Beacon Drive In

Beacon Drive In, a photo by HWPhillips on Flickr.

Cyanotype of Beacon Drive In in Spartanburg, SC on Strathmore Drawing Paper.

Dixie Milling Co.

Dixie Milling Co., a photo by HWPhillips on Flickr.

Cyanotype of Dixie Milling Co. in Easley, SC

Brownish Staining on Cyanotypes

I have been making a few cyanotypes recently. I have successfully made cyanotypes before. But now, I seem to be consistently getting brown staining for some reason. The staining is on the entire image - light and dark areas inclusive. I am using paper negatives whereas I was using film negatives before. Some of the paper negatives have been oiled. My setup is as follows: I have a glass base. I lay the sensitized paper on top of the glass. I lay my negative on top of the sensitized sheet. Finally I cover with another piece of glass and develop in my UV exposure unit. I have tried different papers with similar results. The interesting thing is that where the paper negative has not covered the sensitized paper, the paper develops into the rich Prussian blue I would expect for the entire image. Does this process not like my paper negatives? I will try a film negative and report the results. Has anyone had similar results?

Cyanotype from new UV Source

This weekend I finally made some cyanotypes from my new UV source talked about here. It works great. Here's a sample.

New, bigger and better UV Light Source for Cyanotypes and such

I had a UV source light source made from 2 UV bulbs and 6 inch reflectors. It worked ok but was cumbersome and not easily stored. I decided to make a larger unit, with four 14" tubes, and a timer. Here's a parts list of the electrical items:

From Bulbtronics:


 The first item are the T8 sockets, the second item is the T8 UV tubes, and the last item is a 4 Tube starter/ballast.

From Lowes I purchased a 120VAC 60 minute timer, and a metal box to put it in. I had an AC cord with 3 prong plug. The wood, glue, nails, and screws are also needed.

I began by building the box. Here's some images of the progress.

You can see I even covered the top with some decorative paper.  Also, note that I lined the area beneath the tubes with white poster board to reflect more of the light down.

The unit could be used as is, by propping it on books or whatever, so you could slide a negative and sensitized paper underneath. However, I think I will build a stand for it later.

Review of "Blue Prints: The Natural World In Cyanotype Photos" by Zeva Oelbaum

Blue Prints: The Natural World In Cyanotype Photos   by Zeva Oelbaum

This book is special. Beautifully done cyanotypes. Each image has me trying to figure out how she made it. I have not verified this with the author, but I believe there is some digital manipulation going on. Nonetheless, the images are beautiful and well constructed. A very inspiring book for cyanotype makers. 

The cloth book cover is blue. Everything is blue (except maybe one black image). Zeva Oelbaum has created wonderful images - some from negatives and some from objects. 

If you like cyanotypes, get this book.

Papers for Cyanotypes

I have used the following papers with success for cyanotypes using the old and new processes. They are listed in my order of preference.

1) The Langton Prestige - Daler Rowney - Hot Press, 140lb, 300 gsm - very smooth finish. Able to maintain details.

2) XL Series - Canson - Cold Press, 140lb, 300 gsm - very smooth, more sensitive to exposure than #1

3) Montval - Canson - Cold Press, 140lb, 300 gsm

4) 300 Series - Strathmore  - Cold Press, 140lb, 300 gsm - rougher surface, not capable of as much detail

5) Watercolor Cards - Strathmore - - Cold Press, 140lb, 300 gsm - make nice cyanotype cards

Here are the links for Canson, Daler Rowney, and Strathmore.

The papers are available from AC Moore, Hobby Lobby, Michaels, Dick Blick, Daniel Smith and other stores.

Cyanotype of Trees

This cyanotype was toned in ammonia. Then the saturation was adjusted in Picasa.

UV lights for Exposing Cyanotypes

Setup for exposing for cyanotypes

Material:

2 UV fluorescent bulbs 15W ea
2 Lamp sockets with 6" reflectors
1 thin board or chip board

Cyanotype Image

Fig Leaf

Paper: The Langton Prestige by Daler Rowney
Watercolor Paper
140lb, 300gsm

MAde with new canotype process by Mike Ware, bleached with ammonia

Another way to expose cyanotypes

I have been making cyanotypes for about 2 months now. I started with the sunprint kits from The Lawrence Hall of Science store. These are nice kits for starting. The paper is extremely lightweight and if you like the process you will want to be able to print on heavier paper. As part of this desire, I also wanted to make a way to expose without relying on the sun. This would give the opportunity to have more control on exposure - from an intensity and time standpoint.

I searched the web for ideas, and there are a few choices. Here's a youtube video for a rather large uv light table. I also saw examples using 18" blacklight florecent tubes. You can build one with anywhere from 2 to 8 tubes depending on what size you need. They can also be purchased for great sums of money from Freestyle Photographic Supplies.

I decided to start out small. I bought 2 15w blacklight bulbs and 2 6" clamp on reflectors from Home Depot. I clamp the lights to a boom on a microphone stand and position the lights about 5" from my sensitized paper and negative. I plug the lights into a power strip with a switch.

I have exposed images up to 6" x 6" with this method. I believe the 2 lamps would work with up to 8" x 10". Anyway, the total cost for the lamps and reflectors was about $25. A cheap way to get started.

My next step is to get the sensitizing chemicals and sensitize some decent paper. More on that later.