Blue Haze

When at a local Barnes and Noble recently I spotted an interesting box. It was called Sunlight Print by Kate Marlowe. It claimed to be a Photography Kit for producing Photograms on Cynaotype Paper and included everything you needed. I hesitated for a moment and then decided to spend the $15.00 and got it.

I'm glad I did. It was well worth the price even though it now has me forking out more money as I experiment with Cynaotype printing.

Included in the price is 10 sheets of 5 x 7 Cynaotype Paper in a small plastic darkroom type bag, a nicely written book, and a few graphics pre-printed for producing a photogram. The instructions are included on one page of the book that is a nice read for those of you that know nothing about the History of Photography.

I decided that my first attempt at making sunlight prints would be with negatives that I made. I found a few photos that I took that I thought would work best. I bumped the contrast way up and eliminated some of the fine detail in the image. Then I converted it to a 'negative' using Paint Shop Pro and printed out a cropped 5 x 7 image on some transparent Vellum paper I had laying around on a Laser Jet printer. This is one of my 'negatives'.......

Before I exposed the paper I got everything I needed ready. A large piece of study cardboard, an old Lasagna pan (for rinsing), scotch tape, and a piece of glass. For the glass I raided one of the frames I had in storage that was slightly larger than 5 x 7.

In a room with no direct sunlight I put everything together. Taking a sheet of the Cyanotype paper out first and layed it on the cardboard, then putting the 'negative' over the paper, and finally laying the glass over both and used some scotch tape just to hold it all down on the cardboard. I then proceeded outside and sat the cardboard with everything attached on the lawn so it would best get the bright rays from the mid-day sun.

The instructions say to expose the paper for 30-60 seconds or until the exposed parts of the paper turn white. I found that I had to go more like 2 minutes to get a good exposure. Keep in mind, this is not an exact science so you'll need to experiment on your own to see what works best.

After I exposed the paper I took it inside and put it in the Lasagna pan that I had a put just enough water in to rinse the paper. I also added a couple of drops of Lemon Juice. (Note: The kit includes a small plastic rinsing tray so you don't need to go looking for a Lasagna Pan) This will boost the blue color of your print. Before you put your paper in your water tray you want to stir up the water a bit. You then move the paper around. I used a pair of tongs I had in the kitchen. The paper will want to curl so you'll have to move it to keep it from doing this.

Your image will appear fairly quickly. In a minute or two. Once it has you want to take it out of the water tray and lay it on some paper towels or regular towels and cover it with more paper towels so you can get most of the water out of the paper. At this point you'll need to prep the Paper so it can be used as a print. You'll need to get it completely dry. I used the dry side of the paper towels to sandwich the paper and then layed a couple of very heavy books on top of it. I then let it sit for 24 hours. It should be completely dry by then.

This is the resulting print that I framed........

Some of you might be reading this and thinking "that's a lot of work just to get one print". Well, that's the whole idea. In this digital age everything is about instant gratification. Creating Sunlight Prints requires you to slow down and use your hands to produce an image. You might enjoy this so much that you decide to make your own little darkroom and start using, developing, and printing film. Or, maybe not.

I still recommend that you try this. The kit sold at Barnes & Noble is a nice package to get you started and the book, like I already mentioned, is a good read. You don't need to create negatives like I did. You can just use objects around the house or the pre-printed graphics included with the kit. If you zip through the paper in the kit and want to do more you can buy a package that includes all the chemicals you need to create your own Cyanotype Paper or you can purchase 8 x 10 sheets of pre-treated Cyanotype paper. Amazon sells both the chemical kit and paper.

Have fun. Slow down. Put your digital camera down for a week or two and create images the way they were done many many years ago.

Dan J