Van Dyke

                                                       Print #1: This 100% rag paper print is a first attempt a the van dyke process. This print was under exposed and you can tell be cause it doesn't have the true van dyke brown for its dark areas. Unfortunately these prints were made on a pretty overcast and almost rainy day. However, there is a sharpness to the image that I can tell is dieing to come out through better contrast aka longer exposure. These prints sat outside in direct light for 30 minutes.

                                                 Print #2: This print is exactly the same as the other in terms of process. Once again, not bad contrast, pretty sharp image as its pretty clear whats going on but the true Van Dyke brown is no where to be found. I assume the correct exposure under the same conditions could have been 40 to 50 minutes.

History: This process was invented by John Herschel in 1842. They were actually very easy to produce and easy to apply.The main chemicals were readily available and still are which makes the process more likely to stay around longer. Artists and photographers have found their own uses for it in creating prints. The process gets its name from yielding the same kind of brown famously used by the painter Van Dyck.The quality of the print, if performed correctly is very high, making this a very versatile and a time tested process. This kind of print came around the time of alot of experimentation with photosensitive paper treatments and therefore stands out from the others.
Process: The Van Dyke process uses an iron and silver mixture as its photosensitive agents. The formula used in these prints were 3 different solutions combined into one.

Solution A

• Ferric Ammonium Citrate: 9.0 gm
• Distilled Water: 33.0 ml

Solution B

• Tartaric Acid: 1.5 gm
• Distilled Water: 33.0 ml

Solution C

• Silver Nitrate: 3.8 gm
• Distilled Water: 33.0 ml

 Fixing: The fix baths used were in 5 stages.
1) Water and citric acid for 5 minutes
2) Running water bath for about 2 minutes
3) 3% hypo fix for about 1 minute
4) Remove, quick rinse of water, and repeat 3
5) 40 minutes in a running water bath

Conclusion: These prints were so easy to make and yet they yield such nice results. The coating wasn't as easy as others, but it was good to try this process last so we had experience with coating. Next time I would push for better exposures and try to find the best kinds of negatives to use. I would like to also try a wax paper negative with the process to see what sort of results you can get with the sharpness of the image.

Cyanotypes

                                                      Print #1: This is a single coated cyanotype with a redevelopment treatment. In comparison to the other prints, this one have lighter, almost brown or yellow tones coming through the blue. These prints all were taken on a very sunny day and only took about 7 to 10 minutes each. In looking at all the prints from this course, I would consider this one the best all around print. Very crisp details and striking contrast. good range of tone and I believe the redevelopement process only benefited the print when the potassium ferricyanide reacted with the tanic acids in the tea.

                                                  Print #2: This is a double coated true cyanotype with no further treatment. It was exposed and then fixed and washed thoroughly. This print came out a bit more blury and there for alot of detail was lost. I decided from here that the single coating was pleanty of coverage to get a good accurate print. This print demonstrates great contrast but loses all details, but however manages to keep its range of tones. Once again exposed for 10 minutes.

                                                     Print #3: This print was slightly under exposed however it was set out for the same duration of time as the others. The is alot of light areas and yet still pretty decent contrast through out. I chose the reverse treatment for this print which was to first try to bring back some of the darks with the tanic acids of the tea and then a very brief wash in the strong ammonia bath. It is evident however that the duration in the ammonia bath was too long and I ended up losing just as much if not more of my darks. If I were to try this again I would not even let the print sit in the bath. Just in one swift motion it would go in, submerge and come right out.

                                                 Print#4: This print was a single coating, exposed for 10 minutes in good sunlight, and then sat in a tea bath and afterwards fixed. Interestingly, I find this print to be most like the double coated true cyanotype. I don't see many brownish tones and very little changed the image. I don't know if a longer bath time would have helped however I feel that once the tanic acids have reacted then that's that. Certainly great contrast, and I have found that to be true for most of these cyanotypes that are correctly exposed.

