More than Photography

This method is a quick and simple way to spice up any photo. The best photo choice to use with this technique is practically any photo you like and want to add a special touch to.
The first thing to do is make a quick painting on canvas, and if this part of the process leaves you feeling intimidated, all I can say is: don’t be. Since all you are doing is creating a background layer for your photo the painting does not need to be a masterpiece, just something that pleases your eye. If it makes you feel better I, myself, had never done any painting on canvas before and had quite a bit of fun experimenting with it.
It’s a good idea to use an unframed canvas panel at
8” X 10” so it will be easy to scan when it’s dry.
You can use any type of paints that work on canvas; I like to use acrylic paints since they
dry quite fast.
Next, scan your work of art at 300dpi and open your photo editor.
Now, open the photo you wish to enhance and make sure your layer palette is visible
(Paintshop Pro: View/Palettes/layers or F8. Photoshop: window/layers or F7).
Place your scanned canvas painting onto a new layer above the photo layer and blend both images by playing with the transparency settings until you like what you see.

You can find this photo process and many others in my new book: So Much More than Photography – eBook edition is now on sale for $10.
Get it here

 

Hand-coloring your photos not only allows you intimate contact with the photo but also a great deal of creative freedom.
Most photographs can be hand colored using watercolor, acrylic, or oil paints. You might also use gel pens, colored pencils, metallic pens, or even permanent markers.
You can print out color photos and give them a whole new life by adding color to washed out areas or improving the color in the dull parts of the photo.
But you will get the best effect if you print your photos in black and white and color them from scratch.
The photo should be printed onto high quality photographic or art paper. Semi-gloss or matte are often better choices than gloss paper, which doesn’t hold the paints that well. You can also use watercolor or canvas papers suitable for working with acrylic, watercolor and oil paints. You can find them in any art supplies store.
So try printing your photos on various papers and then see how each one of them works with different paints.

What you need:
• Paper: inkjet matte finish photo paper or fine art inkjet paper or acid free watercolor heavy weight paper or darkroom print on fiber matte paper.
• Paints: watercolors, acrylic, oil paints, color pencils, gel pens, permanent markers.
• Variety of brushes.
• Spray fixative.
• Clear UV-resistant finish (matte or gloss) such as Krylon UV-Resistant Clear.

 

Watercolor painting

This photo, taken in Harper’s Ferry West Virginia, was printed on Strathmore cold press watercolor paper.
This paper can be purchased in a pad at your local art store (prices for a 9”X12” 12 sheets pad is $4 – $6).
Though it was not meant for your printer this paper can in fact run through it. Make sure to adjust your printer’s settings to heavy matte paper which has virtually the same thickness.
Select a photo to color. Photos with good contrast and plenty of light areas will work better. For color photos, convert to black and white and print on your watercolor paper.
Before you begin coloring it is a good idea to coat the photo with spray fixative to prevent ink smudging upon contact with the watercolors.
You can use any brand of watercolors you find, nothing fancy. I got my watercolors at garage sales so I have many different brands, some are more expensive, but they all work pretty much the same.
When your print is dry you can begin painting it. I like to water down the paints so they are almost transparent and don’t obscure the details of the photo. You can always add another layer if the color is too subdued.
When you are done painting protect your work with a UV-resistant finish.

 

Canvas and oil paints

This picture was taken on Ilford 3200 ASA black and white film in Glastonbury, Connecticut. It was then printed on an inkjet canvas- Lumijet masters Canvas. The
coloring process was a bit more difficult since the oil paints used here
(Marshall’s Oils) don’t blend as well on this type of surface, but the end result definitely justifies the effort.

 

Darkroom photographic paper

One of my favorite types of paper to color is silver gelatin. The best candidates are the ones that are printed on fiber matte, semi-matte or semi-gloss papers.
This picture taken in Downtown Boston was painted with standard acrylic paints. Here too, the paints were watered down to make them more transparent. Also make sure to keep a cotton swab or a piece of paper towel handy in case you mess up so you can wipe off the mistake right away. Keep in mind that acrylic paints dry quite quickly.

 

Freestyling

There are many ways to color and paint over a photograph. You can take the more traditional approach and color within the outlines of the photo, try the free form style, mix different painting approaches and tools, paint rather
than color, and even stamp and add text.

