Alternative Photo Class: Cyanotypes

Cyanotype was probably my favorite process and same with most of the classmates. The cyanotype printing process gives you what you'd expect - a cyan-blue print.  You mix potassium ferricyanide and ferric ammonium citrate to make a light sensitive solution. Then you'd coat it on some thick paper. Then we would use a digital image, which we turned into black and white and a negative in photoshop first, and then printed it on a transparency.  Place the negative on top of the (dry) light sensitive paper and expose for about 20 minutes in a UV light table or outside (Sun works too).  Remove the negative and wash your newly exposed paper in a tray with running water for 30 minutes and you have a cyanotype!

negative

the Kalmar Nyckel ship (unaltered) cyanotype

You can also alter the colors in your cyanotype with other solutions like Vinegar, tea, ammonia, hydrogen peroxide, etc. to get different effects.  This London print was toned with tea and Ammonia, intensifying the colors and producing more of a navy blue.

Don't have to limit your options to paper - you can also print on fabric.
Why not make that boring white throw pillow or white t-shirt into something more desirable with some cyanotype. 

detail
see, it is fabric

You can also make photograms with cyanotype which can look pretty cool too.  I didn't do this but check some out on the internet.  Instead of a negative image you just place objects on top of the paper like a plant or jewelry and after washing you get their silhouette images left.

I definitely want to buy a cyanotype kit. This is really fun and easy to do. I'm thinking the Legge cyanotype, X-mas card is gonna get a leg up on all our friends cards this year. 

Alternative Photo Class: pin hole

This semester I took Alternative Photography where we learned how to make: pin holes, cyanotypes, gum oils, and inkjet transfers.  Our first project was the pin hole camera. I still don't quite get how it works but somehow it happens.  Its basically a light tight box with a small hole in one side - and voila you have a camera. Here's a simple diagram explaining the theory.

This was my camera that I constructed from a deck of cards. Its the dimensions of a tissue box, though it is not actually one.  Its held together with duct tape, electric tape and popsicle sticks. The top comes off so you can slide in some photo paper in the back to print your image. And its light sensitive paper so you do all this in the dark room. The little hole in the aluminum is my aperture and the Ace of Spades is my shutter which slides up and down through a slit in the top.

detail image

 This was a 4 minute exposure. Then you take it to the dark room, take the paper out and develop it. It first comes out as a negative and backwards.

Then with an enlarger and some fancy tricks you get a positive image.

So a simple box camera produced this photograph...Makes total sense right??

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