Printing for Apparitions... Finally...!

At the end of August I finally got around to starting to make some of the exhibition prints for the Apparitions project.  Arturo and I received grant funding from the Edmonton Arts Council which will finanace the production and framing of 32 exhibition prints, as well as prepare shipping/storage crates for the finished prints.  We received the funding a couple of months ago, and have ordered paper and chemistry to produce the prints.  We have also ordered frame stock, matboard and glass for presentation.  I was now finally started on making some of the actual prints.

On August 31st I went into the darkroom and made unsharp masks from seven of the negatives that I am considering for exhibition.  An unsharp mask is a positive image of the negative, made slightly out of focus.  It is sandwiched with the actual negative when printing.  It is really difficult to explain, and to understand, but it creates the illusion of added sharpness by outlining black areas in the image with white, and white areas with black.

Then on September 2nd I started first thing in the morning and printed four of negatives.  One didn't work out due to a focus issue when the photo was originally taken.  The other three turned out pretty well.  I saved the remaining unsharp masks for my next print session.  At this stage the prints were developed in Dektol developer and then given a stop bath in acetic acid.  They were given a first fix in Rapid Fixer.  Once the first fixing bath has been completed, the remaining work can be undertaken in room light.  Up to the fixing point all work must be done under amber or red safe light.

After printing, I left the partially completed prints soaking overnight in a tray of water.  Then, the next morning, September 3rd, I finished them.  This involved a second fix in fresh fixer, a bath in hypo clearing agent, toning in rapid selenium, and then a little selective bleaching to a few highlights with potassium ferricyanide.  Then the prints hit the print washer for 24 hours.  To conserve water I don't run the washer, rather I just drain and refill the water about ten times over 24 hours.  The following day I pulled them from the washer and laid them out on screens to dry.

I plan on making more unsharp masks, and repeating this entire process at some point in the next week or so.  I've included some phone snapshots below that show the prints in trays during the finishing work that I did on the 3rd.

Obviously an old motorboat, and old transit bus, and an abandoned Case dealership.  I don't know if all three will make the final exhibition, but I wanted to see them as large 16" x 20" prints to finalize my selection.  I suspect that I will likely print about 25 negatives, from which I will select the 16 that will become my portion of the exhibition.