Digital BW, The Print

Another way of thinking about the lighting for your printing area is  
to consider the lighting under which the prints will ultimately be  
viewed.  In my commercial photography, I specialize in photographing  
artwork, which in the best circumstances will be seen on the walls of  
galleries and museums.

Since I work in museums frequently, I have had the opportunity to ask  
preparators what lamps they favor, and they often tell me that they  
use 3500 K lighting in the galleries.  By the time these lamps are  
dimmed to light levels deemed not a threat to the longevity of prints  
and other works on display, the ambient light temperature in the  
galleries is really about 2800 K.

So I have chosen 3500 K lamps as the ones I use for viewing prints  
made for clients as well as for viewing my own work.  If I knew that  
something I was printing was more likely going to be shown/seen under  
daylight, I would then view it under daylight temperature bulbs in my  
studio.

A good source for lamps of specific Kelvin temperatures is Solux, at
http://www.solux.net/cgi-bin/tlistore/infopages/index.html

Stephen Petegorsky