Cyanotypes How To

Here is a brief run down on how I create my cyanotypes.

What you will need:

• Potassium Ferricyanide
• Ferric Ammonium Citrate
• Paper, textiles or other absorbent material
• Copier paper
• Sheet of glass
• 2 brown Glass bottles, mixing bowls, spoons, scales, washing line, pegs

Step 1: Creating the negative

In order to create my negatives I used digital infrared photos I had taken, as they are very contrasty. As you can't get a large tonal range with cyanotypes using images with high contrast is very important in order to create an effective image. To create my negative I take my photograph, increase the contrast and invert it. I then make it black and white by adding a monochrome Channel Mixer adjustment layer.

It should look something like this:

Step 2: Printing the negative

I then printed my inverted image just on regular paper, and photocopied it onto transperent copier paper. I created my negatives this way as it means I had complete control over size (If I used actual film negatives it would be much harder to control my image, and the size as I would have to shoot what I wanted straight onto large format film).

Step 3: Mixing the chemicals

(As we are using light sensitive chemicals, the next 3 steps must be done in the dark, or using a safe bulb.)

The first step is to mix up the two chemicals. Measure 25g of Ferric Ammonium Citrate and mix with 100ml of water, then measure 10g of Potassium Ferricyanide, mix with with 100ml water and store in an airtight dark bottles. This recipe will make approximately 50 8x10 prints, but the chemicals will not last very long, so make sure to store in a cool dark place.

Step 4: Making the solution

To make the light sensitive solution, mix equal quantities of the two chemicals in a bowl.

Step 5: Painting the paper

Next take your negative and mark out the corners lightly on the paper, this shows us the area we want to paint inside. If you want clean edges you can use masking tape and mask off the areas you dont want to paint. I like messy edges though so I do this step very roughly, as I find textured edges much more effective.

We then paint our chemical solution over the paper and leave it to dry in a dark place overnight.

Step 6: Exposing the negative

The next day we take our paper out, make sure its dry, and place our negative over the top. Place a sheet of glass over the top so the negative doesn't bow or slip. Then leave it in direct sunlight for 10-15 minutes.

Step 7: Washing

Once the sunlight as exposed our paper we need to wash the excess chemicals away. Wash in running water until the water runs clear, and hang up the paper to dry.

Once the paper is dry you should end up with a beautiful blue cyanotype!