History:
Essentially this process yields a cyan blue print. This process is easy to produce, and non toxic making it a very popular all around the world for many applications. Most notably it is the predecessor of the blue print. Cyanotypes were to easy to produce and especially on a large scale, that it made replicating drawings much easier. The process itself was founded by John Herschel in 1842. However he regarded it more as a tool for reproduction. Anna Atkins is more acclaimed for taking this process and using it as a photographic process in her making of botanical records.
Process: As stated before, this is a non toxic process that combines two chemical mixtures to create a photosensitive coating. Combining Potassium Ferricyanide which is the blue solution with Ammonium Iron Citrate which acts as an intensifier. Once coated to the paper or surface, it is exposed to light and created a positive print from a negative.
Negative: The negatives we used for these prints were also digital negatives created on photoshop. Using the same formula of inverting the image and so on, the only difference is that the color hue layed over the image was red. I believe this was so we could control the intensity of the photosensitive reaction.  I have been choosing action shots as negatives to see the juxtpostion between a very old and what I would consider still process, and combine modern technology or action shots.
Conclusion: I found this to be by far the easiest process thus far, however not the easiest to control. The variables are still very much up in the air and it requires constant adjustment and control. I would like to next time play more with the tea bath and bleaching processes to tweak the images.

Photogenic Drawings #2

                                                        Single Coat Albumen Print: It should first be noted that each of these prints had the same coating of 12% silver nitrate to obtain the photosensitive properties. All of the following prints have been made on Canson watercolor paper. All prints where then taken to a fix bath and then rinsed thoroughly to removed excess silver. This single albumen coated print used a digital negative with a hue of green over the negative image. This particular print was taken on an on/off sunny day so the true darks and lights never really came through creating a strong contrast and range of values. However the image its self is clear and this was the first successful digital negative to positive print that I had made. I gave the print about 10 minutes exposure time and I believe this is where there was room for improvement. My conclusion was to bump up the exposure time to anywhere from 15 to 25 minutes that day.

                                                    Gelatin Print: This Gelatin print was my next successful print and as stated before, It has a double coat of 12% silver nitrate and an adjusted exposure time of 20 minutes. The coating process was a bit shaky so unfortunately that was my main down fall in the print. However, I found that the increased exposure time gave me a better range of tones and over all more contrast. The image is relatively clear, however it is lacking true light tones.

                                                    Double Coat Albumen Print: This print was a shame because I believe from looking at it that it had all the capabilities of acheiving a tremendous print with a wide tonal range, sharp and crisp contrast and great details. Unfortunately it was under exposed as I only left it out on an over cast day for 10 minutes. While the print and negative were in the frame, It was especially diffacult to decide if the image is properly exposed. At first I was judging from looking at the part of the print that was purely exposed and had no negative over it. I found after several tries that it was better to trust the clock than it was the exposure of the excess print on the edges.

                                                            Arrow Root Print: I would mark this print as the best of the bunch. Good contrast, decent exposure, good tonal range, and the sharpness could be better but that may have been because of the negative.A solid 20 minute exposure on a fairly sunny day.

                                                          Untreated paper negative Gelatin Print: I wanted to experiment with a paper negative because historically, this would have been more true to the process. Unfortunately what went wrong here was that I had underestimated the exposure time by alot. This print was left in mild sunlight for about 20 minutes when it should have been easily a 30 minute exposure. Also, I could have waxed the paper negative to give it a translucent property which would have been even more true to historic process. I suppose thats what experimentation is for.

Digital Negatives: The negatives used for these prints were created digitally on photoshop. First you take your image and invert it. Change to grey scale, and tweak the brightness and contrast with a curve that is loaded into the program. Then we layed a low opacity green hue over the image to change the color spectrum coming in contact with the prints. 
Paper Coatings:
-Albumen is a egg white based coating including vinegar and salt that is applied to the paper, dried and then the silver nitrate can be added to the surface to create the photosensitivity. The ratio is 500ml. of egg white to 3 ml. of vinegar to 7.5 g. of salt. This mixture must then be shaken vigorously, sit, and eventually become rotten before it can be used as a coating.
-Arrowroot is is a naturally derrived plant root. 4 g. of arrowroot to 119 ml. water, 4g. salt, .5 g. citric acid is the ratio used on these prints.
-Gelatin requires 125ml of water, 1 g. gelatin, 2.5 g citric acid and 2.5 g of salt. The gelatin and water must be warmed and mixed together, then follows the remainder of the ingredients. This must be applied when the mixture is warm.

