Digital BW, The Print

Hello Tyler,

>It's a different thread...but it's a very big deal.
>...Many artists in all areas find their results and working level 
>much higher when severely limiting and focusing their options...
>...too many cameras, films, applications, filters, etc etc.

Amen! I'm so glad that you said this, it's absolutely true.  After
using primarily Tri-X and HC-110 for some years I went through a
period of experimentation where I tried every new film (T-Max and
others had arrived) and a variety of developers, searching for the
magic something or other that I convinced myself existed.  After about
two years I realized I was photographically unhappy, hadn't done much
good work, and hadn't found any film I liked better.  I had been
diluting my creative energies.  So I stopped all testing, went back to
Tri-X, and began concentrating fully on the photography.  It made a
huge difference and I entered into what became my best and most
productive period of that (film and darkroom) era.

Something similar happened after the switch to digital, but this time
it was a two-headed monster.  First, the digital cameras.  I went into
Tri-X withdrawal and struggled for a long time to emulate the look.  I
tried all sorts of software and conversion techniques, only to fail
repeatedly.  The other side of the coin was the printing.  For several
years it was one battle after another with various printers, inks and
workflows.  Without question it dominated all else, a black hole that
sucked in most of my creative energy.

The first break came when I let go of my Tri-X obsession and decided
to make the best of what I had.  I discovered that the sensor image
had a beauty of its own and I became attuned to it, much as I had done
with Tri-X, with gratifying results.  On the printing side the
breakthrough was the K3/ABW system.  This released me from the
workflow nightmare and I was finally free to concentrate fully on
photography once again.  And it's been wonderful, resulting in a happy
photographer and, so far, some of my best work in a long time.

This is real and important, and I hope this thread will reach people
who are receptive to it.

Regards,
Clayton


Info on black and white digital printing at    
http://www.cjcom.net/digiprnarts.htm
I-Trak 2.1   http://www.cjcom.net/itrak.htm