Yesterday I decided to try Photographers Formulary 130 Paper developer which is same or very similar to Ansco 130 developer. The developer is supposed to provide rich blacks with high contrast if used straight, or can be diluted 1:2 for a softer working solution. PF recommends 1:1 for best overall results. There are 6 ingredients […]

This week I received the one liter Nelson’s Gold Toner kit from Photographers Formulary.  I opened it on Friday and read the mixing instructions. They were a bit daunting so I waited until Saturday afternoon when I knew I could mix the kit uninterrupted.  The first part of the solution is mixed at 125 degrees […]

Over the last couple of years I have been taking field notes on a custom 3×5 card rather than using a notebook. 1 card per 4×5 shot allows me to capture all the information about the exposure I need to remember or use for printing later. I have refined this card over time and today […]

After my toning experiments I decided to split tone the Frogtown Creek II image. I think I went a little too far with bleaching so turned the whole image brownish rather than just warming the faintest highlights. But I do like the results and it is different than the untoned version. The print was a […]

Today I decided to run some more toning tests. Instead of working with a scenic image I chose to make a sort of step wedge though not very precise.  I exposed an 8×10 sheet 1 second at a time moving a cardboard sheet down the page until I hit about 12 seconds which was more […]

Over the last few weeks I have been trying my hand at Toning with Thiourea (Sepia) and Selenium on different papers. This thanksgiving day weekend gave me some extra time to try Split Toning with both. And as luck would have it my mentor Steve Sherman put out a video on his toning technique along […]

Continuing experimentation with toning or in this case staining I decided to see what soaking an image in espresso would do. While I let one of my test prints pre-soak in about 75* water for 5 minutes, I ran a double shot portafilter full of freshly ground espresso through 4 cycles which gave me about […]

In a previous article, http://www.searing.photography/testing-lpd-vs-pf106/ I explored the differences of two paper developers on 3 different papers and found there was little difference in the tonality based on developer.  There were differences in exposure time required to achieve max black  and some differences in shadow detail but I can not attribute all of that to […]

Since I use mostly Ilford multi-grade papers I decided to try out the Ilford Multigrade developer. It is similar in chemical make up to LPD, being a Hydroquinone + EDTA acid, so I did not expect much difference. The developer comes as a liquid concentrate and is mixed 1:9 or 1:14. Working solution should last […]

In my recent experiments Testing LDP vs PF106 developer I decided to try a different brand of papers than my usual Ilford products. Bergger Prestige Variable Contrast CB Warm Glossy is a heavy weight (280 gsm) Chlorobromide fiber based paper with a white base. The manufacturer touts it has six grades of contrast with a high […]