Does anyone have a recommendation for a fiber paper, VC or graded, and or a toner for blue or blue black print tones? I don't have access to a number of combinations for testing, so any info to get a jump start would be appreciated! Thanks

-- Bob Tipton (btip487@msn.com), May 19, 1999

Answers

Use a paper that leans toward cold tones such as Oriental Seagull in conjunction with a blue-black paper developer. The results can be very interesting. I recommend mixing your own developer and getting hold of the Darkroom Cookbook by Steven Anchell. I believe there is a developer (strictly mix-it-yourself, the formula is in the cookbook)called Maxim Muir's Blue-Black paper developer. Reducing or eliminating the potassium bromide and adding a small amount of benzotriazole will enhance your blue-black sometimes rather dramatically. Mixing your own chemicals can be a rewarding experience as some other formulas that are not available in prepackaged form have very nice qualities. Individual chemicals are available through Artcraft Chemicals http://www.nfinity.com/~mdmuir/artcraft.html or Photographers Formulary http://www.montana.com/formulary/index.html

-- Brian Jefferis (jefferis@erols.com), May 19, 1999.

You can use a chloride (warm-tone) paper and tone in a thiocyanate- based gold toner such as Ansco 231 or Dupont 6T. Formulas for these toners can be found at http://www.unblinkingeye.com/Articles/ThiosulSol/thiosulsol.html. Gold toning tones the entire image, not just the darker portions, so you have to print a bit lighter than you want the final print.

-- Ed Buffaloe (edbuffaloe@earthlink.net), June 03, 1999.

I used Photographers Formulary's blue toning kit with Ilford VC FB for a snow scene. I put it in the borax afterwash to get it more gray, then accidentally left it in the H2O wash a little long, which washed away some of the blue, but I ended up with a great split-toned print.

-- David Anderson (davida@hsonline.net), August 15, 1999.