IR Cyanotype Photo Mosaic, #2 of 6

Now, let's see what a cyanotype using positives looks like!

Positives are the image as it is. In normal B&W, that means trees are dark tones and skies are light tones. Making positives for cyanotypes is similar to making a transparency of the photo itself. Since the cyanotype is created from the sun hitting the non-dark parts of the positive, the result is a weird negative of the image. 

Here's the thing with infrared, though. Because you are asking the camera to reflect infrared light instead of visible light, the tones in the positive are somewhat opposite of a normal black and white - in an infrared positive transparency, the tree is white and the sky is dark. Ngl, looks a lot like a regular film negative of that tree. 

As a result, the cyanotype is going to look close to a "normal" B&W photo - tree dark, skies light. Of course, there's some exceptions on the image depending on how strong the IR light is reflecting off the object, but you get the idea.

To get an infrared image, I would have to treat the image like any other B&W, invert, and create a negative of the infrared, like this (and it looks remarkably close to a normal B&W positive of a mesquite): 

I only mention all of this because the transparencies end up looking kind of funny and the opposite of what they usually look like on normal film. Having just spent nearly a year trying to understand B&W film, moving to IR negatives has taken a little bit of practice. But the good news is that it has forced me to move away from just trusting what my eyes see and thinking about exactly what is on the film - an exposure with light I want and light I don't want.

Ahh, infrared in the darkroom is like a fun house mirror sometimes.

Round 2: Kinda Ugly, Not a Fan

My husband said it reminded him of knock-off Delftware you might find at Tuesday Morning or the Dollar Store. Lol. I agree. Infrared positives in general are not my cup of tea, but I see people online playing around with them who love them. I think it might require a simpler composition to pull off well. 

I decided not to bleach and tone because that's another two days worth of work and frankly I don't think it would save it. 

So, this was a good round! Practiced with IR digital positives and confirmed they're not for me. On to Round 3!