Housing development, Rt 309, Mongomery County, PA 2007
I have been learning to make platinum prints for the last few months, and this is one of the first that I am willing to call a final print
The problem I have with printing platinum is nothing I do is a straight print, and everything requires some buring or dodging for local control for the sake of balancing the print. I tried making digital burning and dodging masks printed on transparencies. But, I found that torn pieces of tracing paper and a glue stick work much better and is easier to alter as I’m printing
dodging and burning with contact printing is a pain in the butt, that’s for sure ……..have you tried rubylith as masks for dodging and burning? it’s more effective than tracing paper because it blocks uv better, and with the long exposures for pt/pd i’ve found that with hard-edged areas (windows, doors, skies, etc), i usually don’t even have to move it around to conceal the edges …….(with less discreet areas, like sun on foilage etc, i use matt board masks and move them every one or two minutes) — i print with a bottomless light box with tubes above that sits over the contact frame, making this process pretty easy, while still protecting me from stray uv light ….. after printing pt/pd for about 20 years now, tho, i am finally getting my negs to the point that i don’t need to dodge or burn that much anymore, thank goodness ….. good luck with your work
rich