Update on Anthotypes May 18, 2011

A Brief Review:

At the beginning of week 1 in photo lab we had created different anthotypes. Anthotypes are images created from plant extracts exposed to the sun. Anything blocking the sunlight will stay the original color, while anything not covered will fade from the sunlight. So in lab we created an experiment to see what plant extract makes the best anthotypes. I had the dried cherry extract paper. We ground up the dried cherries, added alcohol and then strained the mixture to get the cherry extract. Our group used a step wedge to block the sunlight and to see what kind of print we would get. The main focus was to find tonal range. There is more information about this in the anthotype blog posted earlier.

Process:

We decided to look at tonal range, time span and the different extracts. We kept the paper, the amount of extract coatings constant throughout the whole anthotype process.

So I had the cherry extract papers with a step wedge attached to the paper. There were three pieces of paper each with different exposure times, the exposure times are 1 week, 2 weeks, and 1 month. These were the different things we were testing so that we could find the best way to make an anthotype print.

Final Results:

The cherry extract anthotype prints did not go over too well, there was not a whole difference between a week, 2 weeks and 1 month. The prints look the same, the paper looks just like it was on the day we coated the paper. There is no tonal separation what so ever, so if you want a good anthotype do not use cherry extract. It might have to be in the sunlight for a year or more to even get some change at all to get a print. The color of the whole paper might be lighter as time went on, but there is still no image and the color only varies slightly.

Cherry Extract Anthotype with Step Wedge

1 week exposure

2 weeks exposure

1 month exposure

Cyanotypes and Toning

A Brief History:

Cyanotype, also called a blueprint was invented by Herschel in 1842. The blue and white images are created when iron salts are reduced by light. This process is a contact print process, so a negative is used to create the printed image. Herschel used this process as a way to copy notes, it was Anna Atkins who used the cyanotype process for photography and art; because of this she is known as the first female photographer. The cyanotype is known for its blue color.

An example of a Cyanotype

Process and Materials Used:

The cyanotype process has a simple sensitizing emulsion that gets coated on the paper. The emulsion is made out of ferric ammonium citrate and potassium ferricyanide. Once the emulsion is mixed it turns a bright yellow-green color, this is what gets put onto the paper. For this experiment we used 100% cottonrag paper. Using a foam sponge brush apply one coat of the emulsion onto the paper, and let it dry. Once the paper is dry put a negative image on top of the paper, this will create the print. Take the paper and negative outside into the sun (uv light source) and expose the image. The green color of the emulsion will turn into a blue color. When the image has been exposed take it inside to be fixed and toned. To fix the image put it under water for a few minutes, when the cyanotype print hits the water it will turn a darker shade of blue. The image is fixed after being in the water, but the image can also be toned for a different desired look. In our experiment we had three different toning solutions. The first toning solution was a tea and water solution, after the image was fixed with water it was taken over to a tea bath where it sat in the tea for about 2 minutes, then it was rinsed with water again. The seconding toning solution was a reverse solution, the fixed image was taken to the tea bath for 2 minutes and then it was taken to a strong ammonia bath for two minutes and then it was rinsed with water. The final toning solution was a redevelopment solution, the fixed image was put into a weak ammonia bath for 2 minutes, then rinsed with water, then put into the tea bath for 2 minutes and then rinsed with water again. All different toning solutions gave different results, which are shown below in the My Experience section.

My Experience:

The cyanotype process had to be one of my favorites because of the different end results based on the toning solutions used. It was interesting to see a blue color come out in the print from the negative, since all the other processes have given a brown, yellow or red colored result. I also liked the fast transformation of the cyanotype when it was fixed with water, the print changed color to a darker blue when it was put in water. The whole print changed right in front of my eyes, it was an instant reaction, which was cool to observe, it really made me think how different chemical properties can change to make something that is really amazing. Below are pictures of my final results, I had one print and I cut into four pieces so that I could test all of the toning/fixing types. I have to say that my favorite toning process and end result would be the redevelopment toning because it looks more like a regular photograph, but it still has a slight hint of blue. To make the end results a little better, and to have more contrasting values, I have to make my negative clearer and boost the contrast on the negative image to get great contrast on the print.

