Cyanotype - The Shoot

Copyright 2013 Francois Cleroux

I have already shown some nude samples from images I had shot in the past. And, although they may be perfect to show as examples, I decided in 'creating' my images from scratch specifically for this project. Why?

First off, the images themselves, what should they be of? Should I do classic full body nudes, should I do tighter cropped body and light studies (which I like) or should I shoot something in between, perhaps with more complex frame filling compositions?

What about the format? Should I use the standard 35mm 2:3 aspect ratio, the traditional 4:5 aspect ratio or perhaps do some square (1:1) images?



Copyright 2013 Francois Cleroux

The reason this is all important is because when creating a body of work or more specifically a project or collection, it is essential that the images have a coherent feel and look to them that holds the collection together. They should look like they belong together.

This can be achieved by keeping the lighting the same (or similar), by having all your images the same aspect ratio, using the same focal length lens and so on. There are many photographic attributes and characteristics that can be used to cohesively define a collection. This will be important with my Cyanotype project.

More importantly than the above however, shooting specifically for the Cyanotype Project will give me the control that I require when creating the Cyanotypes. Cyanotypes are generally fairly high contrast with few or limited mid-tones. By creating new images specifically for this media type I can better control the mid-tones. I can do that by making sure I start off with the right lighting, shooting RAW and then keeping the mid-tones in mind when I process my digital images, create my digital negatives and then finally creating my Cyanotypes.

Copyright 2013 Francois Cleroux

On the lighting, as you can probably see from most of my nude images I tend to like rather dark high contrast nudes. By using a softer light that gives me softer transitions from light to dark, I can create larger mid-toned transitions between the light and dark areas. The overall contrast will be the same, but with slightly enhanced mid-tones.

Also, because the Cyanotypes are high contrast, any areas within an image that are very faint with just slight detail showing within a dark area will be lost in the Cyanotype process and will be turned to dark blue. Some of the faint detailed areas are important to the overall balance of some of the images and so one must make sure that these show up on the final Cyanotype image. By increasing the amount of light in those areas and properly exposing those normally faint areas, I can ensure details will be retained through the negative creation process and on to the final Cyanotype print.

As you can see from this post the Cyanotype Project truly starts pre-camera shutter release. The right lighting from the onset will translate to properly detailed Cyanotypes.

Copyright 2013 Francois Cleroux

Next time you head out on a shoot, think about what you will be using the images for and on what media types you will be printing on. Will you be printing on high contrast glossy paper or on lower contrast matte paper or on some other media type. Properly exposing and making any adjustments before you print will greatly improve the quality of your printed work.

For my first shoot I photographed two models in a studio setting using studio lighting and a traditional black backdrop. The images here are different contrast levels that I will use to explore the process with. I did want to do some High Key images but will try that on my next shoot to see what that would look like in a Cyanotype. An afterthought I'd like to explore.

For me, this process has given me some excellent digital images I can work with to continue the project. Next up, let's discuss the digital editing of the Raw files and then look at creating the Digital Negatives and the Specific Curves required for properly creating Cyanotypes.

© 2013 Francois Cleroux

(Version 1.00 - April  2013)

2013 Delta Photo Inspirations

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Just a reminder that this weekend is the 3rd annual Delta Photo Inspirations show. We have a great Friday evening reception and awards presentation free for all to attend and then the Workshops, Vendors Showcase and a great Keynote Speech by famed photographer Christopher Morris.

The workshops are not only excellent but are a great value. Please check them out at www.deltaphotoinspirations.com

Hope to see you there.

Francois

Cyanotype – The Negative

So the process for creating Cyanotypes all starts with the Negative. Well, OK, perhaps with the photo shoot to get a negative. I will do a post on that when I do my next shoot for this project.  One could of course shoot film and have readymade negatives. For this project however I’m looking at creating 16x20 images and unfortunately I do not have a 16x20 View camera at my disposal. So, I’ll be shooting digital images and creating Digital Negatives. No, not creating Adobe .DNG files, and not the Digital Negative term coined by the father of Camera RAW files Thomas Knoll representing the RAW data itself but rather printing old style Negative transparencies on Acetate film using my Epson 3880 printer.

The concept of creating a Digital Negative itself is fairly simple; however doing it well is a little more complex. You could simply create a negative image in Photoshop and print it or use your printer driver software to print a negative image if you printer driver can do that, but both these processes would be wrong, or at least would not result in an optimum Cyanotype print with the best possible tones.

Original Image

Besides printing a negative image we have a few other things to tend to. First the image also needs to be reversed. That is, it needs to be flipped on the Horizontal plane. The Negative image will be placed emulsion side of the negative to the emulsion side of the paper and then contact printed. This process reverses the image so this needs to be corrected to make sure words read properly and that right hands remain right hands.

Secondly, more importantly and definitely a little more technically challenging is that the tones need to properly be converted, or mapped, to produce a good tonal curve specifically for the Cyanotype process. Your perfect image with great Whites, Blacks and Mid-Tones will not convert perfectly during the Negative Conversion and even if they did, they would be a perfect Negative conversion for printing on standard paper, not on the greatly reduced tonal range of Cyanotype papers.

Negative Image, Reversed

I will cover the process I used in detail on my next post “Cyanotype – Curves”. However, some excellent information can be found on the Internet and in some books. Careful with the books however. Although some purport to help you with the Digital Negative and even with Alternative Printing Processes, very few help you with creating curves specifically for the Cyanotype Process.

For my first test I used an image that somewhat represented my project and then did a simple Negative Conversion and only eyeballed the curves to create what I thought would be a better negative based on my days in the darkroom. I then reversed the Negative image (flipped on the Horizontal) and printed my Acetate Negative. Again, I will cover in detail my printing process but for now note that I used the Epson’s B&W settings to get optimum blacks in my Negative.

Fake Digital Cyanotype, Colors and Density not right but an accurate representation of the details.

The Negative was printed on what is considered to be the best Transparency Film available for creating Digital Negatives, Pictorico Premium OHP Transparency Film. Note that this overhead transparency film is clean. For creating Digital Negatives for traditional B&W prints and some other alternate processes, White (as opposed to clear) Transparency film is recommended; the Pictorico Hi-Gloss OHP White Film. For testing and to keep costs down I first purchased 8.5x11 inch sheets. I also purchased Sun Art pre-made Cyanotype paper in 5x7 sheets.

Using my printed Negative I laid it overtop (emulsion side down) of the pre-coated paper. Over top of that I laid a sheet of Contact Glass to press the negative and paper together. This was all done in my office, no darkroom required. I place this setup outside on a sunny day for five minutes creating other test exposures of 3 minutes and 10 minutes.

Scanned Cyanotype, Some detail is lost, colors fairly good. If you enlarge the image you can see some of the diagonal banding from the paper.

The paper was then developed in a shallow tray of water with running water trickling into the tray. Apparently water temperature can make some differences and so can the addition of other substances to help darken the final image. I tried some tests using Lemon Juice. The results were great considering I didn’t use proper curves for the negatives, the quality of the coated Sun Art paper is less than great, the test exposures were not refined and proper developing techniques were not used.

On the pre-coated Sun Art paper my comment is based on both the cheap very thin paper that is used and on the banding effect that is either caused by their coating process or perhaps by the paper itself. Not sure which. But, used as kids’ projects by moms or teachers these would be very cool and very affordable.

Next post - Cyanotype - The Shoot


© 2013 Francois Cleroux

(Version 1.02 - March 2013)