film fridays - platinum print

i know this image looks a bit different than some of the other film images i've posted, with a strange color cast and all. that is not a mistake - it's a platinum - palladium print! i've made silver print versions of this image as well, but the ghostly quality that i like so much about this image shines through with the platinum technique, so this is the version i prefer and show.

the specs: original negative was made with a hasselblad 501CM camera, and then the negative was enlarged to roughly 5x7. i think this particular image was enlarged digitally (cheating!), but there are plenty others that i enlarged by hand using an enlarger and reversal film, so i don't feel too bad about this - besides, we had to do one digital enlargement for our class. :)

the final negative was then contact printed to a piece of paper that i hand coated in the platinum - palladium solution and exposed under light in a contact print frame. this particular print is on archival hot press watercolor paper (arches was my paper of choice back in the day).

ring hand :: gelatin relief

gelatin relief :: yellow shoe

One of my wedding gelatin relief prints - I recently made some of these prints from my 2009 weddings and will begin to share them. And soon I will begin my gelatin relief work on my personal artwork projects. The first steps are done, but a lot more needs to be done to them... it is a very time-intensive process.

New Take on an Old Image

This is an image from a wedding I shot back in 2004, but reworked a few weeks ago using the Gelatin Relief process. Just thought I'd share now, since I have a whooooole lot of images to be put through this process,some of which you will be seeing in the new year.

Holga + Gelatin Relief = ???

Chinatown (Click on the image to see the texture / details more clearly)

So, I've decided to experiment a bit and combine my trademark Holga technique with the Gelatin Relief Process. What resulted were 5 prints that are variations of my original Holga artworks that you may have seen on my art site or blog before, printed to contact size as before, but with the texture and coloring of a Gelatin Relief. They are one of a kind prints, and cannot be duplicated exactly. If you are interested in purchasing one, or having one commissioned (yes, I can make this process work with ANY of the Holga images I have created), let me know and I will give you the full details of the relevant piece!

Gelatin Relief - First Dance

I spent the last few days locked in the darkroom, and this is one of the resulting images: another Gelatin Relief image from one of last year's weddings. The original photo was taken during Annie and Matt's first dance last spring. I have quite a few new images to share, but chose this first because the veils were really dramatic in this one.

See more of my Gelatin Relief images at www.erinantognoli.com, and if you're interested in acquiring one of these pieces for yourself, please don't hesitate to contact me!

Another Gelatin Relief

Yeah, another Gelatin Relief print. This one is from an engagement session I shot a while back. I am just loving this process for my wedding and portrait images!

See more of my Gelatin Relief images at www.erinantognoli.com, and if you're interested in acquiring one of these pieces for yourself, please don't hesitate to contact me!

More Gelatin Relief

In celebration of the end of Cherry Blossom season, here's another Gelatin Relief image that I made. The negative is older, but the finished piece is brand new!

See more of my Gelatin Relief images at www.erinantognoli.com, and if you're interested in acquiring one of these pieces for yourself, please don't hesitate to contact me!

Gelatin Relief

Some of you may have seen my Facebook or Twitter where I have been talking about this old / new process that I am resurrecting and will begin offering to my wedding and portrait clients (not to mention making some cool personal art!). The process is a gelatin relief, and it consists of taking a traditional darkroom print and tossing it in an acid / corrosive solution that affects the silver gelatin and causes it to separate from the paper. These prints are awesome because you can manipulate them in such a wide variety of ways to make the images look completely different. Each image is one of a kind, and while they can be closely replicated, they cannot be exactly duplicated.

I used this process extensively for my graduate thesis exhibit, and have begun to use it on my wedding and portrait images. The image above is from the most recent darkroom session. I can't wait to start making these for my clients... it's gonna rock!

To see a gallery of these images, go to http://www.erinantognoli.com and click on "gelatin relief". I'll post more on the blog and eventually on Halo's site where they belong since they are made from the documentary images I capture for my clients. I am in the middle of a site redesign for Halo at which point they will be added. Keep your eyes peeled for changes and new additions to the gallery!