Cyanotype Water Fix

Cyanotype Tea Fix

Cyanotype Reverse Fix

Cyanotype Redevelopment Fix

Extra Stuff:

http://www.freestylephoto.biz/tl_cyanotype.php

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9q8N_KgH8SI

Van Dyke Brown

A Brief History:

Van Dyke Brown is an early photographic process that received its name from an oil paint color. The oil paint was a dark brown color and it was named after the painter Van Dyck. The Van Dyke photo process gives rich brown toned images and prints.

Van Dyke print

Process and Materials Used:

For the Van Dyke process we used a silver nitrate and iron solution to sensitize the paper. The Van Dyke solution is made from three separate solutions. One part is made of ferric ammonium citrate and distilled water, the second part is made of tartaric acid and distilled water, the last part is made of silver nitrate and distilled water. To make the Van Dyke solution the first and second parts are mixed together and then the third part is mixed in slowly, the Van Dyke sensitized solution is put into a dark bottle to age. When the solution has aged for a while we went ahead and did the experiment.

First, sponge brush the solution onto the paper, make sure to coat the paper quickly and lightly. Try not to get any streaks in the paper because the streaks will show up in the print. Only apply one coat of silver nitrate and iron solution, let the paper air dry a little bit, then blow dry before exposing an image. Take the negative outside, put it in the sunlight (uv light source) to expose the image. The Van Dyke starts out as a bright green color and then turns brown in the sun. Once the image stops changing color, take the Van Dyke inside to be fixed. The development fix for the Van Dyke starts with a water and citric acid bath for five minutes. After the five minutes are up in the first bath, the Van Dyke is put under running water for 1-2 minutes, then it goes into a 3% hypo bath for a minute and then into another 3% hypo bath for a minute. The Van Dyke is fixed with a final water wash for 40 minutes. Once that is done, a nice dark brown image has been created.

Van Dyke Process

My Experience:

This process did not give me the best photo results. My print is very dark and it is hard to tell what is exactly going on in the photo. To make this process work better I would have to tweak my image to make sure that I can get a print where everything can be seen and everything is clear, I always have trouble getting the right contrast on my negatives. Another problem I had with the Van Dyke print was the coating of the paper. There are streaks in my print because I did not work fast enough with the sponge brush when applying the solution. The print did not change too much when I fixed it. So if I did this process again I would have a better negative, coat the paper more evenly, expose longer to sunlight and then fix it. Hopefully by changing the things I did wrong, I might get a better print. It is an easy process to use and it gives great prints if done correctly.

Van Dyke Process

Extra Stuff:

http://www.sciencecompany.com/photo/vandykeformulas.htm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojUDQKvu6bI

The YouTube link is another way of looking at how to make a Vandyke Brown print.

Albumen

A Brief History:

Albumen prints were created in 1850 by Louis Blanquart- Evrard. Albumen is found in egg whites, the egg whites are used as binders to bind the silver solution chemicals to paper. This process made it possible to make many positive photographic prints. As time went on albumen prints became more popular with carte de visite. Carte de visite is a small business card sized photograph that was printed as albumen prints. There were some companies in the United States that made albumen prints and papers, like the E & H.T Anthony & Company.

