Platinum/Palladium Chemistry Options
Lesson 41 from: Introduction to Alternative Processing in PhotographyDaniel Gregory
Platinum/Palladium Chemistry Options
Lesson 41 from: Introduction to Alternative Processing in PhotographyDaniel Gregory
Lessons
Class Introduction
03:03 2Overview of the Alternative Process
03:31 3Overview of the Digital Negative Process
10:21 4Working with Black and White Digital: What You Need
09:17 5Working With Black and White Digital Images: Color Settings
08:33 6Working with Black and White Digital Images Lightroom
07:01 7Working With Black and White Digital Images Photoshop
11:57 8Working With Black and White Digital Images 3rd Party Plug-ins
07:29Avoiding Key Artifacts
20:26 10Creating the Step Wedge for Curve Corrections
39:00 11Organizing Your Adobe® Photoshop® Files and Curves
11:20 12Setting Up the Printer
20:24 13Lab Safety and Workspace Set-Up
03:49 14Setting the Maximum Black Time
12:06 15Getting the Initial Curve Test Numbers
20:04 16Correcting the Curve
20:37 17Printing the Curve
06:08 18Sharing Curves
08:50 19Caring for the Digital Negative
12:29 20Intro to Cyanotypes and Safety
07:46 21Paper and Brush Types
05:08 22Coating Process and Cyanotype Chemistry
12:17 23Making the Cyanotype Print
06:41 24Washing the Cyanotype Print
12:29 25Creating Cyanotypes Photograms
14:59 26Toning Cyanotypes and Cleaning Up the Darkroom
18:43 27Introduction to Van Dyke Printing
04:36 28Setting Up the Van Dyke Workstation
05:20 29Van Dyke Paper and Coating
05:10 30Van Dyke Exposure and Developing
32:30 31Van Dyke Troubleshooting and Resources
08:26 32Van Dyke: Split Toning
18:56 33Van Dyke: Wash Cycle and Drying
04:33 34Van Dyke: Clean Up Process
03:51 35Introduction to Platinum / Palladium Printing
14:15 36Platinum/Palladium Coating Chemistry and Safety
09:58 37Platinum/Palladium Paper and Coating Options
22:31 38Platinum/Palladium Exposure and Development
22:31 39Platinum/Palladium: Equipment and Supplies
16:48 40Ink Jet Negative Coating and Exposure
15:25 41Platinum/Palladium Chemistry Options
07:50 42Ink Jet Negative Development
03:45 43Platinum/Palladium Waxing Images
08:40 44Platinum/Palladium Troubleshooting and Resources
27:19 45Sharing Your Work Digitally
14:49 46Archivability
10:39 47Matting and Framing Options
30:22 48Editions and Signing Options
13:54 49Alternative Processes: Further Exploration
07:25Lesson Info
Platinum/Palladium Chemistry Options
I wanted to talk a little bit more about some of the coating techniques for the other types of chemistry we could be using. So we've got the Na2 method we've been using. Which has our ferric oxalate number one, our Na2, 5% solution. And then our palladium solution number three. If you're using the traditional method, so you were gonna not use the Na2 solution, and that's the only thing that makes it the not traditional method, is you're gonna not use the Na2 solution, you're gonna use the ferric oxalate number one, and you're gonna use a ferric oxalate number two solution. The ratio, like I said earlier, of those two sets of chemistry, deal with how contrasting the negative would be. For your digital negative, you can pick whatever ratio you want. You could do, three parts A, to four parts B, and then seven parts of C, or part three. The key, if you're gonna use the other method, and if you're gonna experiment with the other method at all, is you still have a one, and now you have a tw...
