Alternative Processes Digitally Expressed

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1 Alternative Processes Digitally Expressed Presented by Susan Lawless on 12/12/2017 I have been slowly working on several alternative processes sepia toning, infrared, pop, platinum printing, cyanotype, solarization and lith printing. Printing-Out Paper The commercial production of POP (Printing Out Paper) began in It was developed in1871 by Richard Leach Maddox. Improvements were made in 1878 by Charles Harper Bennet The image of gelatin printing-out paper is printed out with the paper in direct and tight contact with the negative, as is the case with albumen paper and salted paper. However, the paper is coated with a thin white baryta (barium sulfate) layer to smooth the surface, resulting in better image definition greater detail and sharper and brighter. It also keeps the chemicals from infiltrating the top chemical layer so there is not a loss of sensitivity before development nor unevenly discolored areas on the image after development. The light sensitive gelatin/silver halide layer is coated onto the baryta paper in a mechanical process like that used with dry plate negatives. The resulting images would immerge toned in several different tones. The photographer did not know which to expect. And the same image could be different with each development of the negative. Platinum Printing Platinum printing was invented in the 1870 s and relied on light-sensitive iron salts. These were combined with either platinum or palladium salts and coated onto printing paper. The paper was usually contact-printed under ultraviolet light from a negative. After developing, the print contained a metal image that was prized for its tonal quality and archival stability. It was considered the cutting edge of photography for half a century and was used by Emerson, Evans, Strand, Stieglitz and Weston. When platinum prices rose in the 1920 s, its use became prohibitive. However, there has been a revival that began in the 70 s. Beardsworth uses a curve that is drawn from a table plotting pixel values that I thought was very complicated. I studied a contemporary artist s work and developed a different approach that felt more organic to me and matched the platinum print tones. I painted on an overlay layer with c4b280.

2 Solarization This is traditionally a process where a photographic image is overexposed under an intense light source which results in the image being part negative and part positive. The Sabatier effect is similar but with a difference in the process. The effect was achieved in 2 parts instead of a single exposure. It was mastered by using a partially developed image that was then given a second exposure. Most people are referring to the Sabatier effect when talking about solarization. Armand Sabatier documented this phenomenon in 1860 although he was not the first to document it. These processes are often associated with black and white. Man Ray is a good example of that. He did much to perfect the technique which was discovered by a fellow artist. (Solarization was discovered many times). However, it can also be done with color images. 1. You can use the solariztion filter no variables the shadows and midtones with remain positive the highlights will become negative 2. You can use a W curve 3. You can use a U curve 4. You can use an M curve 5. inversion method by Huggins totally negative, bring positive back with darken blend mode. 6. gradient method by Huggins

3 Cyanotype This is an even earlier photographic process created or suggested by the scientist, Sir John Herschel, in It uses potassium ferricyanide as an emulsion base and exposure by sunlight. This process was used throughout the 19 th century primarily for architecture blueprints/drawings. Anna Atkins used cyanotype for her reproductions of plants. She produced the first book of cyanotypes in 1843 using Herschel s method. She placed her plants on paper impregnated with iron salts and exposed it to sunlight. Then she washed the paper. Hers were negative cyanotypes, but you can also make a positive cyanotype. Beardsworth, John 1. If your image is in color, transpose it to black and white using channel mixer adjustment layer. Use mostly the blue channel. I used Blue 100 and Red 20, but it would vary with each image. 2. In the layers add a Curves adjustment layer. Select blue from the channel drop-down menu. Drag the Blue channel s curve upward. 3. Select the Red channel and drag its curve downward. Adjust the Red and Blue channels until you achieve a cyan tone that you like. 4. Cyanotypes were relatively stable though some show discoloration. To emulate this add a new layer and change its mode to color and opacity to 70% Select the brush tool and paint onto the transparent pixels to simulate chemical staining, use yellow 5. To get the effect of a photogram like Anna Atkins did, choose a simple image and add an invert adjustment layer. Then follow the above steps.