Carte de Visite

Process and Materials Used:

To make albumen prints, the first thing we had to do was make the albumen solution. To do this we needed to break eggs to get just the egg whites, to have a good albumen solution there cannot be any egg-shell or yolk or stringy pieces in the container. After the egg whites have been separated into a container a salt and vinegar solution is added. We then covered and shook the container to mix the egg and vinegar salt solution until foam was formed on top. The albumen mixture was then refrigerated for a few days to let all the air come out of the mixture. When we were ready to coat the paper the albumen was strained through cheese cloth to make sure that all the air bubbles and imperfections were left out of the albumen solution. To coat the paper we floated a sheet of paper on top of the albumen mixture in a flat container. We made both one coated and two coated albumen sheets of paper. The papers were put in the albumen mixture, then they hung on a line to dry, the papers were hung at an angle. The two coat papers had a dip in an alcohol bath between the albumen coatings, then the paper was hung to dry on the line, the second coating of albumen was hung at an opposite angle from the first coating. To make sure that the albumen coatings were dry and solid for printing we let them sit for a couple of days. Once we were ready to print we put the silver nitrate solution on the albumen paper to create a print. A negative image was put on top of the albumen paper and it was taken out into the sun so it could be exposed. Once it was exposed the image went into water and hypo baths, the image was in each bath for 4-5 minutes. Once the baths were done, the image is rinsed off for about 15-30 minutes, this will give great print results at the end.

My Experience:

There was a lot of work to make the albumen prints, but the outcome was pretty good. I liked the dark red color it gave when it was being exposed, and then it lightened up when it was fixed in the hypo solution, overall it has a nice color. My prints did come out a little blurry because of the negatives I used, there wasn’t enough contrast, the negative also did move a little in the frame when it was being exposed causing the blurriness as well. This process went better than I thought it would. At first I didn’t think that paper covered in egg whites and silver solution would make a print, but I really like the results of this process and it really does work well.

Albumen Print

Extra Stuff:

http://albumen.conservation-us.org/library/c20/reilly1980.html

http://www.alternativephotography.com/wp/processes/albumen/albumen-printing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIRF90Je8Vw&feature=related

Camera Obscuras

A Brief History:

It started with the pinhole camera from Mo-Ti a Chinese philosopher. Aristotle a Greek philosopher also understood the pinhole camera principles. The pinhole camera and later camera obscura were was of seeing that light travels in straight lines. When the light bounces off of something and goes into the pinhole an image is reflected on an opposite wall or surface. Camera obscuras were large and started out as whole rooms or tent areas. Camera obscuras were used as places for artists to sketch or trace their subjects, it wasn’t until later when Niepce, Daguerre and Talbot used the camera obscura for photography. The camera obscura is a device that projects an image of surroundings onto a screen. Now, camera obscuras can be made out of anything and can be made any size.

Process and Materials Used:

The materials I used to create my camera obscura were a magnifying glass (lens), a pop-tart box and a piece of wax paper. I cut a hole in the bottom of the box so I could put in the lens. To make sure that I got an image on the wax paper I had to measure the focal distance of the lens. At first I had trouble getting an image because I did not have the wax paper in the right place based on the focal length. Once I had that figured out I put the wax paper on the box opposite the side of the lens. When the light went through the lens it projected an upside down image on the wax paper. I also created a hood on the back side of the box with the box flaps so that I could see the image and that no extra light could get into the viewing area.

Front view of Camera Obscura

Back view of Camera Obscura

My Experience:

Being able to make a camera obscura was a lot of fun. Doing this project helped me understand where photography started and how images were originally captured by artists. Having a box or building with a small hole in it to get a picture from light coming into the area was an interesting idea and I have no clue how anyone would have figured that out. I had a hard time putting the camera obscura together, but when I finally got it was a great accomplishment because I got to see how well it worked. To think that the camera I own today is here because of the camera obscura.

Extra Stuff:

http://www.cs-photo.com/obscura/about.php

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RuJ_Jd6Qgyo

Photogenic Drawing May 17, 2011

A Brief History:

Invented by William Talbot in 1834, a scientist with many interests. His results of photogenic drawings were put out in the public eye after Daguerre’s discoveries. Photography has been picked up and passed down for many years. Talbot picked up after the work of one artist and when Talbot passed on, Herschel picked up on Talbot’s work. The photogenic drawing process was not exactly stable because fixing an image was not clearly planned out. A negative image print using the photogenic drawing method changes over time. The changes are seen in the color, some images would turn blue or yellow, another change is fading of the image. Talbot would use calotype negatives to stabilize the photogenic drawings.

