Retina Reversals ?

A few years ago I got this crazy idea to see if I could use the Silver Gelatin Ferrotype Developer system to invert retina prints. I did several tests years ago and it really didn’t work very well, but I did manage to get interesting results and fun images. I soaked paper in stock Developer and let it drip dry before I exposed it, I used the Rockland Colloid reversal developer and my own versions of it found in the Darkroom Cookbook and through conversations / emails with anyone who had experimented with that technique. It didn’t really work very well.

Yesterday I made some retina prints, they were over exposed. I tend to make my exposures short nowadays, around 12 minutes or 6 minutes depending on the day and light, these exposures were over an hour. I had just received ammonium thiocyanate in the mail from Artcraft and was waiting for my HC110 to arrive from Hunt Photo so I decided to try it with Caffenol C, the developer I usually use to deplete whatever it is in photo paper when I make retina prints….

I soaked the negatives in baking soda 2 at a time. then I added caffenol C with a small amount of thio. mixed in. it did absolutely nothing.

Author: jnanian

I am a Freelance Photographer in Rhode Island. I make photographs using a variety of methods with and without a camera, and I teach photography online and in person. I make photo emulsions from scratch, I coat my own photo paper and make cyanotypes too. I am a huge fan of Caffenol ( I helped write the Caffenol Cookbook ) and instead of instant coffee, I roast my own Sumatra Robusta beans. I sell them so you can make your own long lasting, film and print developer called Sumatranol. I also sell silver recovery products.

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