You are becoming quite the printing madman!!! I love to see it. I especially love the plastic-wrapped prints and the colored geometric shapes on top of the prints.. just brilliant; I can totally see a future book showcasing a wide variety of your experimental printing. That would be so rad. Keep going!! Also your mention of how your winter will be filled with "coffee and ink" got me thinking...
Thanks man, some days the prints work, others not so much, but that's why I got the printer I did so I can afford to make all these tests and so on! Right now I am using the archive mainly to make prints from, but I am looking forward to making new work with certain print ideas in mind for the creation of new images.
your posts are a great example of "quality" over "quantity". i need to learn from you! i've just started traditional dark room printing. the final object feels precious in a way the digital does not. i see it as an extension of photography in the way my work with cyanotype is. i also appreciate the technical details and process insights you share. i will bookmark them for future experiments.
I can't wait to try cyanotypes or platinum palladium printing along with silver gelatin wet printing (if I can't do it at home I'll try to find a local community darkroom to use).
How have you been making your wet prints (traditional negatives or digital negatives)?
i have posted on my first 10 weeks of dark room printing from film negatives. old school b/w printing in a community darkroom. on rc paper. my next post on the subject will be on the "community" aspect. huge! and my next step will be to print on fiber. $$$$$$!!!!!😩😩😩😩😩 but i have printed hundreds of cyanotypes from digital negatives. i don't have as scientific a process in establishing the proper curves as maybe I should. i don't know how "pure" I want to get. and toning, with birch, tea, coffee, cannabis. i have yet to try palladium.
I enjoyed to see all your experimentations. Very interesting. I have been experimenting with digital negatives in 2024 and it is a challenge to get a good negative. But I am getting closer. I hope to be able to share some results next year…
I have, but it didn't work out because my negatives were terrible. Which was mainly caused by the poor quality of my inkjet printer. I now have a new printer (with pigment inks) but have not tried to make any negatives yet with it. Wish me luck…
I think one problem was the density. Too much light came through the ink. Also, the ink took forever to dry and was smearing in some spots and was pooling too. So, I lost lots of details. I read that it works better with pigment inks.
I was able to make prints, but they didn't really turn out. Another thing which is really difficult to do - if you don’t have an enlarger - and you do the “"Weston method” just using a light bulb is the correct exposure time.
I need to be more accurate with my experiments, take more notes and try to solve one problem at a time.
For sure, I have watched several tutorials going over the Weston method and found several reliable videos from different people using very similar things with a degree of consistency between them. I want to look into local community darkrooms as well so I have access to proper tools. Thank you for sharing all the info with me.
Hey, of course! It is probably my favorite because it is affordable haha, but I get sharp prints with nice contrast and the paper is good and bright to make a lively print. I buy it right now in pre-cut packs of 4×6 inches at 120 sheets, it is the Canon Pixma Matte Photo Paper (MP-101) 45lbs or 170gsm, which runs me about $15 a pack here in Canada.
Very inspiring stuff, Matthew! I really like what you're doing with this new printer: rearranging elements and using plastic wrap as a surface for the scanned prints. I think the look works well, and I appreciate your perspective on plastic waste.
Love your work! and vision. Keep going!
Thank you! Much appreciated 😊
You are becoming quite the printing madman!!! I love to see it. I especially love the plastic-wrapped prints and the colored geometric shapes on top of the prints.. just brilliant; I can totally see a future book showcasing a wide variety of your experimental printing. That would be so rad. Keep going!! Also your mention of how your winter will be filled with "coffee and ink" got me thinking...
Thanks man, some days the prints work, others not so much, but that's why I got the printer I did so I can afford to make all these tests and so on! Right now I am using the archive mainly to make prints from, but I am looking forward to making new work with certain print ideas in mind for the creation of new images.
Very cool!
Thanks Dan!
your posts are a great example of "quality" over "quantity". i need to learn from you! i've just started traditional dark room printing. the final object feels precious in a way the digital does not. i see it as an extension of photography in the way my work with cyanotype is. i also appreciate the technical details and process insights you share. i will bookmark them for future experiments.
I can't wait to try cyanotypes or platinum palladium printing along with silver gelatin wet printing (if I can't do it at home I'll try to find a local community darkroom to use).
How have you been making your wet prints (traditional negatives or digital negatives)?
i have posted on my first 10 weeks of dark room printing from film negatives. old school b/w printing in a community darkroom. on rc paper. my next post on the subject will be on the "community" aspect. huge! and my next step will be to print on fiber. $$$$$$!!!!!😩😩😩😩😩 but i have printed hundreds of cyanotypes from digital negatives. i don't have as scientific a process in establishing the proper curves as maybe I should. i don't know how "pure" I want to get. and toning, with birch, tea, coffee, cannabis. i have yet to try palladium.
Awesome, I'll be sure to read up on your experiences!
Love it that you're enjoying the process, all this is so cool, congratulations!
Thank you! I am definitely enjoying the process a lot 😁
I enjoyed to see all your experimentations. Very interesting. I have been experimenting with digital negatives in 2024 and it is a challenge to get a good negative. But I am getting closer. I hope to be able to share some results next year…
I definitely know digital negatives are not going to be easy. Have you made any wet prints of your own from them?
I have, but it didn't work out because my negatives were terrible. Which was mainly caused by the poor quality of my inkjet printer. I now have a new printer (with pigment inks) but have not tried to make any negatives yet with it. Wish me luck…
Were you not able to produce an image at all or was it simply poor quality or? Very curious about how it went even with a poor quality negative.
I think one problem was the density. Too much light came through the ink. Also, the ink took forever to dry and was smearing in some spots and was pooling too. So, I lost lots of details. I read that it works better with pigment inks.
I was able to make prints, but they didn't really turn out. Another thing which is really difficult to do - if you don’t have an enlarger - and you do the “"Weston method” just using a light bulb is the correct exposure time.
I need to be more accurate with my experiments, take more notes and try to solve one problem at a time.
For sure, I have watched several tutorials going over the Weston method and found several reliable videos from different people using very similar things with a degree of consistency between them. I want to look into local community darkrooms as well so I have access to proper tools. Thank you for sharing all the info with me.
Like these print experiments a lot. I keep intending to do things like this but never actually get started on it. Keep going!
Thanks! And I hope you find some time to get going, if you do please share, I'd be curious to see your takes.
This is amazing and so intriguing! I am just now getting into printing and was looking for exactly such inspiration. Thank you.
Enjoy the process! Happy to hear my madness has some inspiration in it for you 😁
Looking at your process is very inspiring, thank you for sharing Matthew ! Beautiful renditions !
Thank you Laurence! Always happy to share my thoughts and experiments.
Loving all the creative ideas and output! (May I also ask which was that fav matte photo paper to which you referred..?)
Hey, of course! It is probably my favorite because it is affordable haha, but I get sharp prints with nice contrast and the paper is good and bright to make a lively print. I buy it right now in pre-cut packs of 4×6 inches at 120 sheets, it is the Canon Pixma Matte Photo Paper (MP-101) 45lbs or 170gsm, which runs me about $15 a pack here in Canada.
Aha, thanks so much for the info!
Very inspiring stuff, Matthew! I really like what you're doing with this new printer: rearranging elements and using plastic wrap as a surface for the scanned prints. I think the look works well, and I appreciate your perspective on plastic waste.
Thanks Ari! It'll be interesting to see where these ideas take me ☺️