Huge bubbles and lifted emulsion with Liquid Light - How to correct

My photo club ran a Liquid Light session this week. Unfortunately, no

one was really experienced with this technique and even though we

followed the instructions very carefully, the results were rather poor.

 

One of the worst problems were the huge bubbles forming in either the

fix or the wash water (a close examination of the paper revealed a

large number of small dried bubbles in the emulsion, perhaps caused by

the foam brush used to apply it) - sometimes these bubble would grow

large enough to lift the emulsion from the paper on a large surface.

 

The second issue was gelatin - when drying and curling, it often

formed yellow and cracking puddles on the paper. One possible

explanation was that two layers of Liquid light was applied on the

watercolour paper - maybe it was overkill.

 

Any hints? One of the concerns we had was the rinse water - how warm

or how cool should it be? We used 70 F water. Also, when exactly does

one tone the emulsion? After 10 minutes in the fix and 10 minutes in

the rinse water, the emulsion had swelled a lot and was VERY fragile -

is this normal? A few more minutes in toner made it even more fragile

and the toner had a hard time getting through the thick gelatin layer

and doing any effect.

why are you fixing for ten minutes??

Bubbles will form if the emulsion cools down during the coating. You

should use a water bath to keep the emsulsion at the desired temperature. Another factor can also be the coating technique. It should be applied even and fast. I let my papers to dry out completely (overnight) before using them. I have used papers in not-so-dry conditions and the results were less them reasonable, for me! I use a foam brush as well and double "pass" of liquid light (vertical and horizontal - order depends on the subject portrayed). Rinse water temperature seems fine to me, however after fixing it rinsing times should be over 40 minutes (I rinse for ca. 1 hour), unless the paper

has received a gelatin coating and is dried and flat. Some fixers can be a problem. Adding a hardening agent to the fixer will help a lot, (if not essential). 10 minutes seems to be a bit too much fixing. I use 6 minutes, maximum. I tone my images right away (after the 1 hour rinse).

 

(I'm very bad when it comes to upload my photos, but I have three examples (printed and toned) on Aquarelle paper hete on photo.net)

I wasn't present when the paper was coated, a few days before the experiment. I don't know if the temperature was correct. I know, however, that the paper was coated once, left to dry partially and then coated again. Is it possible, specially if the gelatin was a bit on the cool side, that the emulsion was too thick?

 

For the rest, the documentation we had suggested a 5-10 minutes fix. No time was suggested for washing. I admit that 10 minutes is perhaps a bit short, but then, we were about a dozen working simultaneously and the washing container was rather full...

 

Any other hints? The process is cool, but I suspect that mastery might be difficult.

"Is it possible, specially if the gelatin was a bit on the cool side, that the emulsion was too thick?"

 

Absolutely yes. I would think it's a very common problems. You also say that the paper was partially dry. I sounds like trouble to me. I would either go with one "double pass" coat or let it to dry completely before re-coating it. I have problems with bubbles when passing the second layer onto a paper containing a "humid" emulsion.

emulsion layer. A thin coat helps to obtain an even surface and to

avoid bubbles. Exposures are long though... I expose between ca. 1.5 and 4 minutes from 120-film frames. 35 mm frames would take longer with my single "double-pass" coating procedure.

 

Surface quality is "very" important. Some surfaces will benefit from different treatments before coating. I would rather suggest starting with a heavy paper (the non-textured version helps to avoid bubbles), like Fabriano 5, or Arches Aquarelle. If you don't want to pay too much, Fabriano Artistico is a good option. Alternatively, any other paper made from 100% cottom fibers or good quality rag should suffice. A heavier paper will also stand better the long washing times.

I exposed for about 50 seconds, f/11 from a 4x5 negative. This looks extremely short compared to your times, so it would be an indication that the emulsion was too thick. The paper was in my view, sufficient: 140 lbs cold press watercolour paper of "generic" quality, nothing fancy, neither very rough or very smooth. Nothing as nice as the Arches, but I've used the same with great success for other alt process, mostly cyanotypes.

 

How do you avoid bubbles with the foam brush you also use? They look like bubble making machines! Also, what exactly is the role of the hardener in the fixer? Does it make the gelatin less fargile while swollen, or does it mainly influences the preservation of the dried print?

I'm not so sure if your exposure times are so short. It depends on the

final printed area. Here it goes the details of what I normally use, so

you can compare to yours. Remember that for the same "printed" area, you have 4 to 5 more negative area, so more light passing through your negative and so hitting the paper. I use ca. 1.5 to 4.5 minutes for a

"single double-pass" coating (and so printed) area of ca. 30 x 24 cm.

 

I agree that avoind bubbles with the foam brushes is tricky and it took me a few trials until to get it to a decent stage. I like the foam brushes because it allows me to coat more papers before the gelatin cools down and becames thick. I keep the gelatin very liquid (warmer as possible) and dip only the tip of the brush into the gelatin. I spread it evenly onto the paper until the brush is out of gelatin and repeat the operation until to cover the desired area. I

repeat the operation in the orthogonal direction and let it dry overnight.

 

"Does it make the gelatin less fargile while swollen..."

 

Yes, the hardener will basically keep the gelatin molecules together avoinding structure breaking and separation from the surface. I read that one can add a small amount of chrome alum hardening agent to the emulsion (gelatin) before coating with the same intent above, but I

have never used myself.

Just to make it clear... I add the hardening agent to the fixer (final stage). Adding it to the emulsion may make it even more difficult to melt.

Thank you very much for all this detailed information. It will provide us with some sound ideas for further experimentation. Hopefully, the next attempt will be excellent.

I use foam brushes with LL (on dry arches aquaelle paper) and haven't had the bubble problems. I keep my small bit of LL in a dish floating in warm water also.

 

What I remember when i was learning LL years ago was hearing that bubbles will form if you shake or otherwise overagitate the LL bottle. Maybe while it was warming up someone picked up the bottle and inverted it a few times, thinking that would speed up the melting. The side effect of this would be bubbles.

 

I did all my printing around 68-70 degrees, and the prints came out bubble-less.. I did multiple coats on the watercolour paper though, and even used a fan to speed up the drying time in between coats, and then printed that same night.

 

Hope this helps.