Talbot

Photogenic Drawing

Process and the Materials Used:

• 4 types of paper Bristol, Watercolor, Canvas and Cottonrag
• 2% salt solution
• 12% silver nitrate solution
• 5% silver nitrate solution
• boards
• tape
• scissors
• hair dryer
• lab coat
• goggles
• gloves
• sponge brushes
• eye dropper

The first thing we did after collecting all of the materials, which are listed above, we made a plan. Our plan was to test the different types of paper, as well as the different silver nitrate solutions. We kept the 2% salt solution and the amount of coatings on the paper constant for the experiment. We cut the paper into strips so that we could test one strip of a type of paper with the 12% silver solution and the other with 5% silver solution. To make sure nothing go misplaced we labeled the backs of the paper and then we taped the papers onto boards. 2% salt solution was applied to each strip of paper, we used the eye dropper to make a bead of solution in the middle of the paper and then we spread out the solution with a sponge brush, so that the salt solution covered the whole paper. The hair dryer was used to dry the salt solution layer before adding the silver nitrate solution. Once the paper was dry we used the same bead and brush technique for the silver solution. Two coatings of the silver solution were put on the paper with drying the paper in between the coatings. The day we did this experiment it was very dark outside, so we used a light box to expose our image. Objects like coins, keys and leaves were used to create an image. To make sure that the image is exposed we look for a dark silver/gray color, it took around 5-7 minutes in the light box to be exposed. The print was then put into a salt bath for 5 minutes to stop the image from further exposing.

Listed below are the paper types, the silver concentrations, and the print quality:

• Bristol, 12%, poor
• Watercolor, 12%, great
• Canvas, 12%, mediocre
• Cottonrag, 12%, mediocre
• Bristol, 5%, mediocre
• Watercolor, 5%, great
• Canvas, 5%, mediocre
• Cottonrag, 5%, poor

Out of the whole experiment, we found that watercolor paper with the 12% silver solution has the best outcome for a photogenic drawing print.

My Experience:

The process was not difficult to carry out, it did take some time to coat all of the different papers, and it took a while to decide which combination of paper, salt solutions, silver nitrate solutions, and exposure times would give us the best quality print. The most surprising part of the photogenic drawing process was the color change when the image was fixed. I liked the look of the silver/ gray printed image, it looked like and old black and white photo, but then when we put it into the salt bath the color changed from a nice gray to a dingy brown or yellow color. The process makes great prints and I enjoyed it very much, it was nothing like a point and shoot photo that I have grown up with. Below are some images of what the final photogenic drawings look like.

photogenic drawing

photogenic drawing on watercolor paper

Extra Stuff:

http://www.nndb.com/people/397/000098103/

http://notesonphotographs.org/index.php?title=Photogenic_Drawing

Anthotypes March 27, 2011

A Brief History:

Sir Herschel was the first to discover the anthotype process in 1842. Anthotypes are images created from plant extracts and exposure to the sun. Plants have certain properties that react to the sun, making the pigments in the extracts change color or become lighter due to the amount of sunlight. The photo sensitive properties of plants were observed by Henri Vogel in 1816, with Vogel’s observations it was possible for Sir Herschel to create the anthotype photographic process in 1842. To make an anthotype images are created on the paper when the paper not being covered changes, the paper that is covered by an object remains the original color. The whole process from Herschel is to make an emulsion of photo sensitive plants, coat the paper with the emulsion and then have the sun bleach out the image. The process seems impractical and difficult, but with the right plant matter and the right amount of exposure time, great prints have been made by this process.