Typically, grey-toned pictures are easier to color, but as you can see in the example here, depending on your approach, dark-colored photos can work just as well.

The bottom line is to have fun with it, try different styles and experiment with various ideas and methods until you are happy with the end result.

A more playful approach was taken here and a black and white (not grayscale) photo of Amit was printed on inkjet canvas. It was painted using florescent acrylic paints.

 

Here are a few more examples:

 

And finally a picture I took in Manassas, Virginia. I printed it on a real artist canvas which was then painted by Bentzi Kallush using oil paints.

Salt printing is the oldest method for contact printing photographs on paper.
The paper, coated with sodium chloride (salt) solution combined with silver nitrate, is UV sensitive which means the print is made by exposing it to the sun. This process, developed by William Henry Fox Talbot, a British chemist, during the 1830’s, is a positive/negative process he called Calotype (beautiful picture in Greek).

If you are interested in giving it a go, there are two basic ways to utilize this technique:
1. You can get the ingredients and mix the silver and salt solutions yourself (meaning, dissolve the correct amounts of salt and silver nitrate in distilled water) or get a pre-mixed kit.
Both are great ways to begin your experiments; you can choose and follow one of the many salted paper recipes available online but if you’d rather start with a pre-mixed kit and want to save a buck, at Bostick & Sullivan they offer a reasonably priced Salted Paper Printing kit.

After my first time printing salted papers, something chose to occupy my lungs for 2 days. In order to minimize contact with the chemicals I strongly recommend that you choose the Bostick & Sullivan kit, especially if you don’t have a proper area (i.e. some sort of darkroom / laboratory) in your home for working with toxic chemicals and assuming you love the people who share your home with you.
Working with the kit still requires you to take all the safety measures needed but at least you steer clear of mixing the solutions.

The following assumes you are using the Bostick & Sullivan kit but you can still follow these steps even if you are using any other kit or mixing your own solutions.

What you need:

• Chemicals: ammonium chloride, sodium citrate, silver nitrate or Bostick & Sullivan Salted Paper Printing kit.
• Distilled water ($1.19 per gallon).
• Inexpensive brushes such as Gesso brushes ($0.99 – $5.99).
• Uncoated acid-free papers. Most papers will work just fine however papers that are more porous will require more solution and possibly more exposure time. So be creative and experiment with different papers. In order to save $$ start with papers you already have at home. Also try the low-priced printmaking papers (cut them to size by tearing to keep the rough edges) and watercolor paper pads. ($ inexpensive)
• A piece of cardboard, a sheet of glass (you can use glass from an old frame, just make sure it is not UV coated), binder clips, artist tape and removable clear tape. (These items are going to replace the quite expensive printing frame.)
• Paper negatives. You can use your standard negative but since salt printing is a contact printing technique, your final print can only be the same size as your negative. Paper negatives can be any size you make them. Making paper negatives is an easy process and you don’t even need to be a film shooter to make one (see Making paper negatives) .
• 2 shot glasses. Label one of them Salt and the other one Silver. ($ 0 you already have them at home)
• 2 trays (feel free to use aluminum foil baking trays) ($1.49)
• Fixer (included in the kit or dissolve sodium thiosulfate with distilled water)
• The sun (free!)

Optional:
• Gold toner
• Potassium Dichromate solution for contrast (included in the kit)

Making paper negatives:
Since I suggest using paper negatives for this process here is a quick explanation of how you can easily create them.
There are basically 3 methods of making a paper negative:
1. Place a piece of photographic paper in a pinhole camera and expose it. You will need to develop the paper negative in a darkroom.
2. In the darkroom, place your negative in the enlarger and project your image onto a photographic paper (RC paper will be easier to work with but fiber paper will work as well). Next, develop and fix your photo as usual. When its completely dry contact print it under the enlarger’s light onto another photographic paper, develop and fix as usual. And since you contact printed from a positive photo, you now have created a paper negative.
3. This is the easiest way of making a paper negative and it is done on your PC.
Simply open your chosen photo (preferably a black & white photo\) in your photo editor and convert it to a negative image (In Photoshop: Image /Adjustments/invert in Paintshop Pro: Image/negative image) and print a mirror image of your negative image at any size you wish on standard printer paper. You now have a paper negative.

