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Burlesque Nr. 3

Burlesque Nr. 3

Mamiya 7, HP5, Microphen, EI around 35000.

Yes, another 50-ish minute developing effort – then printed as a gold-toned kallitype. The print picked up more density during the toning than I expected. In the untoned print (a beautiful warm chocolate-brown) her legs had very little definition and very high contrast. About 8.5 minutes in a gold chloride toning solution just before fixing and the warm browns all turned in to cold grays, with more density and reduced contrast.

This print marks two milestones for me. First, it’s my first toned kallitype. The entire process went smoothly but I’ve grown fond of the deep browns and I’m not so thrilled with the tin-like cold color. I don’t think it suits this subject well. Second, this is my first print that’s too big to scan. The image is about 10.5 inches square, printed on 11×14 Stonehenge.

Before anyone asks: yes, this is technically a crop of the original negative. I took this vertically: at the bottom there was dark stage, faded to black. At the top: no light, faded to black. It wanted to be square!