By the end of a long hot summer I have used up
my stock of slide film and I am going through the results of my endeavors as I
sort out the pictures into slides taken with AV sequences in mind, record of
holiday locations, folio or Camera Club exhibition entries etc. At the end of
all this I am left with slides that were taken with interest at the time which
do not fit into any of these categories what to do with those?
SEPIA "B&W" SLIDES
A friend and I spent a lot of time putting
together a talk and demonstration on toning B & W prints using red,
blue,green and a range of sepia toners to show what could be done to make a
print different and, hopefully, to improve its visual appeal.
We gave this talk at the local camera club and
finished off with a demonstration of the FSA toner mentioned in my last
offering to the CRC Newsletter. It occurred to me when I saw all the extra
slides that a lot of the toning methods could also be used to alter slides. A
lot has been written about the use of Lith film. Kodak, Ilford, Agfa and Fuji
all produce a range of this material for the printing trade (though with the
advent of computers less and less is being used). It can be bought in various
sizes from 35mm to 12"x16" sheets. It is easy to use under a red
safelight of red bulb. A simple Lith developer is available from Rayco or AR
Chemicals (see advert in the CRC magazine) then all you need is a pane of
glass or a contact printing frame and three small dishes.
Taking some of my spare slides, or those which
did not fit into any of my categories,I play about with them in what I think
of as the darkroom period of the year ( Dec,Jan,Feb). By first making contact
negatives onto Lith film using 4"X 5" sheets I can get several
contacts in one go; expose for 5 sec, develop by inspection under a red
safelight, fix in plain Hypo and wash. You now have the basis for all sorts of
derivations and experiments.
You will have read of solarization, bas relief,
dye and bleach, all these start with lith film. With a simple bleach bath for
instance you can bleach away the image and then bring it back by using any of
the B & W toners. In the case of red,blue,or green toners no bleaching is
required. If you then bind up the
bleached/toned image with the original slide you can get some weird and
wonderful effects.
All that sounds messy but it can be done in any
kitchen if you take the usual precautions against spillages.
TEXTURED PRINTS
If you have a darkroom how about trying texture
screens? These mainly concern prints either by using textured negatives which
can be bought in sets; Firstcall sell "Kaiser" sets which are
good,these are small negatives that go into the neg carrier or you can get
large screens that are put in contact with the paper between glass.
Again lith film is used to make the screens in
contact with material. Large screens can be bought in the form of Lettreset at
any artist suppliers. Slides can be re-photographed through these screens as
well. Again if they are dyed or toned you can add colour and texture.
So you can get a wide variety of
finishes eg. steel etch, grain,
or pointillistic (that means coloured dots).
Kodak`s Darkroom Expressions is an excellent
book for anyone interested in this kind of thing. We have a copy in the CRC
library.
The library now has a full complement of the
American magazine "Darkroom Techniques". I can photocopy any article
members are interested in seeing or send the magazine so long as it is
returned. (see list of contents)
GREEN/MAGENTA `REBATES`
!I processed some Ektachrome Elite the other
night; this film seems to take a lot more bleaching and ends up,in my
case,with a green black which is dense enough but this must have an effect on
the shadow areas. The same film trade processed had a black more towards
magenta. I am referring to the exposed leader of the film when held up to
bright light.
KIT/CRC FORMULA UP-DATE!
The Chrome Six formula has been altered could
this be to cope with new film emulsions? Should the club formula also be
changed to take these into account or are members still satisfied with their
results? It would be nice to know.