I get the chemicals from: www.firstcall-photographic.co.uk - very reliable. When I have time I will see about explaining a bit more about the chemistry bu there's a lot of useful stuff online already. The platinum and palladium solutions are the expensive bits, the rest is not vastly expensive and most can be re-used quite a lot.
@@pete-davis-photography Been looking at your videos and much like yourself remember as a child pestering dad to borrow his camera. Mainly when away on holiday, in fact I must have pestered so effectively that for one holiday he bought me my very own camera, then my grandparents gave me their old Cameras.
Beautiful images Pete. How do I get this wonderful book. Please remind me . Thanks Phil. Massive respect lugging a 10x8 around woods. Did it with a 5x4 and Polaroid type 55 and that was tough enough.
Many thanks for your comments, much appreciated. Most of my materials I get from Firstcall Photographic - www.firstcall-photographic.co.uk Both for platinum and silver printing. Museum mounting board from John Purcell Paper who can also supply the Arches Platine paper I use for platinum prints. Other archival materials such as hinging tape for the mounts and mats from Conservation Resources UK. They can also sell the storage boxes. Hope that's a help. I'm not sponsored by any of these by the way.
@@pete-davis-photography ,thank you for that great information Pete. I am currently making exposures onto dry glass plates in a large format camera, the plates are inherently contrasty ( although I can control the contrast in development with a pyro dev. )so would these be suitable for platinum prints?
@@thatmancalledhobbs One of the qualities of platinum printing is its ability to reproduce a subtle range of tonalities, especially separating delicate highlights. Provided of course, that the negative also has those qualities. Like all printing, the print can only be as good as the negative. It seems counter-intuitive to the process to try to print very high contrast negatives but there are no rules. It's entirely up to you to interpret the subject the way you see it.
@@thatmancalledhobbs I should also add that contrast control with platinum printing is limited. Get the negative right is the answer. However, you can increase contrast slightly by using a proportion of a second ferric oxalate solution that has an additive to increase contrast.
Thank you Pete 😊 There’s no need to apologize for a two minute conversion process that creates a life-long selenium print. Great work, from the hand of a master craftsman. Thank you, sir.
Selenium toned prints are not 'life long', be aware these toned photographic prints will be fully archival, this means these will last as long as the paper, that is, several thousands of years. Chemists will affirm this. See also Henry Wilhelm research lab, 'The preservation and care of color photographs', which also contains information on black & white photographs.
@@Autorange888 Thank you. I guess that after the selenium process, there needs to be a continuing ‘environmental system’ of preservation, including the attributes of air quality, ambient temperature, and contact with other objects - plus anything else that will ‘get you in the end’. I’m also mindful that as the quantity of selenium treated prints increases over the years, room to display and rotate/transport them will also be a consideration - another risk to their longevity.
@@reusedisland1904 The photographic prints should be made on baryt paper, not on RC (this has a plastic base, the RC prints cannot be displayed in sunlight, which will destroy the image). Ambient temperature is not needed for baryt paper, the prints can be easily stored, to be enjoyed and valued by succeeding generations.
Hi Pete, brilliant video and a great introduction to platinum printing. I have always wanted to have a go . I shoot on film hasselblad , still life and landscapes. Please do you run any workshops or would you be willing to give me a day of your time to teach me. Very happy to pay for your expertise etc. I'm based in North Yorkshire Uk. Where are you ? Thsnk you Phil
Hi Phil and many thanks for the kind comment. A long time ago I used to run workshops from here - large format and fine printing, with my friend and colleague John Nesbitt. My photography, exhibiting and publishing commitments, plus my teaching at Aberystwyth University mean that I have little time to spare now. Fairly soon I will put out another video which might expand on this one a bit more. Sorry I can't be more help just now. Kind regards, Pete
Hi Pete, brilliant video and a great introduction to platinum printing. I have always wanted to have a go . I shoot on film hasselblad , still life and landscapes. Please do you run any workshops or would you be willing to give me a day of your time to teach me. Very happy to pay for your expertise etc. I'm based in North Yorkshire Uk. Where are you ? Thsnk you Phil
No, I'm using proprietary chemistry which is already mixed and at the right percentages etc. Just saves time in mixing and weighing etc. I get it from FirstCall Photo. I used to get it from the USA, then Italy but FirstCall now stock it which is great. Less time mixing, more time printing!
A monopod? With a heavy 8" x 10" camera leaning over? Now that would be a clever trick! I'd make a fortune as a magician or a circus performer! No, it's a very heavy duty Gitzo tripod with a No. 5 head. Thanks for watching!
It is only a contact printing process. However, you can make a hi-res scan of a smaller negative, enlarge this and print on to transparency film to whatever size you want the finished print to be. Not quite as good as printing from the original negative but it's one way. Hope that's help.
Thanks for the comment. Yes, I have read all those books and many more. Those are just a selection behind me, I have many more on other shelves. A lot are photography books of course, monographs by photographers and selected collections. Some are also text books that I use and refer to in my academic work.
