Preparing the Collodio-Albumen Plates

I’ve started preparing the Collodio-Albumen plates.

There are a couple of things that you need to get right before you proceed. The biggest one is preparing your iodized albumen. I only made 150 ml because I want to make sure the recipe is in order before I commit. Same with the plate size. I’m testing with Half Plate - 4.25” x 5.5” (10,8 x 14cm). All of it is in service to testing the process and seeing what it can and can’t do, or what I can or can’t do.

A few things that I noticed right away:

1. The Iodized Albumen didn’t get very many bubbles, in fact, almost no bubbles at all. There was NO problem pouring from my bottle to the plate and back and forth. I covered each plate at least three or four times with the Iodized Albumen.

2. The Aceto-Nitrate bath (6.7%) sensitizing bath is loaded with Glacial Acetic Acid (6%). It did turn kind of “foggy” after adding the glacial acetic acid. I’m not overly concerned with it, just a note. Question: Does silver nitrate react with glacial acetic acid? Answer: Silver acetate can be synthesized by the reaction of acetic acid and silver carbonate. Solid silver acetate precipitates upon the concentration of solutions of silver nitrate and sodium acetate. UPDATE: This morning, all is good. I sunned and filtered the bath and it’s clear and clean.

3. I did run some tests by exposing two of the four plates to “light” (bulb) after the distilled water wash. I albumenized them with a 60W bulb. The other two, I albumenized under the safelight.

I will sensitize the plates today and make some exposures tomorrow. Again, I will start at 3 minutes at f/16 and increase one minute for each plate. 3, 4, 5, 6 - a total of four plates and covering the spread in Mudd’s book with a similar lens (290mm) and f/stop (16).

It’s simple enough to do. I only made 150 ml of Iodized Albumen - enough to get testing going.

I tend to over-beat the whites, but it makes cleaner albumen in my opinion. This contains; KI, KBr, and DH2O.

Mark your containers clearly. Only use the bottle for what you label it as - cross contamination is something you can avoid with planning and preparation.

Four Half Plates: Collodio-Albumen Negatives!

The Collodio- Albumen Negative - James Mudd, 1866

I did a Studio Q Show LIVE! video on this process in October of 2021. If you’re interested, you can watch it here. He published his book in 1866. This process never really caught on because of the time of exposure, the length of development, and a lot of “extra” preparation. After all, you had the wet collodion negative process available.

This is Mudd’s recipe and methodology. I’m adjusting it a bit for my own purpose/reasons, but the heart of the process remains the same. Why am I bothering with this dry plate process? I have to get access to places I will not be able to drive or pack a dark box into. In fact, most of the areas that I want to make plates in will require dry plates. Moreover, this is supposed to be “the king” of negative making. You get the sharpest, cleanest, and most printable negatives of all of the processes. We’ll see if that holds true here. I want to test making negatives and then adjusting exposure and development for Platinum Palladium prints. I suspect the POP (printing out) version will be what I end up using. Although, the DOP (develop out - KOx) process is beautiful. The Platinum Palladium printing process is a perfect match for collodion negatives, wet or dry.

This is all in service of my next project. Places and objects that once were sacred and special to the Ute Indian. They were the first tribe here (in Colorado) and have a long history (thousands of years) in this area, the Tava (Shining Mountain) (Pike’s Peak) region. In fact, the Ute believe they were created in the Garden of the Gods. I will do a series of plates in that place soon.

CHEMISTRY

Collodion
130 ml Ether
130 ml Alcohol
2.5 g Cadmium Iodide
2.5 g Ammonium Iodide
2 g Cadmium Bromide
240 ml Plain U.S.P. Collodion (4%)

Potassium Iodide Bath (KI)
1000 ml DH2O
2 g Potassium Iodide (KI)

Iodized Albumen
280 ml Albumen (Egg Whites) - about 10 large, fresh eggs
70 ml DH2O
3.2 g Potassium Iodide
.65 g Potassium Bromide
7.4 ml Ammonium

Silver Bath (regular for wet plate)
1000 ml DH2O
80 g AgNO3

Aceto-Nitrate Bath (for albumenized plates)
1000 ml DH2O
65 g AgNO3
62 ml Glacial Acetic Acid