History:
-Historically, Albumen was the coating of choice. Partially due to the asthetic of finished piece which was the glossy finish to the photograph, which in some cases, brings out lights and excetuates darks. The albumen prints were most readily available on a mass production scale to fit the demand of photos being printed at the time (1860's - 1890's). At one point in time, albumen prints where so popular that people were urged to ration their consumption, as shown on the posters we saw in class.
- Gelatin was also commercially a viable option and saw its hay day around the end of the 19th century, however found use all the way in the 1960's. This was an important coating for developing gloss and semi-gloss prints.
- Arrowroot as a coating was used throught out the years as a reliable coating, especially because it's ingredients could all be found naturally. How ever it was not commercially viable and there for did not stand the test of time for continious use.
Closing thoughts:
The experiment certainly had a learning curve as seen in the progression of prints. I had fun tweaking the approach and trouble shooting the diffaculties. It was such a delicate approach of exposure, making sure your negatives had the proper amount of contrast and getting the exposure times just right. I would have thought I had the coating down by the time I did these but that was just as big a part of it as any.

Color Film Silver Nitrate Prints

 

                                                          Red

                                                      Yellow

 This was an experiment to adjust the color spectrum of light coming into contact with a photosensitive rag paper. A salted paper solution of 5% salt mixture and 2 coats of 12% silver nitrate were added to the paper to give it photosensitive properties. The the paper is cut into strips and then placed over half of each strip is a red, yellow and blue color film piece. Then the paper is exposed to the sun for about ten minutes. The results show a comparison on each strip of paper of a normal exposure, to an adjusted color spectrum. We have different results for each showing the us that color negatives do in fact have a large impact on the exposure and the amount of energy coming through and being blocked. Blue has a very small difference in exposures because blue light has a high wave length, therefore allowing more uv rays to affect the photo sensitive paper.  This explanation also can explain why red and yellow do not allow as much uv light through because they allow less uv light through to expose the paper because of their are on different wave lengths eachother, and blue.

Camera Lucida

CAMERA LUCIDA: 

• The camera Lucida is a contraption similar to the idea of a camera obscura. The basic idea is to  aid a person drawing with being able to translate forms and points that are helpful in generating accurate drawings. It is most commonly a metal extension with a lens on the end that helps the person drawing look down at their drawing while still being able to reference their subject they are trying to draw. It is the same idea as double exposure in photography. This aid was patented in 1807 by a man named William Hyde Wollaston. However, many people believe that it is merely a reinvention of a previously discovered process noted by Johannes Kepler almost 200 years earlier. This particular device did not see such great use and mention as a camera obscura, but does demonstrate the various ways in which artists and photographers can manipulate and project images to their advantage.

Camera Obscura featuring lucidas

CAMERA OBSCURA:

•  History and process: Also known as a pinhole camera, works on the early theory based on light moving in a straight line. Light moving through a small opening will create some sort of projection on the opposite side. These are the principle grounds that took this theory to a contraption (camera obscura) that takes an image and projects it to a legible surface for tracing or referencing. In early photography processes, it is an important tool for creating negatives.
• great historic link to a movie about Vermeer's use of the camera obscura that I've seen and it is excellent.  http://www.essentialvermeer.com/camera_obscura/camera_obscura_sources.html
•  The camera obscura has been used through the centuries by photographers, artists and scientists. The process that presupposed the camera obscura was first noted as early as 470 BC by an Eastern Philosopher Mo-Ti and also by Aristotle shortly after. Johannes Vermeer would use a camera obscura to aid in creating a realistic and accurate paintings that he became famous for. However the modern photographic camera obscura is most commonly attributed to William Talbot and Louis Daguerre.
• Really cool current use:
• http://www.anothermag.com/reader/view/1023/Camera_Obscura_Modern_Primitivism
• http://www.maartenheijkamp.nl/in-progress/current-camera-obscura-work/
• http://sfcomplex.org/2011/01/wedtech-talk-camera-obscura-with-ethan-jackson

