Grape Sugar may be employed for the purpose of giving intensity to newly mixed Collodion: also Glycyrrhizine, which is a resinous body extracted from the root of Liquorice; but as both substances have an effect in lessening the sensitiveness and keeping qualities of the fluid, they should be used cautiously. In taking portraits in the open air, on bright days, and with a Bath which has been mixed for a considerable time, it will rarely be found that the intensity will be deficient; and especially so if the developer be applied a second time to the film with a few drops of solution of Nitrate of Silver added. In landscape Photography however, or in copying engravings, where extreme sensitiveness is not an object, the Glycyrrhizine may sometimes be added with advantage in order to obtain perfect opacity of the blacks.
When the use of this substance is resorted to, the mode of iodizing the Collodion appears to be of importance, the increase of intensity being greater with the Iodide of Cadmium than with the Iodides of the Alkalies; the latter probably exercising a decomposing action. An addition of a Bromide or a Chloride to the Collodion in small quantity has also a marked effect in adding to the intensity when Glycyrrhizine is used with alkaline Iodides ([p. 101]).
Substances which produce intensity of the Collodion image have often, if added in too large quantity, a tendency to lower the half-tone, and prevent the darker parts of the picture from being sufficiently brought out. The print from the Negative is then pale and white, or "chalky" as it is termed, in the high lights. Collodion in this condition is often preferred by the beginner, from the facility with which the Negatives are obtained, but it does not give the finest results. An excess of Glycyrrhizine in Collodion has also the effect of interfering with the precipitation of the Iodide of Silver, producing a blue and smoky film which is nearly useless for Negatives.
A judicious employment of free Iodine in Collodion which has been previously intensified with Glycyrrhizine, has a remarkable effect in improving the gradation of tone. The excessive opacity of the high lights is diminished, and hence the operator is enabled by a longer exposure of the sensitive plate to bring out the shadows and minor details of the image with great distinctness. Collodion prepared in this manner is too slow to be used for portraits, excepting in a strong light, but often gives an image with great roundness and stereoscopic effect.
The Iodine and the liquorice sugar employed conjointly, tend also to preserve the clearness of the plates under the influence of the developer, and to give sharpness to the lines and dots of engravings, etc., which, with a new and sensitive Collodion, are often imperfectly rendered. These advantages will be appreciated by the operator who has failed from working with a too feeble Collodion; but it must be borne in mind, that all substances acting as intensifiers have a bad effect when the state of the film is not such as to call for their employment.
The Proto-iodide of Iron has been recommended as an addition to Negative Collodion. In the Nitrate Bath it forms, in addition to Iodide of Silver, Protonitrate of Iron, an unstable substance and a developer. The use of Iodide of Iron gives great sensibility, but it is difficult to preserve it pure and unchanged. It also decomposes the Collodion in the course of a few hours, becoming itself peroxidized, and producing an insensitive condition of film. In addition to this, the negatives taken by the aid of Iodide of Iron are commonly of an inferior kind, the reduction being too marked in the high lights; so that its employment is of doubtful utility.
The Nitrate Bath.—This should be prepared from Nitrate of Silver which has been melted at a moderate heat (see pp. [13] and [101]). If this point be neglected, the best Collodion will sometimes fail in producing an intense negative.
Acetic Acid must be added in minute quantity, to preserve the solution from a too ready reduction by the Alcohol and Ether of the Collodion. Also, unless the Nitrate of Silver be quite pure and free from organic matter ([p. 104]), clear pictures will not be obtained without the use of Acid.
Acetate of Silver has often been advised as an addition to the Negative Nitrate Bath. It is produced by dropping into the solution an alkali, such as Ammonia, followed by Acetic Acid in excess. The Negatives are rendered blacker and more vigorous by this proceeding, but especially so when the Bath is contaminated with Nitric Acid; which neutralizes itself at the expense of the Acetate of Silver, thus:—