o, and then you have a three. So you have part one, part two, and part three. Luckily, if you get it from Bostick & Sullivan, they actually label your jars, one, two, and three. So even though you don't even have to remember the name of the chemistry, you just have to remember one, two, and three. It is the total drops that are used in solution one and two, have to equal the total number of drops for solution three. So if you're gonna use, if you need 40 total drops, say you're coating the surface, you're gonna be doin' an 11 by 14, you need 40 drops, you would use, and you're gonna use a middle contrast, you'd have 10 of number one, 10 of number two, and 20 of number three. 'Cause those numbers have to stay in balance. You could use five drops of that, 15 drops of that, and 20 drops of that, because that's what changes, the ratio of these two is what changes your contrast. But these two, no matter what ratio they're in, have to match number three. Now I have the platinum solution here. Platinum is also a number three solution. So even if I swap out palladium for platinum, if these are 20, that's also 20. If I decided I want to mix these two, if these are 20, the total of these two are 20, so it's not 20 and 20. It's just one and two added together, equals the drops of three. If that ratio gets off, your chemistry gets off, and your prints won't look great. So that's the biggest piece you're gonna be working on if you get the traditional kit, or the standard kit. When you order up a kit using the traditional method, you have to usually specify and tell them how much of the ferric oxalate number one and the ferric oxalate number two you want. And the number two has the contrast control agent in it. And so you can basically say, I need 25 milliliters of each, or 50 milliliters of each. When I'm buying and doing traditional methods, I always buy an equal part of one and two. Because I'm gonna be using them probably in the long run, they will balance themselves out in the ratio. You won't have a number two in the kit we get. So, the kit we'd order up, or if you're gonna order a digital negative kit from Bostick & Sullivan it won't have the number two solution in it, because that 5% solution is basically replacing this. There are a number of charts you can use for figuring out the density, and they're actually very specific too, if the negative density range is between 0.6 and 0.8, you would use four drops of one, and six drops of number two. Or it's 12 drops, and zero. The charts are there with the actual very specific density ranges. So that information you can get online. I didn't include that in the session, because it wasn't specific to digital negatives. But it is an important part of that process. (sighs in relief) I forgot I had the buzzer off. I about had a complete freak out about the time there. I get so excited talking about the chemical part I wasn't paying attention to time. Okay, the other big thing about the chemistry is the platinum and the palladium, I think technically has a shelf live of 50 years, because you can't say longer than you're be alive in marketing materials. But for the most part, the platinum, and palladium solutions, almost an indefinite shelf life. They're incredibly stable. They're noble metals, so they're not gonna degrade over time. The solution stays active. The Na2 has an incredibly long shelf life, 'cause platinum is at it's core. The ferric oxalate number one, and the ferric oxalate number two, do have a shorter shelf life. So their shelf life's about a year, to a year and a half, on average. And it's hard to say. So for some people, it might be nine months. How people store their chemicals will make a big difference in that. How hot is it? How cold is it? How often is the chemistry used? All those little things are variable, plan on about a year. So when you get your chemistry in, if you're a person who doesn't use it all the time, and I think I don't have dates on these, 'cause I've been going through platinum chemistry like crazy lately. I basically come in, and when the chemistry first comes in, I'll just tag it with a date, so I just know what month it was appeared, and when it was going to expire. The thing that I do, 'cause I don't like to throw things away. And I'll tell you how to test for the ferric oxalate expiration here in a second. But once the ferric oxalate expires, I just basically put a piece of tape on it, so that I know that bottle's expired. But then, what I do, is I use the expired ferric oxalate for coating practice. So once I know that it's no longer good chemistry, rather than just get rid of it, I actually take my brush out and then that's a way for me to continue to practice with chemistry that was worthless, but I don't have to buy anything new, and I don't have to worry about the plating being in it. The only thing if you're gonna do that, just know that the coating color is not gonna be right, because it's missing the platinum or palladium, so it's not gonna have that great, beautiful amber orange color to it. But it's a good way to practice. So before I make the print, to test the ferric oxalate solution, you can basically coat a little bit of a paper with it. And then put it in the EDTA. And then agitate it for about four to five minutes. It should disappear. If it stays as a gray, kind of ghosty gray chemical look on the paper, then it's expired, it's processed itself out, and it's not able to be fully cleared. So, that's a quick little test for it. I've never really run into the problem of having the ferric oxalate not be useful, like I said, about a year. It's the one chemical that I don't buy a huge volume of, I buy enough for, like, six months, eight months, and then if I'm starting a platinum project, then I might buy a large volume. A number of years ago, I did a gallery show, and it had 22 platinum prints in it. So for that, I literally ordered up hundreds of milliliters, because I knew I would be going through a lot of chemistry. But other than that, you can get the chemistry shipped to you on a really easy, regular basis. So I don't store up huge volumes of the chemistry.
Class Materials
Bonus Materials with Purchase
Ratings and Reviews
Diordna
For a long time, I have read, studied and tried alternative processing, mainly Platinum/Palladium printing. I want to create longest lasting prints and may be share the info at Creative Live. But this presentation saved me many a hours. A few minutes into the lecture, I purchased the class and as the class progressed, I was extremely glad. Thank you Creative Live, thank you Daniel Gregory.
SFX
Excellent class on Alt Process and fantastic bonus materials included with purchase!!! I have extensive digital printing and darkroom experience but haven't done much alt-process to date. This is perfect timing for me as I have several personal projects that I would like to re-visit using some of these techniques. Thank you Daniel!!!
James H Johnson
I have been making platinum/palladium prints for about 1 year. This is the 3rd workshop that I have attended. The first two were one on one. Daniel has done a fantastic job of covering the material and explained the process it detail and easy to understand. This course is fantastic and highly recommend it.