Coating the paper:
1. (It is a good idea to do the following two steps on the night before you are going to do the actual printing.) Cover your work area with old newspapers. Use the dropper to squeeze the recommended drop count of the salted paper sensitizer into the shot glass and pour it onto the center of the paper you are printing on. Wet your brush with distilled water and use it to spread the solution evenly until it has been absorbed by the paper. If you are adding the optional Potassium Dichromate solution for contrast you should add a drop or two to the salted paper solution before applying it to the paper.
Let the paper completely dry.
2. (It is recommended that you use rubber gloves, eye protection and open all windows before the next step.) Cover your dry paper with the recommended amount of the Silver Nitrate Solution, let the paper completely dry and store it in an area that does not receive any sun light.

Exposing to the sun:
3. (Some people like to use some sort of UV printers but I think it is quite a shame to eliminate the sun which is one of the warmest elements of the process)
Place the paper on a piece of a cardboard and secure it with artist tape so it doesn’t move during exposure. Position the paper negative face down on top of the coated paper and tape it down with a clear removable tape. Place a sheet of glass on top to hold everything tightly together and fasten the glass to the cardboard with binder clips.
4. Set the negative/paper sandwich in the sun. Exposure time will vary according to the strength of the sun, the type of paper, the position of the paper/negative combo (it will take longer if you lay it flat) etc. You can carefully remove the clear tape at one corner and lift the negative to inspect the progress. With experience you will be able to better judge how much exposure time is needed but generally speaking it is better to “overexpose” in the sun as the print will turn lighter in the fixer.

Washing and fixing
5. Carefully remove the print and place it in a tray of water. Agitate the tray and replace the water until the milky residue is gone and the water stays clear.
(If you decide to tone your print you can do it before fixing or after the final wash when the print is still wet) Now transfer your print to the tray with the fixing solution. Agitate the tray and leave the print in the fixer for a few minutes. Replace the print back in the washer tray, set a slow stream of running water and wash the print for about 20 minutes.
And finally hang the print or place it on paper towels until entirely dry.

My book/portfolio on Blurb.

 

 

If you would like to create your own mixed media/collage/photo transfer,
here is how its done:

What you need:
• Inkjet photo (printed on STANDARD PRINTER PAPER) or a laser photocopy of your photo
• Collage materials such as: newspaper or magazine clippings, designer or hand-made papers, wrapping papers, stamps, shopping bags, junk mail etc.
• Acrylic or water paints
• Any type of glue such as school glue, PVA or Mod Podge
• Any type of transfer medium such as Mod Podge or gel medium
• Canvas or wood panel
• A water spray bottle
• UV-resistant clear finish

1) Gather your collage materials and lay them out in a design of your choice on any size canvas or wood panel. Adhere the collage pieces onto the surface using school glue or mod podge.
2) If you are using mod podge make sure to cover the collage pieces with Mod Podge so it doesn’t only adhere the papers to the canvas but also protects it to all eternity (or at least a few years).

3) Once your collage is thoroughly dry you can paint it with watercolor or acrylic paints. I like to use different shades of a color, paint the center with the brightest shade and then go darker toward the edges.

4) The next step is to convert the photo of your choice to black and white. In some cases color photos will work as well but black and white often work better with this process as they stand out more over the background.
5) You can use either a xerox photocopy of your image or an image printed from your inkjet printer. If you are using an inkjet, print out a mirror version of your image into a standard printer paper (not a photo paper!).

Since I decided to work with a 16″X20″ canvas panel I had to divide my photo and print out 4 sheets of 8″X10″ papers.
6) If you are using an inkjet print its a good idea to protect your print with spray fixative to prevent smudging.

7) Next, cover your image with Mod Podge and press it face down into the collage. Rub gently with your fingers to smooth out any air bubbles.
8 ) If you are using an inkjet photo you will have to wait only about an hour or two for the Mod Podge to dry and for the transfer to complete. If you are using a photocopy let it set for a few hours, preferably over night.

9 ) Spray the back of your photo with water and gently remove and rub off the excess paper with your fingers in order to reveal the transfer. If you are using a photocopy you will have to repeat this step as many time as needed until the excess paper is completely gone.