Hi Stuart. Not a silly question al all. 99% of the platinum prints I make are from my original large format negatives. However, on that one occasion in the video, a customer in the gallery that sells my work asked for a platinum print of an image he saw in one of my books in a particular larger size. So I made a hi-res scan from the negative, enlarged it and made the print from that. Not my usual favoured method but I have a hi-res large format scanner so can keep the quality up. Hope that's a help.
Hey Pete Davis Photographer your video quality is perfect. your content is excellent. But your videos are not reaching the audience! if you permit me. I will share some information to increase your channel. then you get lots of subscriptions and views. thank you
Hi Peter , i’ve found Philips UV tubes as you suggested. Now i’m going to build the box . One question about : at which distance tubes must to stay from the glass ? Thank you! Romano
Hi Romano. There's no set distance they have to be, but if they are a long way from the contact printer the exposures will be longer. Mine are about 15cm from the glass on top of the contact printing frame. I never really measured this before!
Sorry Peter: one more question always about ex position time. I understand that every negative/print is different from the others , but generally speaking my times for silver contact prints are in the range 12sec/1min. Which one in your experience for palladium/platine?
Exposure times are much longer for platinum / palladium as the materials are less sensitive to light. It will depend on the type and quantity of UV lamps / tubes you have etc. Typically, my exposures, with my set up are in the range of 10-30 minutes. (I just checked through my notes!).
Thank you Peter, now i have all the information ( reading also the others your answer to the question of interested people) to start to study well everithing before buying the first kit set for platinum/palladium . My best regards! Romano
Hi Peter, beautifull platinum print! i’ve found your video is very usefull to have a complete overview of the entire process. A couple of question : how do you decide the exposure time under the UV? How did you build your UV cabinet ( which kind of lamp i have to buy) . After the process the original 8x10 negative is scratched? Many tanks, Romano from Italy.
Hi Romano. Many thanks for your comment. The exposure for each negative / print will be different for each negative, just in the same way as silver printing in an enlarger. You have to make tests by using smaller strips of coated paper to determine the right exposure for that negative and the particular coating you have chosen. I like to keep notes every time I print a new negative and this helps with estimating future printing times. My U.V. box is a very simple plywood box painted white inside with three sets of double tube holders. The tubes in mine are 60cm long and just marked: Phillips TLD 18W/08. Just simple UV tubes. The negative will be fine but you must make sure that the coating is dry of course. If you are in any doubt, you can put a thin sheet of transparent polyester between the negative and the coated paper but I never have to and my negatives are fine. Hope that's a help.
Lovely photographs, a testament to your vision and hard work. The older I get (I'm 66 now,) the more I use my 5x7 camera rather than 4x5 or 8x10. Something about that longer rectangle draws me.
Many thanks Michael. My next RU-vid video will feature another body of work made exclusively on 7" x 5". The format solved a few problems for me at the time too.
Yes, very sad. He made practical, rugged cameras for photographers because he understood about their use in the field. Especially the lignum vitae knobs which were easier on cold fingers than brass or stainless steel!
Thank you for taking the time to make this video. I am very interested in making one print in the near future however my biggest question mark is around the negatives used, seems like the are digital prints on a translucent plastic sheet? I was wondering how to approach that from a beginners stand point? Thank you!
Many thanks for your comment and glad you found the video interesting. 99% of my platinum prints are made from my original camera analogue silver negatives. Mostly now, 10" x 8". However, as you noticed, if, sometimes I want to make a larger print, I scan the original negative (hi-res) and print it out on to 'Pictorico' inkjet transparency film. Of course you can also start with a digital file and do the same. My preference is always to print from the original camera negative but I do realise that not everyone has a large format 10" x 8" camera. Hope that's a help.
@@pete-davis-photography That's of great help thank you so much! Hope to be doing it by summer time once I get my hands on a 8x10 rear standard. The information is hard to come by but seems important to keep this legacy processes alive specially in this digital age, so hopefully I can help keep it going on my camera club. Thank you again Pete!
Good to hear from you and yes, v. sad about John. All very sudden. We enjoyed running our workshops before he moved to France. I'm still v busy with projects, exhibitions, publications and teaching. I keep going! Best wishes.
Thanks for your interest.No, I don't treat the paper in any way prior to coating. Arches Platine is 100% cotton rag paper with no wood pulp or lignin etc so is archival stable like the platinum and palladium. Hope that's helpful.
Great video - thanks for sharing your images and process. I do have one question - do you size the Platine before printing and, if so, what sizing do you use?
Thanks for the comment. You don't need to size or treat in any way the particular paper I use. For platinum printing you should only use 100% cotton rag paper for archival purposes anyway as the process is inherently archival with platinum and palladium being noble metals. There are only a handful of papers that are suitable, Arches Platine being one and my go-to choice. Hope that's help.
Many thanks Jos. You can get a 'catalog' from the gallery. They have a bookshop and do a postal service if you can't get there. They will have a stock when the show opens but you can order in advance I'm sure.