L’équilibre est la clé.

Toned cyanotype on watercolor paper. 8”x8”

Unique cyanotype print with embroidery and ink. 10”x 10”

bleached cyanotype, decorated with points of light.

Cyanotype print with dried flower. Canson Montval 300g watercolor paper. 10” x 10”

Grande jetée Des Sables D'Olonne 1997

A powerful black-and-white photograph capturing the Grande Jetée at Les Sables-d’Olonne, where the red light beacon stands against the fury of the Atlantic Ocean. Waves crash with immense force against the breakwater, sending up plumes of spray that seem to dissolve into the sky. Seagulls circle in the wind, their flight accentuating both the drama and the vastness of the scene. The composition conveys a timeless dialogue between human construction and the untamed energy of the sea, caught in a fleeting yet eternal moment.

Technical details

Camera: Nikon F1 on tripod

Lens: 85 mm focal length

Film: Ilford FP4 Plus

Developer: Ilford ID-11, dilution 1+1

Print: 30 × 40 cm on Fomaspeed MG warm tone paper

printed as a toned cyanotype. I am delighted with how well this turned out! :-))

Split-toned cyanotype on cotton watercolor paper. 8"x8".

Chris and his dog Zero on a Saturday morning.

Toned cyanotype on cotton watercolor paper. 8"x8"

For those who may be interested, a new post on my personal blog, a meditation on innocence, experience, and mystery: www.poeticimageryfineartphotography.com/blog/2019/5/17/so...

Toned cyanotype (toned in coffee). 7”x9”.

Digital negative made from Fixxons film.

47 minute exposure with UV lamp.

Toned for 10 minutes in warm coffee one day after development.

I was struck by a burning desire to make some new cyanotype prints, and as someone who loves anything circular, I painted my emulsion in a circle. The mood of the image changes a bit. The circle adds intimacy, and I like how floats in the middle of the white space on the cotton paper.

toned cyanotype print on cotton watercolor paper. 8.5" x 8.5"

I started to make prints of the images from my Verses (from the Garden of Evergreen and Memory) portfolio. It's going to be a long process, but I like the challenge.

un autre tirage cyanotype liée à mon rêve dont j'ai parlé hier dans la description et dans le poste sur mon blog.

another cyanotype that plays with the idea of inner light, a concept arising from an incredible dream that I had, which I referenced in my previous post and discussed in detail on my blog.

Cyanotype (toned in coffee for 15 mins) on Canson Montval cotton watercolor paper. 8"x10".

8.5" x 8. 5" toned cyanotype on cotton watercolor paper.

Tea-toned cyanotype.

I’m thinking now about the notion of collective grief, something that has gripped our world in recent weeks. Grief and I are certainly not strangers. Profound loss has touched my life a few times, and I’m still grieving my hysterectomy. My folded wings, however, are starting to twitch again. The urge to soar is innate in us all. As my force is returning, I thought I would offer this to those who might be in need...

Writer Glennon Doyle talks about the need to hold vigil for those enshrouded in the cocoon of grief. This poem speaks to that.

Archive

Within each of us there is an archive of loss,

A library of longing,

Volumes of unspoken wishes,

Ethereal as ribbons of mist on a November morning,

Guarded in the veiled chambers of the heart,

Laced into the hens of our skirts,

Tucked just behind our eyelids,

Rest now, dear one,

On this bed of crimson roses,

I will sing to you if butterflies on the wing,

Of wildflowers and shooting stars,

Of summer rains and falling leaves,

I will fashion you a crown of daisies and bluebells,

And a boutonnière of rosemary for remembrance,

Though it hurts, we must never forget,

I will burn the sage,

I will fix a cup of tea,

I will hold the candle,

Steadfast, unfailing,

Whenever you are ready,

Let me be the light

To help guide you back home.

A last one of Lulu the fictional woman.

8"x10" coffee-toned cyanotype on Canson Moulin de Roy water color paper.

The learning continues...

Last week was a bit frustrating, as all of my prints were under exposed despite hours outside. That's par for the course in winter in Northern Europe, I suppose. This one is a bit underexposed, even after 3.5 hours, but it's promising. To help on the end, I ordered a UV lamp that is made for alternative process printing, which will make things so much faster and easier. Thanks to those of you who suggested that. It was good advice.

This print was immersed in a citric acid bath for about 5 minutes 36 hours after development. The day after that, it was immersed in a very weak bleach bath (1/4 tsp sodium carbonate / 1L water) for 5 seconds. After a 20 minute rinse, it was immersed in a strong coffee bath for an hour and a half. It's a toning technique that I will try again with a proper exposure. The next time I do some printing, I will use a different paper also. I prefer the Canson Montval. It has a nicer feel and texture, and it seems to absorb the cyanotype emulsion better.

Cyanotype on watercolor paper: photogram + contact print. 6.25" x 8"

this is a new technique that I discovered, which involves pairing 3D objects with negatives for contact printing.

I wrote a long-pondered post on my blog about a dream I had after my hysterectomy, one that inspired recent explorations with the notion of inner light. Here's a new cyanotype (8x10 on Canson Montreal watercolor paper) that was created with that goal in mind. You can read more about it on mu blog. Thanks, as always to those who take the time to read what I write. I appreciate you so very much.

Et je suis désolée, mes amis français, le blog est en anglais.

www.poeticimageryfineartphotography.com/blog/2019/10/18/l...

Split-toned cyanotype on Canson Watercolor paper. 8"x10". (scanned while still a bit damp)

The split tones were achieved by utilizing a combination of toners: coffee, black tea, and then citric acid. The print was allowed to cure between each step of the toning process.

Cyanotype on Canson Montval 100% cotton watercolor paper. Toned in a mixture of coffee and black tea.

Coffee and black tea-toned cyanotype on Canson Montval Watercolor paper. 8"X10"

These are the tones I have been searching for, a cool black with warm-toned highlights. It feels like a victory to have found a way to achieve them! :). To get these tones, I bleached the cyanotype for just a few seconds (10-12) in sodium carbonate, pulling it out of the solution just before I thought it was ready. The colors continue to shift during the rinsing process. Too much bleaching leads to more rusty colors, which isn't what I want. Then I gave the print a bath in black coffee. It rested in the coffee for about an hour. I let it dry completely. The next day, I toned in in black tea for about 5 minutes. Tea stains the highlights, much more so than coffee, and they turn a kind of deep camel color. That wasn't what I was going for, so, once again, I pulled it out of the solution before I thought it was ready. When the print dried, all of the blue pigment had toned to this wonderful warm black.

I have read this several times, and it's the absolute truth: never judge a cyanotype before it's completely dry. The chemical processes that play with the iron in the pigment continue to work their magic throughout the drying process. Due to the flaws in how the emulsion was applied to the paper, I had thought this would be a throwaway print. Now that's it's all done and dry, I can see that it's a keeper. The roughness and imperfections in the emulsion suit the style of the photo quite well.

Dry (left) and wet (right) cyanotypes on Canson Montval cotton watercolor paper.

Tea-toned cyanotype.

A toned cyanotype of one of my favorite images from my Verses portfolio...

8.5" x 8.5" on cotton watercolor paper.

"and I needed to

could I count on you

to lay me down?"

-- Townes Van Zandt, No Place to Fall

Cyanotype on cotton watercolor paper (Canson Montval). 7"x10". Toned in cassis tea just after development, lightly bleached and dipped in a citric acid bath the next day.

Coffee and tea-toned cyanotype on Canson Montval Watercolor paper. 8"x10"

cyanotype on watercolor paper + feather + straight pin