Digital BW, The Print

Ken, To me, if a print doesn't have a satisfying black, it's a failure,
unless it is an obvious high key print. It the deepest black in most
landscapes is only a dark charcoal gray, it is a failure. There seem to
be several papers capable of making a satisfying black, that are not
glossy. Most of them have other flaws of some kind. THere seems to be no
perfect paper as yet. I would put it this way. I am not able to get a
satisfactory print for a lot of my pictures on Somerset Enhanced or
Museo papers. If the images have large areas of black, these papers just
cannot deliver it. Large areas of black look just terrible if they are
only a very dark gray. Torchon, or Epson Archival or Eclipse, can
deliver a pretty good black. Most Hahanem\ufffdhle papers can, but several of
them have other problems, usually flaking or they scuff too easily. 

I'm after the blacks of a selenium toned Oriental Seagull, Agfa Brovira,
Kodak Elite, DuPont Varigam, or Ilford Gallerie black. IF the Inkjet
print comes very close to those blacks, I'll be happy, If not, I won't
be. 

There are exceptions. An obviously high key print wouldn't matter nearly
as much as an image that really NEEDED a strong black to look good. Some
high key images would need nothing more than a middle gray to white
range. 

JErry





ken@... wrote:
> 
> Jerry:
> 
> I appreciate your input to my query for information about printing on
> uncoated papers. In your message, you bring up a good point for
> discussion...What is a satisfactory print?
> 
> During the years I've been doing traditional wet darkroom silver
> photography, many times I've heard the term 'technically perfect
> print'. It usually referred to the Ansel Adams stipulation that a
> photographic print should be grainless, full depth of focus, detail
> in the shadows, printed on cold black and white silver-rich paper,
> mounted on pure white mat board, etc....
> 
> When I got into digital printing, I accepted that it was a new
> medium. I'm not trying to copy photography, duplicate the silver
> look. I have no loyalty to photography, or a set of standards other
> than my own, which is to try to express a feeling in my art. Step
> wedges are ok, zone system is ok...but if the resulting finished
> piece is 'dead' in it's soul, then it is of no use. What I'm trying
> to communicate here is that the field is totally wide-open...with the
> pinnacle of purpose for me being...get the feeling in the work.
> 
> How black does black have to be to equate a feeling? Does detail in
> the shadows make more or less feeling? Can a soft print express deep
> feeling? If glossy paper makes the best detail, but it's plastic
> appearance spoils the aesthetics I was trying to imbue into the work,
> then I failed!
> 
> you get my point...I want a knowledge of this new medium, it's
> limitations, so I can find my own place within it and still be loyal
> to my purpose of expression. If it has to be the look of a watercolor
> or charcoal drawing, instead of a photograph, then maybe I've found a
> new path to express myself. Making art for me is a wild exploration
> into my self...it cannot be fettered by old science and dogmas.
> 
> The stipulations put on traditional photography by its icons, its
> schools, and its market has always been curious to me. Other forms of
> art: painting, sculpture, drawing...don't have these stipulations. It
> is difficult to go beyond the limits of the camera, the accepted
> precepts of a medium....but how else will we express a unique vision?
> 
> ken
> 
> --- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@y..., Jerry Olson
> <jerryolson@r...> wrote:
> > Ken, doubt you'll ever get satisfactory prints on uncoated papers.
> You'd be the first one to do so,....
> 
> 
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