4 Lith Printing It is more of a high contrast print with hard shadows and creamy highlights. The tone ranges from pink to orange. Image contrast was controlled by the enlarger. A lith developer is used with black and white paper. During developing, there would be a delay of around 5 minutes and then the image would appear suddenly. The shadow areas would increase rapidly and the difficulty was in knowing when to pull the image out of the chemicals. However, this is easily controlled digitally. The digital processes use an RGB file. Daly, Tim Beardsworth, John 1. Create a hue/saturation layer to create the base color. Check the colorize box. I used a brown (25) and set the saturation at Reduce the contrast of the image by adding a Brightness/Contrast layer. I set the contrast to -40 but you can go lower. Each image will require a different amount. 3. Create a 3 point curve. See example. 4. Change blend mode to luminosity and merge with a copy of background. 5. Change the blending mode to luminosity? 1. If in color, change the image to monochrome by using a Channel Mixer adjustment layer 2. Lith prints are typically high contrast. Add a Curves layer with an s curve to add contrast 3. To add toning, create a second Curves adjustment layer. Select the Red channel and click a point toward the bottom of the curve and another near the middle. This will keep the shadows unaffected by the tone change. Click a point toward the top of the curve and drag it upward a little to add a red tone to the highlights. 4. Next select the green channel and add two points to fix the shadows, as in step 3. Drag the curve upward in the highlight area.

5 5. Since the shadows in a lith print have a distinct grain, create a new layer from the menu (not the shortcut). Set the blending mode to Overlay and check Fill with overlay neutral color. 6. Choose Film Grain from Filters>Filter Gallery>Artistic menu. Add grain to taste. I used Grain 9, Highlight area 2; Intensity 6. This can be adjusted. 7. To smooth the highlights, Double-click on the grain thumbnail and adjust the Blend if slider. Drag the Underlying Layer white slider a little to the left. This will clear the grain from the highlights. 8. To soften the transition from heavily grained areas, use the <ALT/OPT> key. Drag the left half of the white slider toward the middle until you are satisfied with the transition. Ang, Tom 1. Turn image to Grayscale and then back to RGB. 2. Using Color Balance, I pushed it towards red for a pinkish tone. B= -55, R= +76, Green= 0 3. Using Levels, push the Highlight slider to the left 240.

6 Cyanotype Beardsworth 1. If your image is in color, transpose it to black and white using channel mixer adjustment layer. Use mostly the blue channel. I used Blue 100 and Red 20, but it would vary with each image. 2. In the layers add a Curves adjustment layer. Select blue from the channel drop-down menu. Drag the Blue channel s curve upward. 3. Select the Red channel and drag its curve downward. Adjust the Red and Blue channels until you achieve a cyan tone that you like. 4. Cyanotypes were relatively stable though some show discoloration. To emulate this add a new layer and change its mode to color and opacity to 70% Select the brush tool and paint onto the transparent pixels to simulate chemical staining, use yellow 5. To get the effect of a photogram like Anna Atkins did, choose a simple image and add an invert adjustment layer. Then follow the above steps.

7 Lith Printing Beardsworth 1. If in color, change the image to monochrome by using a Channel Mixer adjustment layer 2. Lith prints are typically high contrast. Add a Curves layer with an s curve to add contrast 3. To add toning, create a second Curves adjustment layer. Select the Red channel and click a point toward the bottom of the curve and another near the middle. This will keep the shadows unaffected by the tone change. Click a point toward the top of the curve and drag it upward a little to add a red tone to the highlights. 4. Next select the green channel and add two points to fix the shadows, as in step 3. Drag the curve upward in the highlight area. Grain 5. Since the shadows in a lith print have a distinct grain, create a new layer from the menu (not the shortcut). Set the blending mode to Overlay and check Fill with overlay neutral color. 6. Choose Film Grain from Filters>Filter Gallery>Artistic menu. Add grain to taste. I used Grain 9, Highlight area 2; Intensity 6. This can be adjusted. 7. To smooth the highlights, Double-click on the grain thumbnail and adjust the Blend if slider. Drag the Underlying Layer white slider a little to the left. This will clear the grain from the highlights. 8. To soften the transition from heavily grained areas, use the <ALT/OPT> key. Drag the left half of the white slider toward the middle until you are satisfied with the transition.

8 References for Alternative Processes Digitally Expressed Fine Art Effects Cookbook by John Beardsworth O Reilly Media, Inc Retouching Cookbook by Barry Huggins O Reilly Media, Inc The Art of Photoshop by Daniel Giordan Sams Publishing 2006 The Digital Printing Handbook by Tim Daly Amphoto Books 2002 Photoshop CS for Photography The Art of Pixel Processing by Tom Ang Amphoto Books 2005 Italy in the Shadow of Time by Linda Butler Rizzoli International Publications, Inc Solarization U and W curve: