This is another formula, much longer around than the New Guy’s formula from Quinn I’ve been using so far. Today talking to Jeroen we shortly discussed the Old Guy’s formula. After I got used to the process I wanted to try out some different formulas to see what differences and specialties they have to offer. This talk was a slow reminder so I decided to look up the formula again. There are also formulas without ether, said to have consistency problems according to some, and formulas without CadmiumBromide, which would make the process less risky as it’s carcinogenic.
Collodion & Solvents (Part A)
Plain U.S.P. Collodion: 120 mL
Anhydrous Ether: 80 mL
Grain or Denatured Alcohol: 80 mL
Mix the alcohol and ether together and then add it to the collodion.
Salts (Part B)
Cadmium Bromide (CdBr): 1.5 g
Potassium Iodide (KI): 2 g
Distilled Water: 3 mL
Using a test tube, dissolve these salts in the distilled water.
You can store these separated and mix them when you deem it necessary. Only this formula needs a ripening process, also called clearing process. 2 or 3 days this mixture needs to sit in order to clear and make good images.
Perhaps my next batch of Collodion will be this Old Guy’s version to compare the 2 and see what I like the most. Jeroen mentioned the Old Guy’s has less contrast and I actually like the contrast I get from this New Guy but we’ll see. Trying is knowing.
In time I’ll post the other formulas as well, easy for me as well to quickly look’em up whenever I need to.
Photography Contrastique - Alternative Photographic Processes 