jan1981
Hello everyone,
Yesterday I made my first attempts at partially lightening some prints, but I’m not entirely happy with the results. Here’s what I did: I rinsed my prints as normal and then treated them with a brush and a Moersch bleaching agent (dilution 1:20). The highlights have been lightened, but they’ve taken on a slight yellow tinge, which remained even after the final rinse.
What’s causing the yellow tinge? Did I rinse them for too short a time? How can I reverse it?
Thanks for your help and best regards,
Jan
Gast
Was it secured again afterwards?
jan1981
Hi Folker,
I didn’t fix it again afterwards, I just watered it.
Regards,
Jan
TR
Hello, if the bleach is like Farmer’s toner, you should skip the final fixing anyway, as it already contains a fixer.
That yellow cast is annoying and has happened to me too. But only when I’ve been ‘overdoing it’. I’ve never managed to get rid of it. If you want to bleach very dark areas as well, you have to use a different reducer: Tetenal called it ‘Highlight Reducer’. With dark areas, the Farmer process usually results in a yellow cast.
If you ‘torture’ the print with the Highlight Reducer, a pinkish cast will eventually appear. Subsequent brightening only helps with subtle applications without any cast.
Tandemfahren
Hi Jan,
Actually, dodging is usually the method of choice for partial brightening. Not here? Bleaching would be nonsense – but bear in mind that the ‘Farmer’ function specifically boosts contrast.
That’s why partial bleaching (i.e. using the ‘Farmer’ function) is best suited to rather specific cases, e.g. to bring out detail in dark clouds and the like.
Applying Farmer’s developer across the entire print can benefit many images by lifting greyed-out highlights. In this case, apply it sparingly and proceed in small steps to avoid affecting the mid-tones or even the shadows. It’s best to keep a second print handy for comparison.
I don’t have any advice on the yellow cast either.
Best regards, Frank
TiMo
If you’re not using a farmer, you should focus on all cases after bleaching.
moma
Hello Jan
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Forty years ago, I worked extensively with Farmer’s toners and PP Bleach baths.
The PP Bleach bath may not be a familiar term today – it toned silver in a linear fashion and was specifically designed to lighten shadows. It was brown in colour.
Excessive toning was the domain of Farmer’s toners. This yellow (from the blood salt).
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This yellowing when toning was too vigorous was well known.
We always helped ourselves by using pure thiourea (one of the two components in the solution) as a final rinse. It often helped. Of course, don’t forget to rinse thoroughly afterwards.
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If none of that helped, we would bleach it completely with a mercury solution and then re-blacken it with – I think it was developer or sal ammoniac – (??).
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All this was done on film (lith film), but it also worked to a limited extent on photographic paper in my home darkroom.
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So try this: rinse (to soften the emulsion), apply the thiourea solution, and then rinse thoroughly.
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Good luck, and let us know how it goes.
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Perhaps a little tip.
There was a rule of thumb: 1-2-3
1 part blood lye, 2 parts thiourea and 3 parts water.
This can be considered a strong solution – it also decomposes quickly (approx. 5–10 minutes – it then turns blue and no longer works properly)
You can also use 1 part blood lye, 2 parts thio and 6 parts water – this would be more of a strong working solution for photographic paper – or even 10 parts water (or more – it just takes longer)
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The only important thing is a 1:2 ratio of developer to Thilo.
If it looks like a baby’s wee, it’s fine ;-)
Also important: rinse very thoroughly – it has a strong residual effect because it clings to the emulsion.
Ideally, proceed very carefully and keep checking that the silver bromides aren’t fraying (becoming shiny white?)
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Moma
Renate
Hello,
I’d be surprised if the Moersch bleaching solution contained a fixer. The bleaching solution is used in conjunction with toner, and as far as I know, a fixer is counterproductive before toning.
The book *Monochrom* recommends a dilute iodine solution for bleaching, as this prevents the paper from turning yellow. I can confirm that. Iodine works brilliantly. Of course, you must use a fixer afterwards.
However, iodine is toxic. You should not inhale it, either as a gas or as dust. The storage bottle should be kept in a well-ventilated place.
Best regards,
Renate
