes will be updated regularly on the blog listed above.

The majority of the handouts will come from:
Alternative Photographic Processes, by Christopher James,

Delamar/Thomas Learning, 2002

Required Materials
20 pound Lab fee (to cover cost of course darkroom chemistry)
images to work with negative or otherwise

Paper to print on- arches hot press is recommended

Eye protection / lung protection

Gloves if you have latex allergies

Notebook

Binder – for handouts

Hake brushes, sponge brushes

Schedule

March 27
Week 1: Overview, handout of syllabus, links, contact, brief history with images, intro to pinhole physics/optics and construction, exposure and development, assignment for next week.

April 3rd
Week 2: go into paper negatives, cyanotype

April 10th
Week 3: critique, examples, demo Van Dyke Brown, assignment

April 17th
Week 4: critique/discussion about book project, book binding, CVD and spearmint oil 

May 1
Week 5: critique, examples, demo Albumen , Assignment

May 8
Week 6: critique, examples, demo Polaroid lifts/transfers/ day lab, assignment

May 15
Week 7: critique, examples, demo AG PLUS liquid chemistry, assignment

May 22
Week 8: exchange pages, bind our books , final critique