Re: Sterling Lith paper

["Tim Rudman" <tim.rudman@xxxxxxxxxx>]

-----Original Message-----
From: Clive Warren <Clive.Warren@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: infrared@xxxxx <infrared@xxxxx>
Date: 19 April 1999 11:05
Subject: Sterling Lith paper


>Well have to say I'm hooked on lith printing - it will be a regular part of
>darkroom practice from now on.
>
>If anyone decides to try out Sterling Lith paper for printing their IR work
>it is worth the effort, however it is an effort :-)
>
>At the weekend I printed up the following IR shot taken using Konica - here
>it is a straight print in normal chemistry:
>
>http://wkweb5.cableinet.co.uk/cocam/Hound.jpg
>
>I chose this neg. as it is a real challenge to print anyway - the grass
>requires a lot of burning in and the hound has to be dodged. The print at
>the URL is straight with no dodging or burning.  Currently exposing for 4
>minutes on lith paper using Novalith developer - it still needs another
>stop to get the grass and leaves in the background.  If I find a scanner
>big enough then will put the print up on the website.
>
>
>Using the Sterling paper for the first time I found it almost impossible to
>tell which side has the emulsion.  It is an eggshell finish on the emulsion
>side and is very (VERY) similar to the surface texture of the back.  I
>hesitate to lick my fingers in the darkroom, however this was the only way
>to tell the emulsion side, and even then the difference between sides is
>very slight.
>
>One strategy I tried was to print my test strips in ordinary developer
>(that looks good also on this paper) and from that ascertain the emulsion
>side of the paper in the packet.  Well that would be great, however the
>paper in the packet was not packed all facing the same way &%$*(*(*&!!!!
>
>Looking at the packet the sealing flap had been taped shut - my guess is
>that the seller had repackaged a smaller quantity of paper from a large
>stock.  I will be contacting them today......
>
>I left one sheet in the developer for 35 minutes to see if at least an
>image would appear on the reverse side - it did.  After 25 minutes it was
>painfully obvious that it was the wrong way up.  However it does have
>amazing pepper fogging and streaking :-)
>
>Anyone have similar experiences and any tips?
>
>Guess I will have to read Tim's book again to determine which chemicals to
>buy for the pepper fogging problem as I had some in the two successful
>prints at a dev. time of about 10 minutes.
>
>Locally there are not too many darkroom chemical stockists - the only
>serious one is KJP who also own Calumet in the USA.
>
>Asked for some Pot Ferri in Jessops (UK photo chain store) on Saturday (KJP
>is closed on Saturdays) and was offered some Sepia toner without the bleach
>Hmmmm....
>
>
>Does anyone have any tips for drying the Sterling paper?  hung up a couple
>of sheets back to back and they curled horribly :-(
>
>
>
>
>
>All the best,
>
>              Clive   http://clive.bel-epa.com
>
----------

I hang them back to back and clip all 4 corners. They dry with a mild curl
which flattens under weight or in a slightly warmed mounting press.

The peper fogging is easy to control now but if you plan to use ferri take
care - it will cause a colour shift. (see book)

Tim

PS. It's not 'that much' trouble when you get the hang of it - I've done 200
in a weekend before now ;-))


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