Digital BW, The Print

Scott/Martin

My workflow is derived from the method Dan Burkholder describes in his book,
Making Digital Negatives for Contact Printing, 2nd ed., which I would highly
recommend to anyone interested in the technique.  You can buy the book
directly from Dan, www.danburkholder.com.  I have used the Epson 3000 and
the 7000 with Cone's inks and my own curves to get 16x20 negs for silver
prints.  You have to spray the film to fix the inks to prevent smearing.  I
use MacDonald's Luster Lacquer spray.  I think the fiber silver prints look
great - no dots.  But I'm still preferring the look of piezography on
Hahnemuhle German Etching Board.  Something about the plush watercolor
papers just captivates me.  Perhaps I'm just tired of the silver print look.

I've made some negatives with Cone's inks that work well for platinum
prints, but I've started to use the 1270 with color inks to make spectral
negatives that effectively have more contrast for contact printing with the
UV light.  I'm still tweaking my curves for this work.

The specifics of the workflow are far too complicated to reproduce here
(read -  I'm too lazy to type that much), just buy Dan's book if you're
going to pursue this.

I buy my Pictorico OHP film from Tim Gillespie because he's just up the road
from me.  His website is http://www.uncletim.com/film.htm.  You can also get
it directly from Pictorico for the same price.  Their website is
www.pictorico.com.

Howard Bond is a great guy and teacher.  I've taken his unsharp masking
workshop.  IMHO, I think he goes overboard with his masking.  A lot of his
images look too crunchy.

Ron


  Can you share your workflow with us on making the contact negs? And
  your source for the Pictorio OHP film.

  I always think of Howard Bond when I think of unsharp masking. I
  wonder if he has taken a shot at digital.

  Thanks,
  Martin



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