Support our Sponsors, they keep FADU free:   AG Photographic   The Imaging Warehouse   Process Supplies   RH Designs   Second-hand Darkroom Supplies  

Notices

Go Back   Film and Darkroom User > Chemistry > Toning

  ***   Click here for the FADU 2015/2014 Yearbooks   ***

Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
  #1  
Old 28th February 2018, 02:44 PM
Terry S Terry S is offline
Friend
 
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Southend on Sea, Essex, England, UK
Posts: 3,797
Default Wow!!! the power of Pot Ferri

First off, please note that I have just posted the same question on another different forum that I belong to. I have done this as I believe there are different members and i.e. different opinions on both of them. Apologies if you are on both as a member.

Anyway, onto my question...

Wow!!! is the first word that came out of my mouth after the first use by myself of Pot Ferri for bleaching back, on Monday just past.

I spent some time in the darkroom on Sunday, printing up some postcards for an exchange group that I belong to. I thought all was fine, after I viewed the test strips and the final cards under a daylight bulb in the darkroom and then the bathroom light whilst they were in the wash.

I can only put it down to the artificial lighting, and my tired eyes on the Monday, but the next day when I viewed the cards, which were now dry, I couldn't believe how lifeless they looked.

I know all about dry down etc. but the prints lacked any highlights, which were all light-ish grey.

At first I thought that I would have to reprint them all, or maybe bleach them right back (as I have Pot Ferri and Hypo from toning experiments) and then snatch them from the redevelopment, in the hope of getting a better set of prints.

Over a mug of coffee, I decided to read bits of Tim Rudman's printing course book and for the first time, thought that I would have a go with lightening the prints slightly in a bath of Pot Ferri. First I thought of using a brush on certain parts but after reading, I read a passage that says (something like) that some photographers regularly over print slightly and then put the prints through a Pot Ferri solution. Then there were the various formulas, all talking about making a litre of this and a litre of that...

Finally I read another bit of text somewhere (in the Darkoom Cookbook?) that says to use one half of a teaspoon of Pot Ferri in 200ml of water.

Well, the transformation after putting a DRY print (so as to affect the highlights first and mainly overall) into the solution for just 30 seconds amazed me.

I still have the enlarger set up in the correct position and I keep notes of all my printing, so next time I'm in the darkroom, I'm going to try and print a card again with slightly less exposure (I use an RH Analyser.) I am going to do this as I am curious to see if I can get a similar print as achieved, or whether I should routinely over expose from now on and bleach back slightly.

I can't put a print or two up for you to see the difference as they have only just been put in the post and I don't want to ruin the effect for people receiving prints through the post, unseen elsewhere.

So, to finish, does anyone do the above regularly?

Many thanks.

Terry S
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 28th February 2018, 03:33 PM
Richard Gould Richard Gould is offline
Friend
 
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Jersey Channel Islands
Posts: 5,433
Default

Personally I have only used it very occasoinly as purely a rescue attempt, it works, but I think it better to get the print right in the first place, every so often what ever you do it does not look right and as a last resort I will try local bleaching, but certainly never ever would I print to bleach to get things right, for me only for emergency rescue
Richard
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 28th February 2018, 05:42 PM
Mike O'Pray Mike O'Pray is offline
Friend
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Daventry, Northants
Posts: 8,969
Default

I have never used pot ferri so cannot comment really. A pity that the before and after cards can't be shown as this might help me to decide about trying it. Secondly half a teaspoon in 200 mls sounds quite strong but clearly you were able to stop the action quickly once you got to where you wanted to be.

Was it an immediate dunk in stronger than normal fix or just normal fix? Crucially can you wait and only dunk when what you see in the pot ferri solution is what you want or do you have to "predict" where it will be in say X secs so the fix is given the time it needs to work?e

In theory over exposing and bleaching back should produce no better an effect that getting the exposure right, shouldn't it? However in practice it may in fact be easier to get the same of slightly better effect from this than attempting the "perfect exposure" I just don't know.

For instructional purposes I'd love to see 3 prints, namely, 1. the overexposed;2. the bleached back and 3. the correct exposure to compare and contrast.

