I have found a technique that allows me to add metallic colors
to my hand tinted black and white photos. This Black and white photo is
Hand tinted the "Classic way", never computer aided in any way. I use
color film to produce my Black and white Print.
My photos are produced on fiber based, double weight black and white
printing paper. All of my photos are toned with selenium, copper,
sepia, gold, nickel, platinum-palladium, coffee's, or tea's.
My
next project that I will complete before new year is my stereo hand
tinted photo art using mirrors placed at a 45 degree angle; the late
Dali Salvador had many failed attempts making a stereo picture work
using stainless steel, polished aluminum dishes, metals and of course
mirrors. Philippe Devaud
(2001) from Switzerland had the opportunity to work with Dali in the
early eighties. Philippe had a theory on how to solve Dali's problem
with the double image that distorted his stereo art work. Philippe
noticed that the double image was due to the rear silver coating,
stereo pictures that worked were merely a choice of mirrors. Philippe
had that discovered that if you use a front coated mirror the double
ghost image disappears. I apply this same theory to my stereo photo
art.
Why I use Color Film. Color films records most all the color of the spectrum, nearly all colors can be reproduced by mixing only a few basic or primary colors. Color films are made with three color-sensitive layers, each of which records the wave lengths of lights in a different third of the color spectrum. Colors negative film is processed to be the opposite in colors and density of the original scene; then it is printed onto a sheet of sensitized paper to make a positive color print.
This is why I shoot color films to Print out my Black and White Photos the Classic way. Color films gives more details in my prints. The colors remain true and the tones are richer. I use the actual color photo as a guide when my Hand Tinting my Black and White Prints.
This is a Color Photo the Classic way.
This a Black and White Photo the Classic way, delivered inside my darkroom.
This is a Hand Tinted Black and White Photo the Classic way, Never computer aided in any way. Photo Art is Original and signed.
My Photo Art is Original. No one does it better. I can use either a Color or Black and
White negative to create my Photo Art the Classic way.
This is a Color Photo Born Inside a Camera.
I use the rules of third as guide to determine where I place my colors.
This is a Side view of a Photograph.
| A,3=Fore Ground Top. | B,3=Top Middle Ground. | C,3=Top Back Ground. |
| B,2=Fore Ground Middle | B,2=Mid Ground Middle. | C,2=Back Ground Middle. |
| A,1=Fore Ground Bottom. | B,1=Middle Ground Bottom. | C,1=Back Ground Bottom. |
This is a Black and White Print Delivered inside my Darkroom.
This is Frontal view of a Photograph or scene.
| X,3=Top Left. | Y,3=Top Middle. | Z,3=Top Right. |
| X,2Middle Left. | Y,2=Mid Middle | Z,2=Middle Right |
| X,1=Bottom Left. | Y,1=Bottom Middle. | Z,1=Bottom Right. |
This is Hand Tinted Photo the Classic way.
This Technique can be applied to any Media. The colors lead the viewers eye to focus on certain areas of the Final Photo Art. I use only color film to create my Black and White Photo Art. Color films have three layers and Black and White Film have only two layers. I find that color films record the true mood of each scene as it really is. Reds are red, blues are blue, and greens are green. Black and white films records the tones and not the hues and the chroma of each scene as it exist. I use my color prints to aide in my color balancing process. This is the most exciting aspect of my 2 Zone Technique. I use Zone "A" to compose my Color Photo Art inside the camera. I then use Zone "B" to develop my Black and White Print.
I have a simple formula that I created to achieve my color balance and color contrast of each final print. I use the actual Color Photo as a guide when I Hand Tint my Black and White Photo the Classic way. I use up to 27 points when I color my prints.
The foreground = A, middle = B, back = C. The bottom = 1, middle = 2, and top = 3. I can place my hues of color in one the cubes to create unimaginable illusions of Grandeur.
*I want to bring Hand Tinting back into the main stream. Since we have our computers and high tech soft ware we often fail to realize that computer generated imagery or photos are not the same as in the past. The reason is, that the computer generated images lacks Zone "A" and Zone "B". Its merely a copy or a duplicate of a scene. All computer generated photos or prints will oxidize or fade. The sole purpose of making Photographs are to record, document historical events, creating advertisements, family events, weddings and the list goes on. Archiving Photos that are computer generated defeats this goal. In most museums you will only find Black and White Photos, they know that any other type of print won't last long enough to achieve their objective. Digital Photography has its' place, and should be recognized as an Art form based on its content and style.
*When we look back in the early 1800's, most Photo images that were produced have looked as if they were made yesterday. What if our Great masters used pixels to record there Art. They would have never imagined of wasting there time and effort to gain fame by employing methods other than the Classical techniques to create their Art. When history is written, those who have negatives and Hand developed Prints will have works of Arts that will be priceless.
*The Great masters such Van Goghs, Picasso's, Rembrandts, Cezanne's, Seraut's, El greco,s, Constables, Botticellis, Angelico's and Bounnarroti's would not exist today as we know them if they had used digital assisted soft ware to create their works of Art. I have over 50,000 images and over 90,000 negatives that will be worth more than any digital print or digital file made today.
