Toning mistake--how to duplicate or re-create (paper question)

[shawn2_gibson]

I tried this at another forum, but the more answers I get the better, and I haven't got any yet from photo.net.

 

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I printed a Tech Pan neg on Ilford MG FB WT the other day. It was the last print after a marathon, my developer (Dektol @ 1:5) was

disgustingly grey-brown. My selenium was very old (approx. 1:6 and maybe 50 prints old). I ended up getting a very beautiful,

yellow-ochre print, which at first I thought was gross, but in the morning I couldn't believe it. I have done everything I can to get this warm (tertiary) yellow ochre look again. Old Developer, fix, stop, coca cola (yep...) in the developer, everything. Have you ever gotten this ochre look before? I need to get it again. I have a series of Tech Pan nudes that I want to try to get a show on (fingers crossed), and I want them all to receive this treatment. Any suggestions you have would be very much appreciated. I always tone my prints in selenium, and I always use Ilford MG FB WT. Nothing else is sacred, so whatever you suggest I will try. Shawn.

[tony_brent]

That color may have also come from a combination of exhausted

developer and weak fixer. Not sure how much of a contribution the weak

toner made.

[meincke]

The temperature of the developer/fixer/toner has some influence

on the color too.

[ed b.]

I can't offer any information about how you got that color, but to

reproduce it you might want to try toning in selenium, then reducing

the toned print in Farmer's reducer. Or, simply tone in a sepia

toner.

[shawn2_gibson]

--> That color may have also come from a combination of exhausted developer and weak fixer.

THAT is quite possible, since I had exhausted the developer by the time I made that print, I probably had weak fixer by then, too. I know

improperly fixed prints take on all kinds of hues (generally pink in my recent expereience with improperly fixed contact sheets, although some went

blue, too), and maybe the combination of this colour (pink or blue), then the selenium, is what gave me that marvelous ochre tone. If that's the case,

then maybe I should try that again, i.e., use a weak fix and then tone it; and then, for archiving, I suppose I should rinse, re-fix in fresh fixer, and

then continue with my normal archiving process (10 minutes in wash-aid and 1 hour wash at 68 deg.). MY NEW QUESTION, then, is, how do I

'artifically' weaken the fixer? Can I just use a very dilute solution, say 1:20 instead of 1:9? Or must I run a number of prints through? I hope not,

since consistencey is obviously the key here...

[sean2]

Shawn, a lonf time ago i had encountered the same exact effect.

only it was using a weak bleach (like the one that comes in the sepia

packages from kodak) to barely effect the print ( which was rc ) and

then an old ( which made it weak ) batch of Kodak Brown toner. you

might want to play aroung with the combination. the silver was

practically reverting back to silver in the final print. tho i no

longer have the print and cannot testify to the life of it. The

negative i printed from was also very thin ( grade 5 and could have

used more contrast! ) which lended to the effect. Good luck, Sean.

[shawn2_gibson]

HELP! I've gone toner crazy! Trying to get this effect has led to many interesting results. And many disasters. But no even-close-to-perfect match.

First lesson: wash your selenium and sepia-toned prints very, very well before putting it back in your developer (or the rest of your prints in that

developer will be ruined with crazy marks...). Better yet, use a different developer for post-toned prints...ALSO, Kodak selenium, I found out, has

fixer in it ( a little); I'm getting some interesting results going from a 15sec. fix, into selenium, washaid, then full fix. O the possibilities hurt my brain

(but tickle my fancy, too...)!