to test the concept

[Ray Heath]

please consider swapping your print for mine

i prefer unmounted, 8x10, titled and signed

my image was originally captured on 5x8 FB low contrast Forte paper in a home made simple lens camera

the lens is a magnifying glass of approximately 75mm focal length which gives an extreme wide angle of view on this format

the exposure was 45 seconds @ f64 on FB paper rated at ISO 3

this print is on the same low contrast FB paper

Ray

[DarkroomExperimente]

very nice image

how did you make the print? contact print with paper negative??

[Ray Heath]

g'day Dark, thnx for your interest

yes, the print was made by contact through a black paper mask to give a white border

the neg was firstly oiled by rubbing baby oil into the back of the paper, this daramatically shortens exposure time, increases contrast and in some cases renders more of the paper texture

Ray

[JBrunner]

It's a very cool photograph and process. Thank you for posting it.

[DarkroomExperimente]

interesting....does the oil seep through to the other side and get onto the print?

[Ray Heath]

interesting....does the oil seep through to the other side and get onto the print?

hi Dark

no surprisingly

at first i was really careful to protect the emulsion side, and though i used quite a lot of oil the neg still looked patchy, after several tries i've found a little oil rubbed in with a cotton pad, or something like an ink dabber as would be used in print making, and then left alone for perhaps an hour, the oil will spread through the paper fibres and even itself out, any excess can be easily wiped away

the negs are later stored in a plastic A4 sleeve and some that are now 2 years old don't seem to have dried out but they also don't seem to be particularly oily

i think i jagged a good technique

Ray