Developer(s)
1000 ml DH2O
4.4 g Pyrogallic Acid
1 g Citric Acid
Developer Citric Acid
500 ml DH2O
9 g Citric Acid
Developer Silver Nitrate
500 ml DH2O
33 g AgNO3
Dry Pyrogallic Acid
1 g Pyrogallic Acid (dry - mix with DH2O right before use)

Fix
500 ml DH2O
100 g Sodium Thiosulfate

THE STEPS TO PREPARE A PLATE

1. Clean the plate - you can also flow diluted iodized albumen on the plate to prevent blisters - after cleaning.

2. Collodionize the plate - this is the regular negative collodion - Mudd suggests using an iodide only collodion, I’m using a tiny bit of CdBr in mine.

3. Sensitize the plate - this is done for 2 - 5 minutes in a regular 6% - 8% AgNO3 bath.

4. Wash the plate (DH2O) - it’s important to wash the “free silver” from the plate.

5. Place the plate in a bath of potassium iodide (KI) for 10 seconds.

6. Albumenize (iodized) the plate - after the wash do this step while the plate is wet. Do it at least twice - flowing the iodized albumen over the plate to break the DH2O surface and get the albumen on the plate.

7. Dry the Plate - I recommend letting them stand and dry. No heat or no hair dryers. Give them a few hours or a day. They will store forever in this condition and are NOT sensitive to light.

8. Sensitize the plate (aceto-nitrate bath) - 1 minute - this is a highly acetic bath, be sure to evenly and quickly submerge the plate into the bath.

9. Wash the plate (DH2O) - this is a critical step - you may want to use two trays of DH2O - you cannot wash too much.

10. Dry the plate and it’s ready to use. I recommend letting them stand and dry. No heat no hair dryers. Give them a few hours or a day. They are ready to use (wet or dry) and will store like this in a dark cool place for two to four weeks - longer in the winter or cold weather

EXPOSING THE PLATE

Exposures that I’m going to experiment with may be very different from yours. I will run four (4) Half Plates at f/16 starting with 3 minutes, then 4 minutes, 5 minutes, and 6 minutes. All exposed on a bright sunny day, the same scene, etc. This is where the 19th-century literature talks about a 14” lens with a 1/2” stop on a “bright day” a landscape would be an f/29 lens and a 10 - 12 minute exposure on a 9” x 11” plate. And a 7” x 5” plate with Dallmeyer triplet stopped to X (about f/16) for 3 - 5 minutes. I’m somewhere between and have a lot more UVA/B where I am.

DEVELOPING THE PLATE OR “BLACKENING UP”

1. Keep good notes. What the time, date, temperature, RH, exposure time, scene, etc. was. It’s important to document everything in order to replicate it or know what to expect with development.

2. After exposure, remove the plate from the holder in the safelight/redlight. Use some DH2O and wet the plate - allow the water to sit on the plate for 30 seconds to a minute.

3. Use 0.3 grams of dry pyrogallic acid and mix with 60 ml DH2O. Dissolve it in the DH2O and then pour it on and off the wet plate - continue to do this until you start seeing the image form. Pour it on and off, not letting it sit on the plate. When you see reflected details in the plate, you’ve gone fast enough. Don’t go too far, and yet get some of the detail in the image to show via reflection. You can look at it in the light. Think of this step as getting an “outline” or weak image. A starting point.

4. Use 60 ml of the Pyro/Acid Developer and add 6 (six) drops of the Silver Developer and start the process again - on and off, on and off. This is where the image will start to strengthen - you will see what they call “vigor” come onto the plate. Go as far as you need or want to - this will be your final development.

FIX THE PLATE

After development, wash the plate in tap water to get any residual chemistry off of the plate. Place the plate in the fix and allow it to dissolve all of the unexposed silver. This may take 2 - 5 minutes. Let it clear and then clean it with a cotton ball.'

WASHING THE PLATE

After fixing, wash the plate with running water (or frequently changed tray water) for 30 minutes.

VARNISHING THE PLATE

You can print from these without varnishing. If you are underexposed, it will help. If you are overexposed put a coat of varnish on the plate. Again, no need to varnish if you don’t want to.

Platinum Palladium Print 19th Century Bottles

Pure Palladium Print

The tonal range in this print is mind-boggling! These negatives LOVE the printing process! Join me Saturday, January 8, 2022, at 1000 MST/1800 CET hrs for my Studio Q Show LIVE! I'll review what I've been doing and share some of these prints! I might even give some away! Do you like Platinum/Palladium Prints?

