Project 7

 Daguerreotype 

making a daguerreotype:

Step 1. Start with a silver-plated piece of copper and polish it to as close to a mirror finish as possible. Most daguerreotypists use a bench grinder outfitted with a polishing wheel to prepare their plates.

Step 2. The next step is to "sensitize" the plate. Place the plate into a sealed box containing a shallow tub filled with iodine crystals. After a few minutes of exposure to the iodine vapors, your silver plate should take on a purplish hue. Most "dag artists" use specially-constructed coating boxes with a sliding element at the top, allowing them to slide a plate into the vapor-filled box, then slide it out without touching the plate or exposing themselves to the vapors. Iodine vapors are extremely harmful and dangerous to work with, so precautions such as ventilators and respirators are a must.

Step 3. Mount the sensitized plate onto your camera's film holder and seal the camera.

Step 4. Pick a well-lit, stationary subject to capture. Choose something as close to totally stationary as possible, as exposure can take between 1 and 7 minutes depending on the light. Obviously, bright sunlight works best. 

Step 5. In a darkroom, remove your exposed plate and tape a sheet of Amberlith film on top of it. Seal the edges with light-proof tape (both can be purchased at an art supply or photo supply store) and place it in the sun for two hours. This will develop your image, and you should start seeing results within the first 30 minutes or so. This is actually different than Louis Daguerre's original method -- he used mercury vapors to develop the image. This method is much easier, safer and less expensive.

Step 6. Now it's time to wash your plate. Mix up a Hypo clearing agent in a developing tray place the plate into the solution-filled tray. Don't let any bubbles form on the surface of the plate when you're getting it wet, otherwise your image will be ruined. Once the plate is fully submerged, gently stir the solution until your image shows on the plate as clear black and white. Follow with a water bath (using the same care in immersion) to wash away any remaining silver halide particles.

Step 7. At this point, your image is just dust on a silver plate. Touching it, brushing against it, or dropping water directly onto it will ruin it. Quickly preserve it by mounting it behind a piece of glass in a specially-constructed daguerreotype holder. You can buy an antique holder, make your own, or have one constructed by a frame shop.
found on: http://howto.wired.com/wiki/Make_a_Daguerreotype

for this picture I used a daguerreotype border and added about 3 more textures. I darkened this photo a lot to give it an old look. Also the darker, browner tint makes it look really old.

 I like this picture because all the textures are very effective. I think this photo looks much like the old daguerreotypes.

I made the borders and the blacks of this picture very dark in order to give a mysterious mood.

Cyanotype

How to make a cyanotype:

1. Mix two chemicals to create photo sensitive solution of 'sensitizer'.

2. Brush, smear, or soak the sensitizer into cotton-based watercolor paper.

3. Create a negative image on a transparency with a laser/inkjet printer or copy machine.

4. Place the negative over the dried, sensitized paper.

5. Expose to UV light.

6. Wash the image in water to develop.

7. Hang to dry, and enjoy!

found on:http://www.instructables.com/id/Cyanotypes---super-easy-photo-prints-at-home./

I think the cyanotype of this picture really makes it look better. I put a texture on it so it has a scratchy look to it.

I think the effects really make it look like an old cyanotype. I used a darker blue color so it would give it more of a mysterious mood.

Gum Bichromate

how to make a gum bichromate:

1. Make a photographic emulsion by mixing watercolor paint with a light-sensitive chemical.
2. Coat that emulsion onto paper and let it dry.
3. Expose the dry emulsion to sunlight for a few minutes beneath a transparency.
4. Soak the paper in water until an image develops.

Found on: http://www.billymabrey.com/tutorials/What-is-a-Gum-Print

I am not sure if I like this gum bichromate that much, but I tried new techniques with painting on the colors and adding different textures with brushes. The colors eded up turning out like cotton candy.

I really like this picture because I think it turned out the best. The colors all worked well together to create a light feeling, also it turned out looking like a traditional gum bichromate.

I'm not sure if this can still be called a gum bichromate. I tried to play around with different colors and put them together. I really liked how it turned out.