AlternativePhotography.com

Historical photographic methods in use today – the art, processes and techniques of alternative photography

Hey everyone,

I just recently tried to do my own cyanotypes...but I had a really big problem and I couldn't determine if it was the paper or what.

Everything went fine when I was exposing. Then I put the print in the wash, saw the image come to life, but then it started disappearing as the blue chemical was coming off. I had water color paper and fiber paper, and it did it with both.

I'm sure there is an easy remedy for this, but I am really dumbfounded as I've never done this before. Any help would be great!

Is your water alkaline at all?
My cyanotypes were fading as they developed, and continued to fade through washing.
My well water was alkaline. I started developing in water with vinegar added. I then took them to a friends to wash in non-alkaline city tap water.
That worked fine, but was a nuisance, so I stopped doing cyanotypes and moved on to other processes that weren't as sensitive to the pH.
Good luck!

hello

I am a complete novice to this process, and have a pack of 'sunography' paper.

The images appear fine when exposed to sunlight, but then everything disappears
when rinsed in water or using a mild peroxide as I saw someone doing over the internet.

any help gratefully received!

It could be that you're not exposing your image quite enough. Try a few seconds more to see if that helps.

Also -- try developing in straight white vinegar first for about 30-60 sec, then washing in water. We have alkaline water here & I found that an initial development in vinegar first helps. It also gives a really nice dark blue tone to the print.

Your paper might need a vinegar soak before use as well. A lot of papers use calcium carbonate as a size, and that will affect cyanotypes. Pre-soaking the paper in straight white vinegar untl all the bubbles stop will help. Just be sure to give the paper a good rinse & dry before using.

Good luck with it.