With this body of work I felt the need to accentuate the antiquity of these subjects by using a warm tone paper and a fairly concentrated dilution of selenium toner in order to attain the results I had envisioned. This process brings forth rich browns in the darker areas (shadows) of the print but allows the lighter areas (highlights) to remain a pleasant creamy white. A process known as “split toning”.

The difference between these prints and what many refer to as “sepia toned” prints is in the lighter areas (highlights) of the image. Sepia toning, to some degree, alters these lighter portions of the print by casting a slight yellow hue throughout. I felt that this series would be enhanced by split toning rather then sepia toning.

The photographic paper used for this set of prints is Ilford Multigrade Warmtone (glossy) fiber base. Kodak’s Selenium Toner is utilized at a dilution of 1:4 (1 part toner, 4 parts distilled water). The actual toning time varies from print to print but generally the photograph will reach its fullest potential in 4 to 6 minutes.