HouLite UV Exposure Light – UPDATE
December 6, 2018The search goes on – for the perfect UV exposure unit. I’m not sure I’ve found it yet but I did actually spend money on something that I felt could come close; An LED flood light. What caught my eye was the wavelength in the UV-A range 385-405 nm. That… Read more
Troubleshooting Hints
December 4, 2018If you are having a hard time getting the results you expect from your printing efforts and suspect that your contact printing frame may be a part of the problem, here are some ideas that may help. Keep in mind that I’m not an expert printer, but I do have… Read more
Distance and Exposure
November 14, 2018The distance from the light source to your print is important when determining exposure time. I mounted my 20W UVLED exposure unit under the lens holder on my Minolta enlarger so I can easily adjust the height. I can move it up to cover a large print and down for… Read more
Printing 101
October 26, 2018Although I’ve been making contact printing frames for almost 15 years now, it’s been a long time since I did any serious printing. So for my own pleasure (or frustration as is often the case), and to better understand the needs of my contact printing frame customers, I ordered up… Read more
A DIY Centering Guide for Contact Printing Frames
October 3, 2018Did you ever try to get a negative and a sheet of paper to stay put while closing the printing frame? I realized it’s a common problem in our craft. This may not be THE fix but the one I came up with is simple and cheap – those are… Read more
Using Pin Registration
October 27, 2016With the pin register feature you can make multiple exposures from multiple negatives on the same media. For example, to improve contrast of a Pt/Pd print, you can make an exposure, develop and dry the print, then re-coat the paper, place the print and negative back in the printing frame and… Read more
The Pin Register Project
October 24, 2015Pin registration is a method of precisely aligning negatives to the paper (or other print media). It is used by alt process enthusiasts for aligning color separation negatives for multi-color prints (gum bichromate), or to make multiple exposures of the same negative to increase contrast (platinum/palladium). My pin registration hardware… Read more
Ilex #5 Flash Synch Repair
February 15, 2015My 8×10 Calumet View Camera is a real workhorse. It came with a 14 inch Commercial Ektar f6.4 lens mounted in an Ilex #5 shutter. It produces great images but there is (was) a problem with the shutter. My first portrait session in the studio using flash was a little… Read more
The Platinum Palladium Project
January 28, 2015In the fall of 2014 I took part in an undergraduate research project at McHenry County College in Crystal Lake, IL. The project was sponsored by the school and and generously coached by my instructor and mentor, Andrew Doak. A series of ten prints on fine art paper made in… Read more
Hardwood Appearance Comparison
January 22, 2015A recent inquiry asked to see the differences in the varieties of wood I use for my contact printing frames. I grabbed a few samples out of the scrap bin and applied some mineral spirits to simulate the appearance after finishing. Here are the results showing white oak, cherry and walnut. Read more
A Visit With Mark Nelson
December 17, 2014Today, I spent a couple of hours talking with Mark Nelson, an accomplished photographer, master printer, and the author of Precision Digital Negatives (aka the PDN system). Mark and I spoke a few weeks ago about his workshops and private tutoring in the PDN system, but it didn’t take me long to realize that his workshop is beyond my budget. Mark, however, was gracious enough to invite me into his home and workplace. He shared some of his personal thoughts about making photographs, digital negatives, platinum prints and photogravure prints. Read more