10) At this point you will notice that there might be some paper left behind which is difficult to remove. Also the transfer looks quite rough and does not blend nicely with the background. So in order to better unify the background and the photo transfer, paint over the edges of your transfer using the same color you used for the background. Next you can paint over the white areas of your transfer with similar shades of the background behind them. Water down your paint and dub it onto the white areas with a paper towel. For the smaller areas you can use a cotton swab . Make sure not to paint over the ink (black) parts of your photo, just the white areas where the paper can still be seen.

Take a look at the next picture: The left area was painted while the right side is still covered with the white paper and had not been painted yet.

 

And this is the final image:

 

11) Preserve your art work with a protective finish such as “preserve it!” by Krylon for inkjet or Krylon Crystal Clear if you used a toner based photocopy.

You can find this photo process and many others in my new book: So Much More than Photography – eBook edition is now on sale for $10 .

 

 

This method is a quick and simple way to spice up any photo. The best photo choice to use with this technique is practically any photo you like and want to add a special touch to.

The first thing to do is make a quick painting on canvas, and if this part of the process leaves you feeling intimidated, all I can say is: don’t be. Since all you are doing is creating a background layer for your photo the painting does not need to be a masterpiece, just something simple that pleases your eye. If it makes you feel better I, myself, had never done any painting on canvas before and had quite a bit of fun experimenting with it.
Here is an example of a simple painting I made: painting on canvas

It’s a good idea to use an unframed canvas panel no larger than 8” X 10” so it is easy to scan when it’s dry.
You can use any type of paints that work on canvas; I like to use acrylic paints since they dry quite fast.

Next, scan your work of art at 300dpi and open your photo editor.
Now, open the photo you wish to enhance and make sure your layer palette is visible (Paintshop Pro: View/Palettes/layers or F8. Photoshop: window/layers or F7).
Place your scanned canvas painting onto a new layer above the photo layer and blend both images by playing with the transparency settings until you like what you see.

You can find this photo process and many others in my new book: So Much More than Photography – eBook edition is now on sale for $10 .

 

 

Mixed media collages and photo transfers are fun and quite simple to do .
Here are the basic steps to create your own master piece:
1) Cover a canvas panel with old newspaper and pieces of textured paper (or any other found objects such as tickets or stamps)
2) Add a thin layer of acrylic or watercolor paints. I like to paint the center with brighter colors and use darker colors toward the adges.
3) Next, Convert the photo of your choice (in this case, a picture of an alley in Chinatown in San Francisco) to black and white. pictures with greater contrast are likely to work better as they tend to stand out off the background.
4) Print out a mirror version of your image into a standard printer paper.
5) Spread a nice amount of mod podge on your image and press it face down into the canvas over the collage (make sure the collage is already dry).
6) Wait until the mod podge is completely dry (this may take a few hours). Rub your transfer with wet fingers and gently remove the excess paper to reveal the transfer. If you are using a photocopy instead of inkjet printout you will need to repeat this step a few times until all the paper is completely removed.
7) Preserve your work of art with a protective finish such as “preserve it!” by Krylon.

SO MUCH MORE THAN
PHOTOGRAPHY

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Harper’s Ferry, West Virginia
Technique: Hand painted photograph on watercolor paper.
(Read more about hand painted photos)

HAPPY NEW YEAR to you all.
May 2012 be a year of reason and of course lots of great photographs!

Cyanotype is one of the earliest printing processes that do not use silver coating and therefore quite simple to execute. The printing is done by contact and involves UV rays (i.e the sun), so no need for the darkroom.
You can contact print your negatives or even digital photos printed into film transparency but here I experimented with printing from a paper negative. Paper negative demands a longer exposure in the sun but the final image has a unique fiber-like quality to it.

Spring in Blue

Camera: Minolta SRT / +2 close-up filter
Technique: Cyanotype sun printing from paper negative
Spring in blue. Camera: Minolta SRT / +2 close-up filter Technique: Cyanotype sun printing from paper negative

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Not my usual style but every now and then I try to get out of my comfort zone and photograph something new.
It’s a black and white darkroom print on a semi-matte fiber paper which seemed to be perfect for split toning, but as I ran out of toners I decided that instead of toning I will simply color this print using standard colored pencils.

Hand colored flowers
Original photo taken with a Minolta SRT + Close-up filter
Printed on Arista semi-matte fiber paper.
Colored with standard color pencils.

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