Blogging for Thor: 200 Lumen Slog

I made my 200th Lumen Print recently. I wanted to do something special for 200, so I tried combining a few ideas. I'd previously considered working with multi-part images, and very recently I started making lumen prints with gels, syrups and liquids instead of leaves. I made a nine-part collage, with each panel using a different type of paper and different combination of materials. I like the results, at least in some individual images, but I think in the future I'm going to work with fewer types of paper for a single set. Maybe even just one set of paper, and maybe reduce the number of substances too. Go for a more consistent appearance, you know? I haven't decided quite yet, but it'll be a fun thing to explore!

Liquigrams as I've been calling them, are a great amount of fun. The only downside is that in order to prevent the stuff on the paper from dripping, sliding and melting all kind of different directions, they have to be exposed to sunlight while kept flat. Since my house is on a hill and halfway surrounded by trees, that's quite a challenge. There's really only three places I can put them, and I only have a few of the plastic trays I make them in (keeps things cleaner). So my production of liquigrams is much slower than my production of regular lumen prints.

On that note, I've got to make a minor note: I'm really slow at lumen prints. I know a few others that work with the process and they tend to have exposures only a few minutes long. They can churn out a dozen or more prints in a day, whereas I'm happy with doing maybe 4 in a day, if I'm lucky with sunlight and at home the whole time. I generally have exposure times that run upwards of 2 hours.

Mid-Post Note: Dammit! I got distracted watching TV and didn't finish this post in time. Oh well, I started it on Thursday!

I'm going to compile a list of which papers I've done Lumens with at some point this weekend, which will be another post. It's my first step towards creating a lumen paper compendium. I also plan on discussing in more detail the results of lumen printing on ortho-litho film, and get into some lumens on regular film, like 4x5 and 35mm.