Wondering if any one else here is doing any alternative process printing of UE subject matter?

I plan on doing a set of a local brewery in VanDyke Brown.
This was my first test print of an old rail car. I originally shot it with a 35mm, than enlarged the negative to 8" x 10" digitally than printed the negative on transparent media. The Print is on Stonehenge white water color paper.

These are even easier to do than cyanotypes IMHO.

I used to make my own negatives and my own photo paper. I shot with a 4x5 for all of them. I ended up printing them on full sheets of BFK printmaking paper. And a long time ago I printed on sheets of galvanized steel.

How does one print to Galvanized steel sheets?

You have to polish them, then make sure they're all really nice and clean. Then you coat them with a matt polyurethane. Let that dry for 24 hours. Take it into the darkroom and coat it with silver halides (same compound that's on film and photo paper). Let that dry another 24 hours, and just use it like a piece of photo paper. The halides can be bought online, places like Freestyle and B&H sell them. You can use them on anything, but most surfaces require a unique precoat or surface treatment prior to coating.

Very cool technique.

I love doing it. It's really fun, and you learn quite a bit about photo processing. And honestly, it's not that difficult once you do it a few times. My only beef is the cost of the chemicals. For the stuff I was doing it ran me like $150 for the paper and the chemical to cover about 20 square feet worth of prints. You can get some stuff that's a little bit lower quality, and not as archival for quite a bit less. It also depends on how absorbant the material is. I was using some pretty heavy and absorbant paper. The steel was pretty reasonable though, and so was glass.

I'm looking at building a daguerrotype camera as soon as I get some free time (hopefully before New Years). I will definitely be taking UE pics with it, and I'll post the results.

trevelyan, i wish you lived into Toronto so you could teach me all you know.

Posted by Kelwyn I'm looking at building a daguerrotype camera as soon as I get some free time (hopefully before New Years). I will definitely be taking UE pics with it, and I'll post the results.

I probably don't need to say this but be careful.
Making collodion is a few steps away from making gun cotton. Not to mention the mercury vapors and other hazards.

I assume you'll be making a field tent or something to develop the plates on site.

I want to see these photos! I have always wanted to go into alt processes Hope to see some of those soon