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Author Topic: Platinum printing  (Read 10559 times)

JohnBrew

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« on: June 04, 2009, 09:19:09 pm »

Frankly I'm going to open up a can of worms here. What a pita if you follow the article for your platinum print. Perhaps if you are printing really big you would see a difference but if you follow the techniques listed in "Advanced Digital Black & White Photography" by John Beardsworth or several other publications there is no reason your digital platinum print should look any different than using the technique described in the article. And with much less time and aggravation.
I'm not belittling what the author recommends and I realize that using this time-honored system must result in a great deal of personal satisfaction, however if the purpose is to use the latest technology to create this type of print, then there are much simpler ways to create the end product.

Eric Myrvaagnes

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« Reply #1 on: June 04, 2009, 11:01:37 pm »

I found it an informative and interesting article. I'm not likely to be trying it myself soon, but it gave me a good sense of what the process is like, or at least one route through it and the likely pitfalls along the way.

Thanks for sharing it, Tim.
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michael

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« Reply #2 on: June 04, 2009, 11:05:05 pm »

John,

My guess is that you've never seen a "real" platinum print. If you had I doubt that you'd have the same attitude.

Michael

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JohnBrew

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« Reply #3 on: June 05, 2009, 08:01:34 am »

Quote from: michael
John,

My guess is that you've never seen a "real" platinum print. If you had I doubt that you'd have the same attitude.

Michael
I've been around long enough to have seen almost every type print there is. However, since I haven't printed the way the article details I'm more than open-minded enough to give it a try if for no other reason than to see how it compares to prints I've done using the other method.

Tim Gray

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« Reply #4 on: June 05, 2009, 08:14:41 am »

While it's possible to get close to the tonality of a platinum print in an inkjet, given today's technology it's impossible to replicate the dimensionality.  When coating the paper the media absorbs the platinum and when printed out there's a definite feeling of depth.  It's actually quite striking to compare a print of the same image side by side - inkjet vs platinum.
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cmi

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« Reply #5 on: June 05, 2009, 08:18:45 am »

Quote from: JohnBrew
I've been around long enough to have seen almost every type print there is. However, since I haven't printed the way the article details I'm more than open-minded enough to give it a try if for no other reason than to see how it compares to prints I've done using the other method.

Hi John,

so if I read/understand you right, you have done platinum prints and feel the procedure here shown is too cumbersome. Right? Then could you outline how exactly it can be done easier?

Best regards,

Christian
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ndevlin

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« Reply #6 on: June 05, 2009, 08:19:43 am »

My advice to those who believe the OP is to avoid seeing these prints in person.

I have *never* seen more lustrous prints than Tim's P/P prints. Side-by-side beside rally well executed inkjet prints (of the same subject), they simply blow the digital alternative away. Curiously, I have trouble saying exactly why. I can see specific differences in tonal translation, but the degree to which my eye 'likes' and reacts to these differences (even at a distance at which I cannot tell which print was produced by which method other than by print-preference).

Perhaps if it's any indicator of the difference, I have signed-on to have Tim show me how it's done.

 

- N.
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michael

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« Reply #7 on: June 05, 2009, 08:23:46 am »

The genesis of Tim's article was a print discussion evening at my gallery a couple of months ago. Tim  brought in some platinum prints along with inkjet versions of the same images. The differences were astonishing.

This lead to my urging Tim to write the article.

Michael
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Wally

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« Reply #8 on: June 05, 2009, 10:40:25 am »

Quote from: JohnBrew
Frankly I'm going to open up a can of worms here. What a pita if you follow the article for your platinum print. Perhaps if you are printing really big you would see a difference but if you follow the techniques listed in "Advanced Digital Black & White Photography" by John Beardsworth or several other publications there is no reason your digital platinum print should look any different than using the technique described in the article. And with much less time and aggravation.

Even if the results are exactly the same (which they are not) what you might feel is a pita and takes to much time and aggravation many people (such as myself) enjoy doing it for what it is. Plus it is a great way to do something "photographic" while you are sitting around in January near the Great Lakes when it is well below freezing outside with day 45 in a row of snow. There is something special and rewarding with making something with your own hands, -vs- clicking print on a menu and letting a computer do it all.
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alainbriot

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« Reply #9 on: June 05, 2009, 11:24:20 am »

There is no substitute to a well-made platinum print.  The quality of such prints cannot be duplicated with any other printing technique.  Not to say that other print types don't have their own beauty, they do, but that the look and presence of platinum prints is unique.
« Last Edit: June 05, 2009, 11:24:36 am by alainbriot »
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John Camp

