Dr. Tim Rudman
Member, Freestyle Advisory Board of Photographic Professionals
Biography
Dr. Tim Rudman is well known as an accomplished photographer, master
printer and authority on darkroom techniques as well as a regular writer and
lecturer. He has conducted workshops on printing and toning techniques
in Britain, Spain, Australia and USA.
He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, The British Professional
Photographer's Association and of The Royal Photographic Society in
Great Britain, where he sits on the Society's Distinctions Panel for Visual
Arts and is the Chairman of its Distinctions Panel for Photographic Printing.
Tim is a member of the Arena group and is the immediate past Chairman of
The London Salon of Photography. He was awarded an Associateship by the
India International Photographic Council, for services to photography, and
holds the distinction of Excellence of the Federation International de l'Art
Photographique. Tim's work has been widely exhibited in over 25
countries, receiving numerous international awards and is held in several permanent
and private collections around the world.
Tim was a main feature writer for Photo Art International throughout its existence until
its demise this year and has published several hundred articles on photography and
printing in Europe, America and Australia.He has published three books.
The first, 'The Photographer's Master Printing Course', was an instant best seller with
the first print run selling out in just 4 months and has been regularly reprinted. This
was followed by 'The Master Photographer's Lith Printing Course', which was widely
acclaimed and remains the only book on this beautiful process. His new book 'The
Photographer's Toning Book...the definitive guide' has met with much
critical acclaim as the most comprehensive book on the subject.
Ask the Experts
To ask Mr. Rudman a question please fill out the form below. The most
popular questions and answers will be posted on this page.
QUESTION:
Dear Mr. Rudman,
I have just started to tone and recently purchased your book on toning.
I started with Iron-Blue and am now moving onto copper. I really like the subtle purple that can be obtained with tetenal copper toner, but it is proving ...full question
MR. RUDMAN'S ANSWER:
Hello Will,
Welcome to the world of toning!
If you liked iron blue I am sure you will like copper. It has a lot in common with blue and they both belong to the same family of metal ferrocyanides and so in lots of ways they both behave in simila...full answer
QUESTION:
Dr. Rudman
Something has been a source of confusion to me for years that perhaps you can help me with.
Variable contrast papers and cold ligt color. I have replaced my cold light tube with the Aristo V54, a cyan color light.
Your question is a little outside my personal experience as I don't use the head you use – so I 'used my head' and asked my good friends at Ilford Photo.
Here is the reply, which I hope fully answers your question:
My question is, what is the recipe for pure hypo to be used in a selenium toning process?
The process I'm attempting to follow is:
1. Soak dry prints in water for 3 minutes.
2. Soak prints in "pure hypo" for 3-5 minutes-w/a...full question
MR. RUDMAN'S ANSWER:
I take it that before you begin your outlined process, you have fixed the print in a single fixing bath and then plan to use a second fixing bath before toning. Also, this advice is intended for FB papers, not RC papers.
Can copper or iron (e.g. Berg brown or blue) be used safely either before or after sepia (or selenium). I would like to use the toners on different areas with some overlap.
Thanks,
Bob
MR. RUDMAN'S ANSWER:
Yes indeed they can, and there are a number of ways of doing so.
Both selenium and sepia are archival toners - very stable and image silver so toned is mostly unaffected by any subsequent toner action (with the exception of gold toner after sepia,...full answer
QUESTION:
Hi Tim,
Now that Agfa is no more (as far as photographers are concerned, at least) I was wondering if there is a recipe for brewing Agfa Sistan available? (As this product was hard to find even when it was still being produced.) I know I can acqu...full question
MR. RUDMAN'S ANSWER:
Dear Mark,
Thank you for your question. Sistan is still widely available in fact. A&O imaging solutions GmbH took over the AgfaPhoto GmbH chemical production facilities in November 2005 after Agfa ceased production.
What is the coldest tone paper available that liths? Bromofort seems to have disappeared.
Thanks
John
MR. RUDMAN'S ANSWER:
John,
Bromofort has gone, along with all the other papers made by Forte, which ceased business again, and finally, in January.
Undoubtedly the coldest lith paper by far is the Russian paper Slavich. It is very cold and not the easiest paper to co...full answer
QUESTION:
Dear Tim, I refer to The Photographer's Toning Book very frequently and always find new information and helpful nuances. Thank you! I shoot 4x5 negatives and develop in PMK or P-TEA (10g pyro; 100 ml Triethanolamine). I print with an Omega D2V conden...full question
MR. RUDMAN'S ANSWER:
Dear Mark, Yes, we live in testing times - in all senses. And I think therein lies the answer, in that some testing is ultimately the only way to find what paper(s) give(s) the closest to 'that look' that you have in your mind, when used with your ne...full answer
QUESTION:
Dear Tim,
When toning, is it possible to use more than one type of bleach when toning a print? Say, for instance, when FSA toning, could one bleach a print a small amount with a chloride bleach and then complete the bleaching process with, say, a...full question
MR. RUDMAN'S ANSWER:
Dear Mark,
The answer to this question is not simple, as so many variables affect the outcome with FSA, sometimes to a large degree.
Using bleaches based on the 3 different halides can produce very different results with the same paper in the ...full answer
QUESTION:
Hello,
I have a question about what makes a photo paper lith printable? I have found some info, but no definitive answer. Thank you for your time!
Shawna N.
MR. RUDMAN'S ANSWER:
Hello Shawna
Firstly, perhaps I can say something about what often makes some papers unsuitable for Lith printing, because knowing this can save a lot of time and experimentation.
Resin coated (RC) papers typically develop very fast - almost inst...full answer
QUESTION:
Hello Tim,
I was interested in making my own b&w print developer. I have been experimenting with many developers, but I have not quite found some of the tone that I want to achieve. My question is, whether I use a combination of metol and hydroquino...full question
MR. RUDMAN'S ANSWER:
Hello Mark,
There are quite a few references for making your own developers. As you suggest, The Darkroom Cookbook is a good starting point. It explains the basics and gives a range of formulae for different types of developer and what they do. ...full answer
QUESTION:
Hi Dr. Rudman,
As far as printing negatives, is there a danger of damaging a negative through frequent exposures to enlarger light, are cold light sources better?
Frank C.
MR. RUDMAN'S ANSWER:
Dear Frank,
Whilst a considerable amount has been written about archival preservation and deterioration of film stock Frank, because of their commercial and archive storage importance, much of it has been to do with motion picture film and microfi...full answer
QUESTION:
Using both 35 & 120 format I rig various filters which I create in front of the lens, enabling me to control areas of sharpness, increase flare, texture and abstract forms.
Using fotospeed LD 20 on Ilford Warmtone 8 X 10 paper I am able to create ...full question
MR. RUDMAN'S ANSWER:
This is an unusual question and quite difficult to visualise without seeing the results.
I am not clear FROM your description whether the various filters you use are in front of the camera lens or the enlarger lens.