Sand Creek Massacre Site, Colorado - "No Trespassing" Ghost Dance Project- Pure Palladium Print - January 3, 2022. (2019 Wet Collodion Negative - 6" x 6"/15 x 15cm)

Wet Collodion Negatives & Platinum Palladium Prints

“Fox Jaw & Thistle” - photographed with my iPhone in the wash (in natural light). No adjustments. - Platinum Palladium Print from a 6” x 6” (15 x 15cm) Wet Collodion Negative - 2019

I worked on a project called, “Ghost Dance: Native American Massacres Site” for a few years. I finished in 2019. I was never satisfied with the POP prints from the work. It’s all 6” x 6” (15 x 15cm) wet collodion negatives. I’ve been wanting to print the work in Platinum Palladium for some time now and I did a few today. The results are amazing. This is a perfect match: Wet Collodion Negatives and Platinum Palladium Prints. Absolutely perfect. The range and depth in these are some of the deepest I’ve seen. I know the “iPhone images” don’t come close to doing them justice, but I wanted to share these.

Lessons Learned

• I know most people working in Platinum Palladium print from digital negatives. The technical perspective is almost 180 degrees. I understand we are comparing apples and oranges taking about Wet Collodion Negatives and Digital Negatives. I have no experience with digital stuff. I can tell you though, the recommended density is very different when using a collodion negative. The contrast control is different, and the printing is different. I know this from talking to digital negative guys.

• I used mostly Palladium with these prints; 12 drops Ferric Oxalate, 12 drops Palladium, 1 drop Platinum, and 2 drops of Tween 20. My developer was Potassium Oxalate at about 90F (33C) - I’ll warm it up next time and try for “warmer” tones, but I do love these. My exposures were 2:30 in the sun (high UV here). Developed for 1 minute, cleared in EDTA x2, and washed for 20 minutes. I used Hahnemühle Platinum Rag - I’ll try some Arches Platine next.

• The negative is the most important component here. Platinum Palladium is simple compared to most historic printing processes. It’s by far the easiest. I know why it was called, “the King of prints” in the 19th and early 20th centuries. They are eye-cracking and mind-blowing to look at - they really are.

I’ll do a video (Studio Q Show LIVE!) soon on my thoughts, my negatives, my prints, and where I’m going with this. I may end up printing out my entire body of work from Ghost Dance with this process. It’s winter now and I’m not sure how much new work I'll get completed when it’s snowy and cold. We’ll see. When spring arrives, it will be full-time on the new work. Stay tuned!

“Cottonwood Tree - Eastern Plains of Colorado” - photographed with my iPhone in the wash (in natural light). No adjustments. - Platinum Palladium Print from a 6” x 6” (15 x 15cm) Wet Collodion Negative - 2019

Mixing Your Own Platinum Palladium Chemistry

A lot of people that follow me and read my blog or social media posts work in the Wet Collodion process. I’m amazed that so few working in Platinum Palladium don’t mix their own chemistry. It’s probably one of the easiest and simple things to do. The printing process is quite simple too. There’s no reason not to mix your own printing chemistry, especially if your working in, and mixing chemistry for Wet Collodion.

I made all of my chemistry today:

• Ferric Oxalate: 55ml

• Platinum: 25ml

• Palladium: 50ml

• Contrast Control: 30ml

• Tween 20 (10%): 60ml

• Hydrogen Peroxide (3%): 60ml

• Potassium Oxalate: 1L (30%)

• EDTA Clearing Bath: 1L (3%)

4.6 grams of Palladium and 3.2 grams of Kosher Coarse Salt - mixed in hot DH2O.

Getting setup - all of the equipment to quickly make up enough chemistry for many prints!

60ml Dropper Bottles for the “drop” chemistry.

Ferric Oxalate - the compound that triggers the platinum and palladium to reduce to pure metals.