• My Process: 
• My first attempt at the camera obscura involved a mirror and trying to project the image up. However, after bringing it in to class and realizing that the measurements and projection angle were off, I set out to find out exactly what I needed to do next to make a successful camera obscura. Introducing a plastic lens means you must first find the focal length of the lens. This specific lens is a magnifying lens and the focal length is about 4" on the large lens. The crown of the lens faces inward to bring a larger picture into the box and onto the screen. From there I also understood that the viewing window must be exactly at the converging points of the light coming through the lens to give you a clear image. This is the difference between using a pinhole and a lens and when using a lens, constricts the size of the image and size of the camera obscura.  Given this fact, I created an adjustable lens holder that can move it further away or towards and as way of gaining focus on the image.  
• Experience:
•  As stated before, my first camera obscura was lacking the measurments and understanding of the components to create an image. Once I went back and created a working camera obscura, it all came full swing. I not only understood what I did right but I further understood what I did wrong in trying to introduce a mirror into the equation. The mirror must first be at a 45 degree angle and then the middle of the mirror must be where the image converges on the screen. It then projects the image directly up, however reversed. I would like to try a full on camera obscura with a angled mirror and all now knowing that I understand what it takes to make a highly functional one. 
• In terms of practical applications or further research, I would love to find out more about Vermeer's work and incorporating a camera obscura to create a rendering to which base sketches off of.

Photos of Camera Obscura and best prints from 1st round salted paper drawings

Photogenic drawing

• Photogenic drawings are similar to anthotypes in that we use photo sensitive materials applied to various papers to create an image using sunlight.
• In this case we us various coats and mixtures of two main ingredients: silver nitrate and sodium chloride. 
• In this experiment we chose 4 different kinds of paper and three different formulas for applying silver nitrate and sodium chloride. 
• 4 papers: 185g water color, 50g paper, rag 100%, 300g. paper. 
• Set up in a grid, our columns were the 4 sets of paper, and our rows were the 4 kinds of mixes of the chemicals.
• Row 1: 1 coat of 2% NaCl, 2 coats of 12% silver nitrate. Row 2: 2 coats of 5% NaCl and 1 coat of 5% silver nitrate. Row 3: 1 coat 5% NaCl and 2 coats 12% silver nitrate. Row 4:2 coats of 2% NaCl and 2 coats of 12% silver nitrate. 
• Each piece of paper is dried inbetween each coat. The coats are applied in dim lit room as to not pre expose them. After each piece of paper is ready, we then take individual objects, place them over each sheet and expose them to direct sunlight for about 7 minutes.
• The initial idea of the variations of each row was to have a formula that was weak, medium and strong in terms of how much salt was used on each kind of paper. We also were curious to find whether or not the strength of the silver nitrate would have a affect on various papers. 
• Above are images of our finished images that came out the best in the experiment. these images show that the lighter amounts of salt (2%) with a double coat of 12% silver nitrate will yield the best results and show this on 3 of the 4 papers excluding the 300g paper.

Anthotypes

Anthotypes are a very easy to understand process using sunlight and photo sensitive material to create images on paper.this link is a great introduction and background to the process itself, (http://www.alternativephotography.com/wp/processes/anthotypes/anthotype-process) In this experiment, the photosensitive material is the variable, and we are varying mixtures and plant matters to see which blend yields the best results in a prolonged exposure of sunlight. For example, one person in the group could use spinach, puree it, and apply it as a the photo sensitive material. In our experiment, each member of the group took a different berry or vegetable and created a wash with it to coat the paper. We then each took this wash and did a sample with just denatured alcohol added, and another with distilled water and denatured alcohol added to the veggie wash. More specifically, we used 40ml. of juice on the first sample, 40ml. juice and 20 alcohol on the secnond, and for the third add 10ml. of water to the previous formula. My specific organic matter was beet juice. Extracted from the beet, the juice is a dark red and penetrating natural stain that I hypothesized to have great photosensitive qualities. Each sample page gets two coats and dries fully between each coat. The image itself will be of a three leaf clover take from one of my house plants. Once these were attached to the treated papers, I taped them to the window of my apartment which on the 4th floor of an apartment building. Each day I estimate these anthotypes get roughly 7 to 8 hours direct sunlight (on a sunny day). They will stay in that spot for 7 weeks of exposure to sunlight. The three pieces have been attached to the window now for a little over two weeks. So for this is little notable difference which comes as a surprise to me seeing as beet juice is such a strong stain. It is hard to compare the three so far because each are yielding the same results thus far. I still predict that the alcohol and beet juice mixture will yield the best results for a successful anthotype. Next, I would assume the pure beet juice would bring as good results. I don't hold much hope for the water mixture however, given that your are just diluting a stronger mixture. I do not believe water adds to the photo sensitivity of the coating. Posted are photos of the experiment thus far. (still trying to get good shots.)