Process and Materials Used:

For this lab experiment, we had to first decide on what elements of the experiment we were going to look at and what was going to be kept constant. So, what the group decided on was to test the types of fruit medium, the exposure time, and the image object. The constants were the type of paper and the coatings of the fruit medium on the paper. For the fruit mediums we decided to look at five different types, which included canned beets, fresh spinach, frozen raspberries, tomato paste, and dried cherries. For the exposure times we decided to test one week, two weeks, and one month. For the image we decided to look at tonal range and tonal separation, so to get this image we are using a step wedge, which is a piece of film like material that has a gradient of steps from dark to light to show exposure intensity. We used basic watercolor type paper and the paper was coated with two layers of fruit medium. Once we finally had a plan for the experiment, it was time to test our plan in the lab.

1. First we got the tools and supplies needed for our plan. The tools used were a food processor, a strainer, filters, a spoon, a measuring cup, containers to hold the mediums, tape, a hair dryer and a sponge brush. The supplies were the fruits, which are mentioned above, alcohol, paper and the step wedge.
2. Once everything was collected we started the process, starting with spinach. The group put the spinach into the food processor, along with a little amount of alcohol. We then blended the spinach and alcohol in the food processor so it had a liquid like texture. The mixture was then filtered through a coffee filter and strainer, that way we only got the medium’s extract.
3. We then repeated that process for the beets, raspberries, tomato paste and dried cherries.
4. When we finally had all of our test medium extracts it was time to apply it to the paper.
5. The paper was taped down to the table and we proceeded to coat the paper with the five different extracts. The extracts were applied with a sponge brush, and the paper was dried between the two coatings.
6. After the paper was coated and dried it was time to get the paper ready for an image and exposures.
7. The five pieces of paper were cut into four sections, three out of the four sections got a step wedge, the last section is for creating an image once we know what the best exposure time is.
8. The pieces of paper were handed out to the group members, each of us are looking at one medium, I have the dried cherry experiment, the paper is now hanging in a window so that the sun can expose the image.
9. It has already been one week, so there will be an update on the first anthotype, the second one comes down soon for it has almost been two weeks, and the final one will come down after a month, so there will be an update on that one near the end of April.
10. As a group we will come together to share our findings about what exposure times and what mediums work best to create an image.

My Experience:

I found this lab to be quite interesting. I had no idea that an image could be created by using different fruit and vegetable juices. I don’t know too much about photography and the processes used to create images before the technology we use today. It is great to learn about different ways of producing images and I have to say this is a new and unique processes to work with and experience first hand.

This lab went smoothly because we had a plan of action and everything we did had a purpose inside the plan. The fruits and vegetables were chosen for certain reasons.

• Spinach was chosen because of its iron content, iron is an important chemical to photo processes
• Beets were chosen for their bright pink/red color, beets have been used as dye for other artistic purposes
• Tomato paste was chosen for its concentration and the fact that it had great results in the past, the paste has no seeds and is less water concentrated like other types of tomatoes
• Raspberries were chosen for their color and as a medium we had not thought about having a good outcome, hopefully we will get interesting results from this
• Cherries were chosen because Peter had suggested it, the dried cherries had a different composition so we wanted to see what kind of result it would have for the photo process

This was our first lab assignment and I think it went well, there were no snags in the process that I can identify just yet because the experiment is still continuing. The labs will most likely get harder, but I think with the anthotypes was a great way to start off, this way I will know some things to expect in the other lab classes and experiments.

By having a plan and then seeing it through, it feels like I am experiencing the feelings and challenges that the photography artists of the 19th century experienced. I am excited to see what else will happen in this class, so far it is turning out to be quite interesting.

Extra Stuff:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/artbadger/sets/72157624590205920/– more examples of anthotypes

http://www.alternativephotography.com/wp/processes/anthotypes/organic-photography– other methods used to create anthotypes

Sir John Herschel, inventor of the anthotype process

An example of an anthotype

A step wedge,one almost like the one used for our test image

It’s all Greek to Me

WOW! Pretty much that is all I can say right now. This is my first time making my own blog. I am still new at this whole thing, so hopefully over time I will get better at it. Please bear with me as I try to figure this out lol 🙂