Albumen Processing...

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Has anyone tried this? I've read about it and seen pictures done this way, but I've never tried it. Basicly it consists of sensitizing ordinary paper with a mixture of Egg whites, Acetic acid, Potassium Chloride, and Silver Nitrate. The paper is sensitive to ultra-violet light, and safe under tunsten light.

Everything I've seen done this way was done as a contact print from a large format negative using sun light to expose it. The problem is that I don't have a large format camera because they're very expensive (Well, the cameras are cheap, but the lenses are very expensive). One way I was thinking I could get around this is to use a black light in my enlarger and use a 35mm negative. Has anyone tried this? Does it work? Are there problems?

-- Chris Esser (esserc@stricom.army.mil), December 30, 1998

Answers

What you can do is make an enlargement not to paper, but to duplicating film. Kodak SO-132 duplicating film will create a postive image in one step. The stuff isn't cheap, but it's the best alternative.

The problem with using a black light in your enlarger is that it would take an enormous amount of time for an image to get to the paper. I've seen recommendations for doing a contact print indoors using a 300W bulb for about 20min. Using a black light in a condenser head would be futile, as the ultraviolet light would be absorbed by all the glass.

As for a large format camera, the used lenses are quite reasonable. I've seen a lot of the older ones for around $200, usually less.

-- Brian C. Miller (a-bcmill@exchange.microsoft.com), December 30, 1998.


you have much more control by making an interpositive first and then the final negative. I have recently written a chapter on enlarged negatives for a text book scheduled to be published in the fall. The chapter can be downloaded from my website.

http://www.johnrudiak.com

-- john rudiak (john@johnrudiak.com), April 09, 1999.


As good friend PETER GOWLAND ("King Of Glamour Photography")...once said to me...when I asked him a question about his film-developer processing..."ONE TEST IS WORTH A THOUSAND OPINIONS"...hope this answers your pondered question...take care...ED.

-- ED Cherney (getrichkwik@webtv.net), April 15, 1999.

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