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Platinum - Palladium Weekend(s)
February 21 - 23
Whew, we just finished our first platinum - palladium printing workshop in the new studio darkroom area. Howard Singer, David Schaller, Jack Darrow and Richard Barnett spent the weekend of February 21 - 23 beginning to make platinum - palladium prints. We met Friday evening for dessert, a tour of the working space and an over view of platinum - palladium process. Howard, David and Jack were new to the process, and it was a refresher course for Richard.
Saturday morning we began printing in earnest. I started the morning with a printing demonstration using a 4" x 5" negative I had used as a teaching tool in other classes. I first demonstrated coating paper with both a brush and a coating rod. Then everyone coated their first piece of paper and we made our first prints.After that we looked at negatives, measured densities and tried to find the best negatives for the platinum - palladium process. We worked with both of the traditional platinum - palladium processes - with ferric oxalate #1, ferric oxalate #2 with chlorate, palladium #3 and platinum #3. These formulas require a negative with a density range of at least 1.1 or 1.2. An ideal negative for platinum palladium printing has a density range of 1.4 to 1.7.
Dave and Howard both were able to print negatives more fitted to a silver gelatin density range with a new platinum - palladium process introduced by Dick Sullivan of Bostick and Sullivan. In this process ferric oxalate #1 is used, but the traditional ferric oxalate #2 is not used, rather, traditional palladium is used and the contrast agent is a form of sodium platinum. This sodium platinum (and don't ask me for exact chemical names, I don't know them and would probably misspell them anyway) adds contrast to the emulsion without adding the graininess associated with the chlorate contrast agent. It is a very powerful contrast agent. Essentially in this process you are making a palladium print and adding small amount of sodium platinum (Na 2 in Bostick and Sullivan terms) to bring up the contrast. Both Dave and Howard were able to make nice platinum - palladium prints from negatives that typically would have printed beautifully on a grade two silver paper.
| Howard brought 4x5 and 8x10 negatives. Howard made several prints from Polaroid type 55 negatives. This lovely image of his wife came from an 8x10 negative. |
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| Dave brought 8x10 negatives, some of which were processed for silver prints and some that were processed in pyro. We had problems with the silver negatives but the pyro negatives printed beautifully. This image came from an 8x10 pyro negative. It comes from a project in which he is photographing manse before it is torn down. |
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Richard brought all 5x7 negatives processed in both Xtol and HC110. In many cases the Xtol negative yielded a strong print. The Xtol negatives appeared to have better internal contrast as well as an over all density range. This shell image is from a new still life series that Richard is working on in his spare time from his commercial work in Charlotte, NC. |
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Jack brought 8x10 and 7x17 negatives. Almost all of Jacks negatives printed with the traditional platinum palladium process. This image is from the Marshall point Light house in Port Clyde, Maine. For the test strip jack coated the center part of the image and exposed it for 5 and 10 minutes. He liked the look of the test strip that he coated a final version just through the center of the image and let the image bleed into the paper.It was a great weekend. Everybody made several prints each day and hopefully gained a little insight into the platinum palladium process.
I am hosting another platinum/palladium workshop the weekend of March 7th and 8th. We have two spots open. It you are interested in taking this workshop drop me an e-mail or give me a call at 207 230 0199. The cost is $500 for the weekend plus a platinum / palladium kit and paper from Bostick and Sullivan. Lodging is available at several local hotels or bed and breakfast around Camden. The next opportunity for me to offer this workshop in my studio after the March class will not be until next fall or winter at the earliest. So if you are interested in learning to make platinum - palladium prints and want to visit beautiful Camden, ME in the early spring, give me a call or drop me a note.
Platimum Printing Workshop 2
March 10, 2003
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We just completed the second of two platinum Palladium printing workshops in the studio last night. Alan Vlach and Carol Woodbury printed all day Saturday and Sunday. Each printed at least six different negatives. Carol graduated from the Maine College of Art with a degree in Photography several years ago. This was the first opportunity she had to jump back into platinum printing since leaving college. She had a wonderful collection of negatives from the Portland Museum of Art and the Portland City Hall one of which is shown here. |
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Alan has been a photographer for many years but recently got back into it seriously. He has studied with George Tice and George DeWolfe. This was his first experience with platinum printing. He is primarily a landscape photographer. He works with the Bar Harbor, Mt. Desert Island area. Here is one of his images from the weekend.
Next winter I hope to offer another platinum printing workshop in my studio. However, if you are interested in working on platinum printing I would encourage you to look at the workshop I am offering at Peters Valley Craft Center in August. Although the title is “Project, Concept to Completion” it is a perfect opportunity to do some serious platinum printing. Andy Schmitt, the Program Director at Peters Valley has at least one UV light source in the darkroom. I will be bringing two smaller UV units and in August in New Jersey, we should have plenty of natural UV light to print with. Perhaps your project is to spend ten days platinum printing. If you have a backlog of negatives suitable for platinum printing here is the chance for 10 days of printing. If you need to make negatives and want to learn platinum printing, you have the beautiful Delaware Water Gap National Park for a location, a darkroom at your disposal, and a small group of students to work with. I will be glad to work with anyone in the workshop that is interested in platinum printing and wants to pursue it. So sign up at www.pvcrafts.org, or drop me an email to discuss your ideas for the Workshop.
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