Bleaching RC Prints

greenspun.com : LUSENET : B&W Photo - Printing & Finishing : One Thread

Is it possible to do selective bleaching on RC prints? If so, is one brand of paper more receptive to the process than others? Could also use dilution ratios for Farmer's Reducer on RC prints and any do's and don'ts.

-- Jim Kearns (scribble@airmail.net), December 19, 1999

Answers

Just grab the seat of your pants and go for it. James

-- Mr.Lumberjack (james_mickelson@hotmail.com), December 19, 1999.

Yes, it is possible.

Yes, each paper reacts in its own way. So you have to experiment.

Don't

-use too strong a solution of Farmer's, or the print will be gone before you have any chance to react;

-leave the bleach on the print until the result looks just right. The bleaching will continue even after you rinse with water. So the procedure is this: Apply Farmer's - rinse - apply Farmer's - rinse - ... until the desired effect has been achieved.

Do

-have water ready, preferably running, so you can rinse quickly,

-have a wet reference print at hand. Otherwise you might not even notice slight bleaching.

-- Thomas Wollstein (thomas_wollstein@web.de), December 20, 1999.


All the above tips are useful. I prefer to use Potassium Ferrocynide which starts the bleaching action, and then dunk into fix to bring to full bleach for the portion where bleach is applied. Use Q-Tips for small areas, cotton balls for larger areas. I have also used small water-color brushes (with most of the bristles cut off) to apply bleach to tiny areas, e.g. catchlights in eyes. Start slowly with weak solution, cause the process cannot be erased. Reference prints most useful.

-- Standish Lawder, Denver Darkroom (sdl@sni.net), February 10, 2000.

Moderation questions? read the FAQ