This will be my last journal entry on Cyanotypes for now. I have been working on a series and will not share anything until it is complete.   It seems that the most I have right now in regards to being able to come through with a variety of toning results is working with tea. I still have yet to try out different brands of coffee other than Nescafe, but for now using tea will be my focus. I have […]

Categories: Cyanotype • Tags: alternative process, Art, Cyanotype, Montreal, Nicole Small, one on one portraits, Photography

I wanted to share another comparison with tea and coffee with some old Cyanotype prints. Test Print #1 Preparation( mixing ratios): Bleach bath is one tablespoon washing soda in two liters of water. Toning bath is 15 teabags in 3 liters of water, (Orange Pekoe Tea). Rinse bath is cold tap water. *make sure the washing soda has completely dissolved and that your toning bath has cooled down to about room temperature before you begin the toning process*   What […]

Categories: Cyanotype • Tags: alternative process, Art, Cyanotype, Montreal, Nicole Small, one on one portraits, Photography

Even though I prefer toning with coffee over tea, I toned with tea again as I did not have enough coffee to brew a strong enough batch. I used a Cyanotype test print for this exercise. The first step, which is bleaching the print, plays an important role in how much of an effect will be achieved in the end. Time in a bleaching bath will vary for each print and I have learned that the more saturated the print […]

Categories: Cyanotype • Tags: alternative process, Art, Cyanotype, Montreal, Nicole Small, one on one portraits, Photography

I wanted to bring up the subject of the Digital Negative with the Cyanotype process once again. I have learned throughout my trials to be watchful of highlights in a given image that I have inverted into a digital negative before finalizing and printing. Here is a perfect example of what I mean:     This was my original digital negative conversion. Keep in mind, in case this may not be understood, all the dark areas will turn out white […]

Categories: Cyanotype • Tags: alternative process, Art, Cyanotype, Montreal, Nicole Small, one on one portraits, Photography

Toning Cyanotypes is exciting and I have yet to discover the many ways this can be done. So far I have experimented with coffee and tea and between the two, I prefer using coffee as a toning agent.       My next experiments were with tannic acid. I have read a few articles about it and was happy that I was able to order it from B&H. There are other interesting compounds that I would love to give a […]

Categories: Cyanotype • Tags: alternative process, Art, Cyanotype, Montreal, Nicole Small, one on one portraits, Photography