Cyanotype sun printing from paper negative.

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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Hand colored flowers

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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Photographing the empty streets

When I first arrived to Cleveland I thought I will never find anything to photograph there; it was a hot hot day at the end of Spring and the streets were empty, I mean, no people, no cars, stores are closed and no place to buy a good meal.
It felt like being inside the History Channel’s Life after People documentary.
But as it turned out a city that is on the verge of death, is a sad destination for the average tourist but quite an impressive place for a photographer.
Downtown Cleveland Ohio (Spring 2011) Camera: Minolta SRT Film: Kodak Tri-x

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Aging a color photo with coffee

Aging a color photo is obviously more challenging than making a black and white or a sepia tone image look old – difficult, but not impossible.
Especially if you like coffee.
Now on to the details:
The first step is to un-vibrant (is this a word?) the image so it doesn’t look too vivid. You can do this during scanning or in your image editor by reducing the highlights, saturation, and contrast. Or you can just go for one of your unsuccessful washed-out photos (as you see, unsuccessful doesn’t necessarily mean failed).

The next step is to create an aged looking paper, which I did by using the leftovers of my morning coffee. Really! All you need to do is crumble a paper (I used watercolor paper), soak it in coffee, and let it dry in the sun. Now the same watercolor paper looks like it has seen many years of hardship.

Next, scan the stained paper, open your favorite photo editor and blend it on another layer with your washed out image. And just like before, you will need to play around with the blending and transparency settings until you like what you see.

By the way, if you are not a coffee drinker and prefer tea, no worries; you can do the same process using tea instead of coffee. I’m sure there are many other ways to age a paper such as burning, ink stains, distressed ink, antique solutions, or simply use an actual aged paper from an old book. These are just a few methods to choose from, so simply select whatever works best for you.

As a final touch, you can darken the edges of the photo by using the darken or burn tool in your photo editor.

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ADDING TEXTURE TO A PHOTO

The fastest way to add a new dimension to a picture is to open your photo editor and insert an additional layer of texture. This method is quite simple and mainly involves placing one or more layers that contain texture, on top of your original photo.
In addition to bringing a layer of depth, these textures often introduce the illusion of dust, dirt, stains and creases to the photo and create a final grungy and dramatic appearance.

The texture can be made on the computer, as many of the existing graphics software offer tools for making such textures and backgrounds. However, I find it incomparably effortless to simply scan homemade textures or even designer papers (sometimes called scrapbooking or decorated paper). Often, people prefer to use found textures such as peeling paint, leaves, fabrics, rust or scratched surface, which they capture on film (or digitally) and set as backgrounds for their images.

Whatever textures you choose for your art work, you will blend them in your photo editor on different layers so that your photo will act as the background layer. Play around with the transparency and blending mode settings to let the textures show through your photos.
When blending the textures with your photo, you can insert as many layers as you wish – don’t limit yourself to one type of texture; you can combine as many texture layers as you like for a unique edge.
Broadway, Downtown Los Angeles

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