Digital BW, The Print

Shilesh,

Thanks for your thoughts.  I have printed on all three, plus have seen
many of Steve Karaf.'s prints on a variety of other glossy papers, as
he does a lot of experimenting and we compare notes frequently.  


>All of these new papers are really very good. The reason I like SR 
>is that paper white is easier to find a suitable overmat for framing.
>The Hahnemule paper is much too cool for my taste, yet it also 
>produces stunning prints. Same goes for Innova F Gloss (not as cool).

Agreed about SR paper color, but aside from that I much prefer the H
version of the three.  I dislike the Innova surface patterns.  That's
my problem - while these papers are closer, nobody has yet made the
paper that has it all.  I love the look, feel and lack of reflections
of matte, but love the dmax of the other.  Sigh.  

This afternoon Steve Karafyllakis and I were looking at some old
darkroom work prints on Oriental Seagull and Ilford MGFB, and we
agreed that the nice combination of gloss and texture, what Steve
described as a pleasing "organic" look, still hasn't been achieved,
even with these new papers.  They just aren't there yet.


>Once behind glass, and under good lighting, most any old RC papers 
>will be just as good. 

Yes, glazing definitely covers a lot of sins and evens things out.


>I just completed a series of prints for Tom O'Connell's exchange on 
>Office Depot Professional Platinium Series Brilliant Matte (RC 
>paper), and the prints are just as compelling as on SR or Innova F. 
>Not as impressive to hold though.

And that's an important factor for me, as my favorite way to enjoy
photos is hand viewing as part of a boxed portfolio.  The feedback I'm
getting re the textured matte paper is very positive (gorgeous,
elegant, etc).  SR feels sort of tacky and alien (even smells weird),
and the HFAP is cold and smooth (in emotional terms, as opposed to
warm and fuzzy).  Yet there's no denying, as you state, hung next to
glossy under good light they get blown away.


>As has been said often, it must be like comparing silver prints to 
>Pt/Pd; different looks, but can be made equally compelling in the 
>right printers hands.

Yes, exactly. I love the matte prints I'm getting, and in general look
and feel they resemble the platinum prints of Steiglitz, Laura Gilpen
and others who's works I admire greatly.  Until something capable of
doing the job comes along I'm going to continue to use matte papers.

Isn't it amazing how far we've come and we're still not satisfied
<ggg>.  I'm confident we'll get there.  It's just a matter of time.

Regards,
Clayton


Info on black and white digital printing at    
http://www.cjcom.net/digiprnarts.htm