The Collodio-Albumen Dry Plate Process: Recipes and Methodology

History

Jean Marie Taupenot, a Frenchman, (1824-1856) was a professor of chemistry and physics in the Prytanee Military Academy at La Fleche (Dept. of Sarthe). Taupenot published his collodio-albumen process at the end of 1855 and exhibited the first specimens of his work, which attracted attention and admiration on account of the fine quality of the image obtained; other examples of his process were exhibited at the London Exposition of 1862 as objects of interest. Taupenot's process met with immediate favor as early as 1855; it placed in the hands of experienced photographers a practical method for obtaining good results and simplified outdoor photography, although, of course, it was necessary to give longer exposures than with wet collodion plates (often several minutes). For instance, the Frenchman A. Ferrier made a notable series of views of the Swiss lakes in 1857. In England, James Mudd, Joseph Sidebotham, and others worked this collodio-albumen dry process with great success (1860-1870). Joseph Sidebotham released his version of the process in 1861 and it became the dominant way to work until James Mudd released a newer version in 1866. (History of Photography: Josef Maria Eder)

COLLODIO-ALBUMEN PROCESS - DRY PLATE

by JOSEPH SIDEBOTHAM, 1861. Manchester, England.

STEP ONE: PREPARING THE PLATE: COLLODION AND THE ALBUMEN SOLUTION

• Flow a glass plate with Collodion. J. Mudd recommends an IODIZED ONLY collodion - KI and CdI. I’m using a bromo-iodized collodion that I make wet collodion negatives from. This is a variation on Thomas Sutton’s recipe - half method #1 and the other half method #2.

• Sensitize the plate for 3 - 5 minutes in an 8% - 9% AgNO3 bath.

• Wash it well in a bath of distilled water - wash all of the free silver from the plate. This is critical; there must be no rivulets when pouring water over the plate.

• Drain the DH2O for 30 seconds.

• Flow the Albumen Solution over the plate four times, pouring off at each corner (save the Albumen into another container and use again). You cannot do this too many times. Make sure that the solution has penetrated, or washed off, the water (leftover from the bath wash).

Store the plate in a clean, warm area to dry. The plate will store for months, or really indefinite in this state. It is NOT light sensitive at this point.

STEP TWO: RENDERING THE PLATE SENSITIVE: ACETO-NITRATE BATH SOLUTION

• Immerse the plate into the Aceto-Nitrate Bath Solution for 30 - 60 seconds.

• Wash the plate very well in DH2O as in the previous step.

• Set up in a warm, dark area to dry.

After the plate is dry, it can be placed in a holder and is ready for use. The plate will be good in hot weather for 7 - 10 days.

STEP THREE: EXPOSURE

Like any of these processes, light, optics (aperture), scene, and climate will determine exposure time. A "general" rule is that a bright day of a landscape scene with a medium stop (f/11) will require 3 - 10 minutes. In my situation, the altitude I’m at will shorten exposures quite a bit. I’ll be exposing 2 - 5 minutes at f/16 or f/22. These will be fully illuminated landscapes at 8,500 - 10,000 feet above sea level (2.590 - 3.050m).

STEP FOUR: DEVELOPING THE IMAGE: PYROGALLIC DEVELOPING SOLUTION

• Remove the plate from the holder and place it in a tray of DH2O for 30 seconds.

• Remove from the water tray and pour on some of the Pyro Developing Solution; pour this off and on once or twice, and then allow it to remain on the plate for a few minutes; then pour it off, and mix with it three or four drops of the Silver Developing Solution, and pour it on and off again several times; the image will now appear, and keep gaining intensity until finished.

• Should the development be very slow, a little more of the Silver Developing Solution should be added; but as little silver should be used as possible, as it is apt to decompose the pyrogallic solution, and turn it black when it must be thrown away, and the plate washed before the fresh solution is used. As in the collodion process, an underdeveloped negative has the lights and shades in too great contrast, one over-exposed has too little; much may be done in the development to remedy this. Pyrogallic acid develops the image, nitrate of silver intensifies it.

STEP FIVE: FIX AND WASH THE PLATE

• After development, place the plate into a tray, or tank, of "Hypo" and clear the image - this will take from 2 - 5 minutes.

• Wash the plate well after fixing and dry the plate.

STEP SIX: VARNISH THE PLATE

• The old literature says that a shellac varnish (French Varnish) is preferred, but traditional sandarac varnish will work fine.

CHEMISTRY

I’ve increased these by x5 - except for the silver developing solution and fixer. You can adjust for what volume you want to make.

