Earlier, I’ve signaled the challenge of achieving sufficient consistency for a feasible color carbon process. Part of that would be aided by halftone negatives, as discussed in the previous installment. The other part I’ll highlight here is about the tissue itself, and how to sensitize it. Applying sensitizer to a pre-made tissue doesn’t seem to be ideal, and it would work better to incorporate the sensitizer into the glop. But what are the possibilities and challenges of doing so?
Continue reading “Color carbon made feasible part 2: sensitizer-incorporated tissue”Color carbon made feasible, part 1: halftone screens
In my previous blog post, I outlined a couple of tough challenges I met in the color carbon project. These challenges are partly inherent to the carbon transfer process, and partly stem from working with digital negatives, in particular continuous tone negatives. In this blog, I will outline the two main components to a solution to these challenges: halftone screen negatives and sensitizer-incorporated tissue.
Continue reading “Color carbon made feasible, part 1: halftone screens”Color carbon and digital inkjet negatives: challenges
It’s been awfully quiet on the color carbon front, hasn’t it? Well, that’s partly accurate. I haven’t done as many test strips these past two weeks as I’d been doing before, and the reason is that I’m at a crossroads with this project now. Having learned lots, it’s also becoming clearer now what I’m dealing with. The question is – how to proceed? Let’s start with exploring some of the challenges I’m currently facing, which all happen to revolve around consistency and linearity.
Continue reading “Color carbon and digital inkjet negatives: challenges”Potato, potato – Making an old Sigma lens work on every Canon EOS body
Right, the “potato, potato” thing probably doesn’t work that well in writing, but you get the point. Or at least, you soon will. I got my hands on an old Sigma ‘Super Wide’ 24/2.8 a couple of weeks ago. I came across it and just couldn’t resist; a wide-angle prime is a convenient thing to have, after all. Upon receiving it, I immediately tried it out and…it didn’t work properly. Drat. Well, it did on my old Canon EOS 50e, but it didn’t work on an EOS 7D or an EOS 30. Turns out it’s a well known-compatibility issue. Turns out also that, guess what? It can be fixed!
Continue reading “Potato, potato – Making an old Sigma lens work on every Canon EOS body”Some images – Tractor tracks
No long story this time, just some images. By far the most photos I make are taken in the immediate vicinity of the house, within walking distance. The same is true for these two, which I took when exposing a test roll of Fomapan 100 to see how the Sigma 24/2.8 I received recently works.
Continue reading “Some images – Tractor tracks”Easy way out – Inkjet on ‘DIY’ papers
No, I haven’t given up on color carbon yet. But as I was messing with the inkjet printer anyway, making hundreds of digital negatives and greyscale tests, at some point I got experimental in that direction as well. You see, the thing with inkjet is that I just don’t like most inkjet papers. They’re very high-tech and offer great gamut and dmax. But they don’t have much subtlety to them and the paper surface is always lifeless to me. The exception is the (rather pricey) inkjet baryta papers that indeed resemble fiber-based B&W papers. But couldn’t we expand our choices a bit, perhaps by trying something ourselves? Well, turns out, we can…read on!
Continue reading “Easy way out – Inkjet on ‘DIY’ papers”To stain, or not to stain – Acid and pyro developers
There is a very controversial topic on the Internet. It’s in fact so controversial that I almost don’t dare post about it. It’s that thing about pyro developers and the dye image (‘stain’) they produce. This is seen as a desirable trait, as it apparently helps to mask film grain, and it adds substantial UV density, which is great for processes like carbon printing. Now, the question is – is it OK to use an acid stop and fixer with a staining pyro developer, or will this obliterate this precious dye image? Come in and find out!
Continue reading “To stain, or not to stain – Acid and pyro developers”Black is the new black – Pigments for B&W carbon transfer
No, I haven’t given up color carbon just yet, but neither will I leave B&W alone. One issue I’ve been having is that of hue. After all, there’s black, and there’s black: black pigments tend to come in all sorts of hues, so there’s lots to choose from. But a satisfactorily neutral black has evaded me for quite some time – until now!
Continue reading “Black is the new black – Pigments for B&W carbon transfer”(T)issues – A note on pigment dispersion and chroma
I’ve been working with powdered pigments for a (brief) while now and as a result, I’m starting to come to grips with the pros and cons of this approach. Overall, it’s lots of fun – in fact, this is so far my favorite part of the color carbon project. But there are challenges also to this part. For instance, I recently ran into an issue of tissues that didn’t look quite as nice and shiny as they should. And that actually has implications that go far below the surface!
Continue reading “(T)issues – A note on pigment dispersion and chroma”How to ab-stain? Dichromate stain issues in carbon printing
No, I haven’t given up on the color carbon project. Yet! But there are challenges, and they can be, well, challenging. For one, I’m running into trouble with hue and chroma of the color layers and I’ve been having a hard time figuring out what happens. One probable cause is actually dichromate staining. Let me exstain. Err, explain.
Continue reading “How to ab-stain? Dichromate stain issues in carbon printing”