John Lockhart
04-07-2010, 02:20 PM
I have been learning the Kallitype process for a couple of months, and I recently noticed a strange change of behavior in my printing. I thought it might indicate a flaw in my process or suggest something I could be doing better. Even if it is inconsequential I am simply curious to know what is happening.
I use the standard 10 percent Silver Nitrate and 20 percent Ferric Oxalate coating on Stonehenge paper. When I first started printing I used a ‘lizard lamp’ as a UV source. This is one of the lamps you can obtain from a pet store that is designed to give your reptiles enough UV for proper absorption of mineral and other nutrients. When printing with this lamp the paper printed out as I have seen it documented by others. There was a faint brown purple image that became much more dense when developed.
This was a very cheap lamp. When it broke I replaced it with a bank of four 24 inch blacklight bulbs. These are still aren’t the best lamps, but better than the first. As soon as I moved to the blacklight bulbs the paper would print out to a very dark brown. The image is so dark out of the UV box that when developing in a brown developer like Sodium Citrate the image clears up in the developer but doesn’t become much denser.
Once I us gold toner on the prints they look about the same. However, I am still wondering what causes the difference in tone and whether this is an indication of something good or bad about using blacklight bulbs for printing.
I was wondering if anyone has had a similar experience or any insight into what the difference in print out means and what causes it.
I may post of a sample image if I get any responses about this.
Thanks,
- John
I use the standard 10 percent Silver Nitrate and 20 percent Ferric Oxalate coating on Stonehenge paper. When I first started printing I used a ‘lizard lamp’ as a UV source. This is one of the lamps you can obtain from a pet store that is designed to give your reptiles enough UV for proper absorption of mineral and other nutrients. When printing with this lamp the paper printed out as I have seen it documented by others. There was a faint brown purple image that became much more dense when developed.
This was a very cheap lamp. When it broke I replaced it with a bank of four 24 inch blacklight bulbs. These are still aren’t the best lamps, but better than the first. As soon as I moved to the blacklight bulbs the paper would print out to a very dark brown. The image is so dark out of the UV box that when developing in a brown developer like Sodium Citrate the image clears up in the developer but doesn’t become much denser.
Once I us gold toner on the prints they look about the same. However, I am still wondering what causes the difference in tone and whether this is an indication of something good or bad about using blacklight bulbs for printing.
I was wondering if anyone has had a similar experience or any insight into what the difference in print out means and what causes it.
I may post of a sample image if I get any responses about this.
Thanks,
- John