Digital BW, The Print

It's all beginning and there is no end. As another newcomer, here's 
my prescription for doing it with ease: shoot color negative film, 
say Kodak's Supra, and have it developed and scanned onto a Kodak 
Photo CD w/o any further handling (or dust and scratches); open the 
scans in Photoshop for a minimal amount of massaging and conversion; 
print the scans with the Piezo driver and the MIS Full Spectrum (FS) 
Quadtone inks which Paul Roark designed to work with the Piezo 
driver. When that gets too restrictive, switch to the Epson driver 
and VM inks.

Keep "Real World Photoshop" by your side. When you get frustrated, 
interrupt the arguing here to ask about it. No one knows what will 
advance the art; just advance yours. We already have widespread 
support and sufficient numbers. What we need is more printing. Get 
busy and join in the burgeoning print exchanging and regional 
gatherings. See you there.

Sam McCandless             samcc@...



>Hello Friends,
>   First and foremost, I probably speak for a number of eavesdropping
>members of this group when I thank you for sharing your knowledge and
>ideas with us.  It is a tremendous resource.
>    There is another printer out here.  As a physician and father,
>black and white photography is my hobby.  As an enthusiast, I long to
>produce images like I see on your websites.
>     I don't have access to a custom lab without the mail. . . I
>don't have a wet darkroom.  The digital darkroom is more accessible
>and more affordable.  The learning curve, I think, no less difficult.
>    To gain widespread support for this medium, we must gain in
>numbers.  But while you argue over minute technical details of blacks
>being black and details in shadows being present. . . we never see
>references as to what will advance this art?
>    For a hobbyist, we want a reliable, reproducible printing form.
>We want it to be of superior quality, but want to concentrate on the
>image as our primary goal.  If I get 4 hours to sit down and try to
>produce some work, it is frustrating and will be terminal if that
>time is spent clearing clogs, aligning heads, trying to correct
>banding, etc. . .   Is scanning, formatting and printing quality with
>ease a pipedream?  For this, it seems piezo would get the edge, yet
>then you get the clogs, the green etc.  So, where should a newcomer
>begin or end?
>    So, while we look to your work for our advancements, some
>consideration should be given to quality with consistency and
>technical ease.  It will keep the door open to the hobbyist and may
>someday make the digital black and white darkroom more popular than
>we ever imagine.
>                  Thank you,
>                           Scott Michener