Albumen Solution
White of egg: 29.5 ml (1 oz.) - x 5 = ~148 ml (5 large egg whites, the fresher the better)

Distilled Water: 7.4 ml (¼ oz.) - x 5 = 37 ml

Liquid Ammonia: 0.6 ml (10 minims) - x 5 = 3 ml

Iodide of potassium: 0.32 g (5 grains) - x 5 = 1.6 g

Bromide of potassium: 0.065 g (1 grain) - x 5 = 0.33 g

Tincture of iodine: 0.06 ml (1 minim) - x 5 = 0.3 ml

Beat up well together; allow to stand and filter. It will keep good many months.

Aceto-Nitrate Bath Solution

Distilled water - 29.5 ml -1 oz. - x 5 = 148 ml

Silver Nitrate - 40 grains - 2.6 g - x 5 = 13 g

Glacial acetic acid - 25 minims- 1.54 ml - x 5 = 7.25 ml

Pyrogallic Developing Solution

Distilled water - 29.5 ml -1 oz. - x 5 = 148 ml

Pyrogallic acid - 2 grains - 0.13 g - x 5 = 0.65 g

Citric acid - 1 grain - 0.065 g - x 5 = 0.33 g

(Filter if needed)

Silver Developing Solution

Distilled Water - 5 oz. - 148 ml

Silver Nitrate - 10 grains - 0.65 g

Fixing Solution

Distilled Water - 10 oz. - 295 ml

Sodium Thiosulfate (Hyposulphite of soda) - 5 oz. - 142 g

Waterhouse Stops, What's the Big Deal?

What are “Waterhouse stops”? Waterhouse stops were common in the "brass barrel" era of camera lenses, and are named after British astronomer John Waterhouse. In the late 1850s, Waterhouse invented a system using plates with different aperture diameters that could be inserted into a slot in the lens barrel.

I recently hired Markus Hofstaetter, in Austria, to create a set of stops for me for one of my lenses. He’s a great guy and does great work. I highly recommend him if you need work like this done. Check out his website - www.markus-hofstaetter.at.

Items from Markus’ package. The stops have a little red case too!

For this project, I’m using (mostly) my Dallmeyer 3B lens (290mm ~f/4). It’s from the 1870s and uses Waterhouse stops. I only have one original stop, an f/5.6. This was used as the pattern for Markus Hofstaetter to “3D print” the other stop values.

So what’s the big deal? Well, as you might know, I’m starting a new project about sacred rock formations, culturally modified trees, and special places of the Ute Indians. Their origin story begins at the Garden of the Gods (Colorado Springs). They say they were created there and that they’ve been here since the beginning of time. I’m hoping the work will reflect the beauty and the uniqueness of this (their) land.

I’m also on a technical quest - trying to make the perfect negative and printing for a 19th-century aesthetic. This requires a lot of things, but one of them is the ability to “stop down” the lens. Stopping down the lens (using a smaller aperture) will create a very sharp image with a deep depth of field. That will allow me to exploit the Platinum Palladium printing processes to achieve a look and feel from the 19th-century.

As I’ve said in previous blogs, I’ll be experimenting with some dry plate processes with this project as well. The Albumen on Glass process and the Collodio-Albumen process (dry plates). These processes will be important to use because some of the places will not be accessible and almost impossible to use wet collodion. My biggest concern is aesthetics. I want a dry process that looks right - not like sheet film (silver gelatin) - that’s a big concern for me.

I’m excited to run some f/16 and f/22 test plates with these new stops. Stay tuned!

All six stops. F/4 - F/22

Pyro Redevelopment Or Copper Intensification?

Which is better “Pyro Redevelopment” or “Copper Intensification”? Or, is that even a fair question? For me, both have their advantages and disadvantages. It’s not really a question of whether one is better than the other, it’s a question of what you prefer and how you want to achieve adding density to your wet/dry collodion negatives.