Mike
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 28th February 2018, 07:10 PM
big paul big paul is offline
Friend
 
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: benfleet essex
Posts: 2,284
Default

that's great terry if you made some prints that you were not a hundred percent happy with and that solved it ,that sounds like a great and easy fix ,also sounds like a great money saver ,I made some prints the other night and when they were dry the next day I tore up two 10x 8 prints that I could have tried to salvage , I have never used Pot Ferri but I should have some for emergencies ,who sells it ..


www.essexcockney.com
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 28th February 2018, 09:36 PM
TonyMiller TonyMiller is offline
Friend
 
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: North Yorkshire
Posts: 890
Default

Tim Rudman, as far as I can see in his book, doesn't consider the technique a 'rescue job'!
__________________
regards,

Tony
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old 28th February 2018, 09:56 PM
Mike O'Pray Mike O'Pray is offline
Friend
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Daventry, Northants
Posts: 8,969
Default

Terry, I should have said that I assume you haven't just used only 200ml to bleach back the print or have you if it was a postcard(6x4).Alternatively was it 200ml per half teaspoon and then made up with water to submerge the print?

I had assumed that the ratio used was half a teaspoon per 200mls so for instance bleaching back a print in say 1000ml to cover the print requires two and half teaspoons?

Mike
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old 28th February 2018, 11:07 PM
John King John King is online now
Friend
 
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: County Durham
Posts: 3,319
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by big paul View Post
that's great terry if you made some prints that you were not a hundred percent happy with and that solved it ,that sounds like a great and easy fix ,also sounds like a great money saver ,I made some prints the other night and when they were dry the next day I tore up two 10x 8 prints that I could have tried to salvage , I have never used Pot Ferri but I should have some for emergencies ,who sells it ..
www.essexcockney.com
You can get it from here:- http://www.morco.uk.com/ Mine came from there.

That is where I get a lot of my B&W materials from. For some film and papers they are cheaper in both price and postage than AG
Reply With Quote
  #8  
Old 28th February 2018, 11:34 PM
Mike O'Pray Mike O'Pray is offline
Friend
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Daventry, Northants
Posts: 8,969
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by John King View Post
You can get it from here:- http://www.morco.uk.com/ Mine came from there.

That is where I get a lot of my B&W materials from. For some film and papers they are cheaper in both price and postage than AG
I had a quick look here John but couldn't find pot ferri. Which section is it under?

Thanks

Mike
Reply With Quote
  #9  
Old 1st March 2018, 07:49 AM
skellum's Avatar
skellum skellum is offline
Friend
 
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Isle of Lewis
Posts: 1,330
Default

Found this-
Comes as two packets.
Solution 1 is potassium ferricyanide, solution 2 is fix.

http://www.morco.uk.com/black-white-...s-reducer.html

Also, in browsing,

http://www.tmax100.com/photo/pdf/farmers.pdf
Reply With Quote
  #10  
Old 1st March 2018, 07:55 AM
John King John King is online now
Friend
 
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: County Durham
Posts: 3,319
Default Pot Ferri

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike O'Pray View Post
I had a quick look here John but couldn't find pot ferri. Which section is it under?

Thanks

Mike
Actually I had to ask if they stocked it. They did and I bought a kit of, I think 4 sachets of each component.

Likewise at the same time I bought re-loadable cassettes which again were not on their website.

If they cannot help you could always try Silverprint who used to be in London but have now moved out to the sticks. https://www.silverprint.co.uk/

Last edited by John King; 1st March 2018 at 07:59 AM.
Reply With Quote
Reply
Support our Sponsors, they keep FADU free:   AG Photographic   The Imaging Warehouse   Process Supplies   RH Designs   Second-hand Darkroom Supplies  

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
De vere 203 Power RussKelly Darkroom 4 28th August 2014 06:57 PM
ferri not ferro robinb Chemical formulae 4 13th June 2013 08:50 AM
Resolving power of enlarging lenses MartyNL Darkroom 14 15th September 2010 09:35 AM
The Power of Photography Argentum Art and aesthetics 2 16th November 2009 10:35 AM
power plug Argentum Equipment miscellaneous 7 29th November 2008 07:15 PM


All times are GMT. The time now is 08:58 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.