The Kallitype print print series continues with this scenic, however, this image called for a warm toned treatment. How do you know that you ask. I just know these things, most of the time. This print being being one that I'm glad I chose this treatment and happy with the final print. The one hurdle that remains is copying the image such that what I'm showing is the same thing that would be seen looking at the print. What I fail to see sometimes are subtle shifts in an image's color, what I identify as 'warm' or 'cool'. That entails reds & greens for that warm part, and that is where I fail to see. I have to actually hold up the print next to the digital image for comparison.
I'm staying with the 11x14 format, simply because it is an appreciable size to work with, as well as the visual appeal of a larger print image for the viewer, not that size makes an image better, it just sometimes becomes a big more visually appealing due to the viewer seeing more image detail. Perhaps that be a bias on my part. Making an 11x14 Kallitype remains cheaper than making an 8x10 palladium print.
This image was developed in sodium citrate for a warm tone image, then toned in palladium for 8 minutes. I had originally thought I would do a split toning on this print, beginning with the gold toner (Ag 1% ~ thiourea 1%: 'all at once toner') for one minute to enrich the blacks and highlights, then switch to palladium toner for the rest of the toner time to enhance the middle tones. At the last minutes I decided against that and toned only in palladium, to keep the warm tones intact and open up the middle tones, which are all backlit. This print is also unique, no copies, no artist's proof. Second print in that category, which is the standard now. Any new print I make will now be unique.
I have always been meticulous in indicating when toning a Kallitype with palladium, and making a direct palladium print. Technically, in the end both versions constitutes a palladium print. The former being the "poor man's" version of a palladium print, a toned silver print. The palladium toner replaces all the silver in the image, thereby renderingn it a true palladium print. I have kept that front and center for clarity, as each print is issued a certificate of authenticity, stating the provenance of the print in its entirety, so referring to the print as a palladium toned Kallitype, instead of a palladium print. They would be the same. I will be referring to these prints as palladium prints from here on.
Palladium toned Kallitype
"The Sunset Spot" ~ 11x14
Avra Valley, Arizona