*Photo Art has been around in the main stream for quite some time. No one has change or improved on what George Eastman, Joeseph Niepce, Giovanni Battista, Thomas Wedgwood and Louis Jacques Mande Daguerre attempted . The computer can never allow any one the freedom that gives you the ability to capture an image as on sees it. Ansel Adams was the last person to that gave us a new set of rules and technique.
*I have developed a "2" Zone that takes his ideas and the other great Photographers of the past and improve how we see and reproduce our Photos.
Don't miss out, if you can have the luck of buying a old Photo of the past, you will own tomorrows Picassos' Van Goghs' or even an Rembrandt.
*The only worth while investment in todays Art Market will be a Hand Tinted Photograph. The other Great works of Art merely exchange owners and becomes more expensive in the process.
How long does a Photograph last ? Some of the first ever made have held up perfectly, their images as durable as if they had been carved in stone. For Black and white Photos, archival processing is not very different from customary method of developing, fixing and washing. It basically an extension of the ordinary procedures, involving a few extra steps.
During development, those grains of silver salts that have been exposed to light are reduced to black metallic silver, which forms the image; but unexposed grains are reduced and remain in silver form of a silver compound.
When these silver-fixer complexes decompose they produce a brown-yellow compound may discolor the entire print. Archival processing includes procedures that eliminate the traces of residual chemical that washing alone cannot entirely remove.
I Hand Tone all of my Black and White Photo Art the Classic way. There are several reasons for
toning a black and white print: to make the photograph more permanent;
I love to use BERG BROWN/COPPER Toning Solution is a single bath solution used for
toning black and white prints or films, having no offensive odor. The
tonal range is very long, giving initially a warming effect, then a
brown tone, followed by a sepia and flesh, and finally a deep metallic
copper tone. The actual tone produced depends on the length of time of
toning and the photographic material.
Color Photo Art born inside a camera.
Hand Tinted Black and White Photo Art the Classic way, Photo has been Copper Toned.
Copper Toned Black and White Photo. Photo Art meets or exceeds Archive standards
A Black and White Negative is a reversal of the tones in the original scene. Where the scene is bright, the negative develops many dense, dark grains of silver. These dense areas hold back light from the paper, they prevent the formation of silver in the papers emulsion and so creates a bright area corresponding to the bright area in the scene. Where the scene was dark, the negative is thin or even clear. It passes much light to the paper and dark silver is formed in the emulsion, resulting in a dark area in the print.
Color films records most all the color of the spectrum, nearly all colors can be reproduced by mixing only a few basic or primary colors. Color films are made with three color-sensitive layers, each of which records the wave lengths of lights in a different third of the color spectrum. Colors negative film is processed to be the opposite in colors and density of the original scene; then it is printed onto a sheet of sensitized paper to make a positive color print.
This is why I shoot color films to Print out my Black and White Photos the Classic way. Color films gives more details in my prints. The colors remain true and the tones are richer. I use the actual color photo as a guide when my Hand Tint my Black and White Prints.
Color Photo Art Born inside a Camera the Classic way.
Black and White Photo Art delivered in my Dark room the Classic way.
I use my own 2 Zone Technique to Create my Photo Art from any Color negative or Black and White Negative.
History should be recorded on film. There were many inventions in the 19th Century.. The car was invented and massed produced as a means of a new and efficient mode of transportation, which rendered the horse and buggy obsolete. (Co2). The incandescent light was discovered replacing candles and kerosene lamps. Our world today is a glow with many types of lighting, i.e. xenon, led, neon, led, and many more. The light bulb as we know it will become extinct. The conveyor belt was implemented in manufacturing to speed up and increase production (The late Ray Kroch). Most of all of our goods today are products of automation and robotics. The discovery of Dynamite gave way to new methods moving mass amounts of land. We are now in the nuclear age, we can now remove countries from the face of the earth with the push of a Button.
The camera was born and it became know as Photography, it changed the way we record visual images. Of all the inventions Photography had the greatest impact in our lives. We have computers which allow us to transfer large amounts of data to any place in the world. Most internet traffic consist of transferring photo images. Iphones,ipods, black berries,cable, faxes, lap tops, gps, cell phones,the list goes on. What is the speed of information ? Does any body know ?
Digital Art is here to stay, Classic Photography has taken a back seat for many reasons. Digital Art has change the Art world like no other, affording any one with a digital camera and a computer a chance to take photos with little knowledge. Digital Photo Art is very easy to create with the proper soft ware and a little practice.
There has never been an era that so many photos taken and recorded in such a short period of time.
Classic Hand Tinted Photo Art can be processed using Archive methods of the past will last for generations. Digital images lack zone A (subject to film) and zone B (film to print). Of all the inventions, some will never change, the wheel, and Classic Photography, the laws of Physics makes this impossible to replace them. I developed a 2 Zone Technique to create my Black and White Photo Art the Classic way. Never computer aided in any way.