“Pyro Redeveloper”
The “Pyro Redeveloper” is made up of pyrogallic acid, citric acid, and distilled water. Along with that, you add a few drops of silver nitrate. I’ve used from 9% to 20% - it all works well. The idea behind this method is control. For example, for a Whole Plate negative, I’ll start with 60 ml of pyro, citric acid, and DH2O. I’ll add 10 - 20 drops of AgNO3. I’ll start by covering the plate in a weak solution of iodine. This “re-halgonates” the plate or makes it slightly sensitive to light again (think silver iodide). I’ll rinse it in distilled water and expose it to UV light for a minute or so. Next, in low light (no UV light), I’ll pour the 60 ml mixture on and off the plate (back into the beaker). I’ll do this until the solution has turned red - pulling the iodine from the silver. If I’ve gained the density I want, I’ll simply rinse the plate in distilled water and it will be finished. If I want more density, I’ll fill the beaker up again and repeat the process. You have a lot of control over this. It may take five minutes or 30 minutes, depending on how you mix your chemistry and the density you’re trying to achieve. The disadvantage may be handling the pyrogallic acid. And time, you may find this takes too long. The biggest advantage is control. You can achieve exactly what you want for density.

“Copper Intensification”
The “Copper Intensification” process is made up of a bleaching agent and a silver bath. The bleaching agent contains copper sulfate and potassium bromide. You bleach the silver on the negative to a “white” and then you drop it in a 12% - 20% silver nitrate bath. The intensification is immediate and can create super-dense negatives. You can adjust this process and do a mild intensification or really go for it and make a bulletproof (Dmax 5.0) negative. Either way, you don’t have a lot of control, but the process works very well. The cost can be prohibitive; a 12% silver bath can be $125 USD+. The bleaching compounds are not expensive. There are no real dangerous chemicals involved with this - the silver nitrate needs to be handled with care - but there’s nothing like the pyrogallic acid in the previous method.

Stay Tuned
I’m going to run some tests using both methods for my Platinum Palladium and Rawlins Oil prints. I’ll document Dmax and printing quality from each for each printing process. For years, I’ve used the pyro method. I used the copper method quite a bit many years ago. The cost of silver nitrate can be prohibitive, however, if you’re making enough negatives, know what printing works, and need the density for printing, it’s well worth it.

Checking Density (Dmax/Dmin) On Wet Collodion Negatives

The Wet Collodion Negative - varnished and ready to run some test prints on Platinum Palladium and Rawlins Oil!

The Equation
Dmax: The area with the most density with detail.
Dmin: The area with the least amount of density with detail.
Subtract the Dmin from the Dmax and that is your NEGATIVE DENSITY.

The Print
If you want to maximize the quality of a print, you need to know what the Dmax/Dmin, or density of your negative is - maximum density (with detail), where the most silver is deposited. This is the brightest or highlight area(s). The thinnest part with detail is your Dmin area - approaching the void area or shadow(s). And everything else in between is the middle tones or middle values.

Why is it important? Not every negative will print well on every POP (Printing Out Process) or DOP (Developing Out Process). Some require density in the 2.0+ range - like Salt Paper. And some require less density. If you fail to match the negative with the process, it will never be as good of a print as possible if it were matched up.

In my opinion, you should choose a printing process and make negatives exclusively for that process. I’m not saying you can’t print a “Salt Negative” on Colodio-Chloride paper, you can. What I’m saying is that it will never be as good as a Salt print and vice versus.

My plans for this project are two types of prints. Both are “non-silver” and one is a pigment process. They are Platinum Palladium (mostly Palladium) and Rawlins Oil prints. I’ve made many Rawlins Oil prints and know that good negatives are almost identical to the Platinum Palladium process. The density of 1.50 - 1.80 is perfect. I can get great prints all the way to 2.0.

What happens if you don’t get the proper exposure or development on the negative? What can you do? Rarely are you too dense; I’m not talking about over-exposure, but getting in the density of 2.0+ with a foundation negative, or a negative straight out the camera. Most of the time they will be a bit under the desired density for technical reasons (fogging the shadow areas). If you need more density, you can do that chemically with pyrogallic acid and citric acid plus a bit of silver nitrate. This is called redevelopment and you can take it as far as you desire regarding density. Problem solved.

The Negative
Today, I varnished and prepared my test plate for my first run of the Platinum Palladium process and Rawlins Oil process. I checked the Dmax and found that where the light was hitting the back of the stump, my highlights, with details, ranging from 1.75 to 1.80. And the areas with the thinnest silver (some weeds in the foreground) that still had detail registered as 0.20 - that means if I subtract the Dmin from the Dmax I have a density of 1.59 - or thereabout. This should be a perfect negative for the processes. I’ll soon find out!