Warm tones

Alkali (accelerator) is nearly always sodium carbonate, with potassium carbonate often substituted for warm tone results. Sodium hydroxide is occasionally used, mainly to increase contrast sodium metaborate is found in universal developers. 

The most important skill a photographer can learn is how to adjust a formula to express a particular subject. For example, fine-art photographer, Paul Caponigro, has been known to mix varying proportions of warm-tone developer with cold-tone developer to create an altogether new tone for a specific subject or body of work. In printing, more than any other area of the darkroom, the only rules are those you make for yourself. 

This information can be quite useful. For example, giving a print more than the usual exposure and developing it for less than the normal time, say 45 seconds to 1 minute, will often enhance warm tones, especially with chlorobromide papers. Using a warm-tone chlorobromide paper and developer combination will further heighten this effect. With bromide papers the results may be less than satisfactory as the color may be muddy olive depending on the paper. 

Choose a warm-tone developer. This will enhance any warm tones inherent in the paper. 

Dilute a fresh developer with up to 50% used developer. If you like warm tones in your images, keep a bottle of used developer on the shelf for this purpose. Glycin-based developers work well. 

There are three ways to achieve cold tones. The first is through direct development of bromide paper. The second is through the gold-toning of a warm-tone chlorobromide paper. The third method is immersion in a blue-toning bath (Formulas Toners, Ansco 241 Iron Blue Toner). 

Bleach-and-redevelopment (B R) toners bleach the silver to a pale color and then redevelop it to a new color. Most two-bath B R toners are of the warm-tone sepia/sulfide-type... 

The B R process converts the metallic silver in a print back into clear silver halide by combining the metallic silver with a halide, or mixture of halides. Once the silver has been reconverted to a halide, the print is redeveloped with a toner, a toning developer, or any number of solutions that will cause the transparent halide to reappear, usually exhibiting a warm tone. 

At one time, every portrait studio had its own signature warm-tone formula. Many times the tone was achieved by using more than one toner in a multiple-toning sequence. Often the formula and technique were a proprietary secret of the owner, who disproved the adage, you can t take it with you, as many of them most certainly did. 

The easiest method to achieve warm tones is to choose a paper that is susceptible through direct development. These include Ilford Multigrade FB Warmtone, Kentmere Kentona, and Fotokemika Emaks. Though there used to be many more papers of this variety manufacturers have moved away from making them in favor of neutral-tone papers.2 While this is a loss to fine-art photographers, warm tones can still be achieved—and in great variety—through the use of toners. 

One of the reasons for this was the ban on cadmium, a key component in warm tone papers before its use was banned by the EPA in the United States due to its environmental impact. Without cadmium, it is not as easy to formulate a warm-tone paper. It is easier to tint the paper base. 

Another combination is to use any sepia or polysulfide toner, then Kodak T-26 Blue Toner. To use this combination, wash the print thoroughly after using sepia or polysulfide toner then use T-26 as per directions. The red tone should appear after approximately 15 to 30 minutes in this solution at 90F/32C. This technique usually produces a density loss in the shadows. Start with a print that has higher-than-normal contrast. Cold-tone papers will produce a truer red warm-tone papers will produce an orange hue. 

Uses For warm tones on papers, when restrained with bromide. 

Notes A derivative of hydroquinone, chlorhydroquinone was once a mainstay for warm-tone prints. Unfortunately, it is becoming increasingly hard to find, not because it is not useful as a warm-tone developing agent, but because it is both expensive and dangerous to manufacture. 

With the right paper and developer combination, increasing exposure and using shorter development times will enhance warm tones. 

The quality of the negative plays an important part in the creation of warm tones by direct development. The best results are obtained from negatives of good contrast and printing density. 

For slightly less warm tones, 81.0 grams of sodium carbonate, monohydrate, can be substituted for the potassium salt. 

ID-78 is a modern PQ warm tone developer which is very close in its formula to Ilford Neutol WA . It works extremely well with modern papers. 

NOTE 2 If a stock solution is made up with no bromide or benzotriazole it can be varied from a cold/blue black developer to a warm-tone developer with the addition of benzotriazole or bromide. 

BB solution was a proprietary liquid restrainer marketed by DuPont, once a leader in the manufacture of film and paper. When added to a developer it will create cooler tones on enlarging paper. It was reputedly used by Edward Weston in his amidol formula. According to Dody Thompson, Edward s former assistant and Brett s second wife, Edward may have tried it at one time but did not use it as he preferred warm tone images. Brett, on the other hand, preferred cooler tones and may well have used BB while it was available. 

PAPER For warm tones on papers, use without dilution and develop for about 2 minutes at 68F/20C. For colder tones, double the quantity of balanced alkali use without dilution and develop 1 to 2 minutes. 

Excessive fixing times will promote adsorption or retention of the fixer complexes in gelatin, or more particularly on the fibers of paper base, and should be avoided. In addition, excessive fixing can bleach silver images, especially those on paper prints. Warm-tone images are particularly at risk. 

This formula is one of the fastest and easiest to use. It is capable of creating a deep blue color on warm-tone chlorobromide papers. 

Prints to be blue-toned should be developed in Dassonville D-3 Autotoning Developer. (Other warm-toned developers can be used, but they will probably not give as deep a blue tone. A warm-toned print will give a deeper blue than a cool-toned print D-3 will give very warm-toned results and correspondingly deep blues.)... 

Blue toner for solid deep blue tones on warm-tone papers, and soft blue-black tones on neutral-tone papers. 

This formula is particularly suitable for warm-toned slow chlorobromide and chloride papers. Prepare this formula carefully following these instructions ... 

This formula is most effective on warm-tone papers. Give 10 to 25% more exposure than usual. 

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