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« Reply #10 on: June 05, 2009, 11:28:07 am »

I've looked at quite a few platinum images, and my feeling is that I like silver prints better -- they seem to have more snap, and I guess I just like snap. Platinum seems to me to work best with very particular types of scenes and portraits, which are hard to specify, but I guess I would call "old timey"...pre-panchromatic film stuff, with white skies, and careful faces. They almost have the feel of 19th century steel engravings. This isn't to say that I don't like them -- they can be very beautiful when done well, but might not impress people who grew up with digital and color, rather than B&W.
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DarkPenguin

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« Reply #11 on: June 05, 2009, 11:39:17 am »

I'd pay more for the real thing.  If for no other reason than to have an example of the type of print.
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eleanorbrown

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« Reply #12 on: June 05, 2009, 11:58:22 am »

I have a beautiful large format platinum print on my wall by a very skilled printer.  Believe me I've tried to mimic the effect using my 45+ digital back and printing on expensive matte papers and I can't. Eleanor

Quote from: JohnBrew
Frankly I'm going to open up a can of worms here. What a pita if you follow the article for your platinum print. Perhaps if you are printing really big you would see a difference but if you follow the techniques listed in "Advanced Digital Black & White Photography" by John Beardsworth or several other publications there is no reason your digital platinum print should look any different than using the technique described in the article. And with much less time and aggravation.
I'm not belittling what the author recommends and I realize that using this time-honored system must result in a great deal of personal satisfaction, however if the purpose is to use the latest technology to create this type of print, then there are much simpler ways to create the end product.
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seangirard

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« Reply #13 on: June 05, 2009, 12:22:58 pm »

It has been quite a while since I've seen a platinum print.

In a previous life I spent some time with Ron Partridge at his home and studio, if you can call it that, in Berkeley. Ron is the son of Imogen Cunningham and was the master printer for the trust for many years although I believe he has not held that title for some time.

Anyway, needless to say, that place is basically a museum and history of American photography or at least of a certain school. Prints by Imo and some of the rest of the f/64 group laying around everywhere. I have never seen such a survey of printing styles, including platinum, nor do I ever expect to see anything like it again.

We can do some amazing things with inkjet now that those old masters did not have available but the reverse is also true. Who knows what kind of crazy stuff people will be pushing through inkjet heads or the prevailing tech of the time in the years to come though so maybe we will be able to return to something similar without all the futzing around that Tim has to go through now.

I remember Ron or someone saying that they tried to replicate some of Imo's albumen prints at one point, maybe the sixties or seventies, but could no longer source chickens from an environment that yielded the proper chemistry to reproduce the tones and so forth so eventually had to give up on the project. Talk about a PITA.
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DarkPenguin

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« Reply #14 on: June 05, 2009, 12:43:03 pm »

"could no longer source chickens from an environment that yielded the proper chemistry"

Neat.
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Rob C

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« Reply #15 on: June 05, 2009, 04:13:47 pm »

Quote from: DarkPenguin
"could no longer source chickens from an environment that yielded the proper chemistry"

Neat.


That´s nothing, Mr P; in Britiain, we have trains that stop in the middle of nowhere because they get the wrong kind of leaves on the track. This is true, not something out of Ripley.

Rob C

shelby_lewis

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« Reply #16 on: June 06, 2009, 01:34:40 am »

You guys are all talking about the wrong process... go back to the main page and you'll see that the title of the article is actually "Platium Printing"    

Must be some new process, lol.
« Last Edit: June 06, 2009, 01:35:00 am by shelby_lewis »
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JohnBrew

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« Reply #17 on: June 08, 2009, 07:18:03 am »

This month's issue of "Black & White Photography" (the Brit mag) also has an article on platinum printing that some might find interesting.

kevinwilson

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« Reply #18 on: June 12, 2009, 03:46:31 am »

Perhaps someone may be able to point me to a link, I would be interested in reading it.
TIA
Kevin
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sergio

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« Reply #19 on: June 12, 2009, 01:02:49 pm »

I had the opportunity to see some daguerreotypes a few days ago. That is something that is not possible to do any other way. Old processes have their value to. They will probably be around probably longer than inkjets. You need a very sophisticated technological base just to look at digital images, and a lot more to create them. This resource base is starting to look not so sustainable, nor durable into time. Taking this into account it is far easier and in some accounts cheaper to make images the old way. By the way, the first daguerreotypes are still around. They are proven to last a long time in a real testing environment.

Oh, I have to go and buy some more hard drives to put my precious photos in.
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